IT IS PERFECTLY NORMAL TO SPEAK TO A DONKEY

A wise man once pointed out to me that from a simple reading of Parshat Balak we can discover the greatness of Bilaam. Imagine if one of us were to walk down the street and come across a donkey that suddenly began talking. What would our reaction be? We would be so frightened that we would run away as fast as we could. Bilaam, however, was not afraid presumably because he understood that just as Hashem could cause a human being to speak, he could make a donkey speak. This explains why he began arguing with the donkey so matter-of-factly as if a talking donkey were nothing out of the ordinary.

WAS BILAAM AS GREAT AS MOSHE?

Chazal derive from one of the concluding psukim of the Torah: "velo kam navi od beYisrael keMoshe" "Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe" (Devarim 34:10), that only in Israel has there not arisen a prophet like Moshe, in the other nations there has. They are referring to Bilaam. Can it truly be said that Bilaam was on the level of Moshe Rabenu? Moshe was the holiest man alive and Bilaam was the most impure! Moshe Rabenu's love for the Jewish people knew no bounds, while the same may be said for Bilaam's hatred for the nation! We are told: "Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth!" (Bamidbar 12:3), Chazal describe Bilaam as a person with "a haughty spirit and a proud soul" (Avot 5:19). How can we even begin to compare the two?

One of the explanations is that Bilaam was like Moshe in some aspects but not in all aspects. Chazal teach us that different prophets may see the same vision, but no two prophets will prophesy in the same fashion. Hashem's speaking to prophets is described as: "In a vision shall I make Myself known to him, in a dream shall I speak with him" (Bamidbar 12:6). The same vision may appear differently to different people. One may be enthralled by the greenery in the vision, another by the blue sky, yet another by the tall mountains. The halacha states that the testimony of two witnesses may be considered as having concurred if they relate what they saw differently, whereas were they to relate what happened in the identical fashion, we suspect they may be false witnesses who may have plotted among themselves what they would testify prior to their court appearance. This is because each witness is impressed with another aspect of what he saw. In a murder, for example, one witness may have been fascinated by the quick motion of the murderer's hands, the other by the size and sharpness of the knife. This may cause one to notice things that the other did not.

MILK IS MILK

Prophets are no different - two may see the same vision and describe it differently. The one exception to this rule is Moshe Rabenu: "All the prophets looked into a dim glass, but Moshe looked through a clear glass" (Yevamot 49b). Moshe Rabenu is spoken to directly: "Mouth to mouth do I speak to him, in a clear vision and not in riddles" (Bamidbar 12:8). Every word, every vowel, every note in the Torah is directly as Hashem dictated to Moshe. There can be no claim that Moshe transmitted the Torah improperly: the letters chet, lamed bet in "lo tevashel gdi bachalev

imo" "do not cook a kid in the milk of its mother" (Shmot 23:19), should not be read chelev meaning fat - if the Torah says milk, then milk it must be for Moshe wrote what Hashem dictated verbatim. Moshe's prophecy is not clouded with his own bias - "in My entire house he is the trusted one" (Bamidbar 12:7).

Other prophets did their utmost to transmit the word of Hashem, but it was filtered through their own perceptions. This can be compared to a ray of light shining on a colored glass, the ray on the other side will appear as the color of the glass - if the light shines on a blue pane, the light will appear blue while if the pane of glass is green then the light will appear green. Bilaam, however, was the opposite. The vision he saw was totally black, whatever he said was his own interpretation. It is for this reason that Hashem had to dictate to Bilaam word for word: "go back to Balak and thus shall you say" (Bamidbar 23:5). No blessing could ever emerge if Bilaam were spoken to in riddles and permitted to interpret Hashem's words as he saw them. He must be told in no uncertain terms exactly what he should say. It was for this reason only that Bilaam received a prophecy on the level of Moshe Rabenu - his words are truly ruach haKodesh, with Divine Inspiration. While Moshe Rabenu was a completely clear pane of glass, Bilaam's glass was completely black. If Bilaam were to be spoken to in riddles, no blessings would have emerged for he would have interpreted any positive vision about the Jewish people as something negative. Bilaam had to be told what to say word-for-word.

BILAAM IS BILAAM

He may have had ruach hakodesh, yet his heart was still that of Bilaam. He may have been instructed what words to use, and in fact he did, yet his thoughts and feelings still managed to penetrate his prophecy. Chazal teach us that all of Bilaam's blessings were eventually transformed into curses, with the exception of "ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov mishkenotecha Yisrael" "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel" (Bamidbar 24:5) (see Sanhedrin 105b). His cursed heart affected all his blessings with this one exception. The blessing remains in our shuls and our Batei Midrash. Apparently the blessings for our shuls and Batei Midrash were so strong that even his evil thoughts could have no effect. When the Jewish people are not worthy, Bilaam's thoughts can indeed take effect. When the Jewish people are worthy, it is Bilaam's spoken words which take effect: "But Hashem your G-d refused to listen to Bilaam" (Devarim 23:6).

We must not for a moment think that Bilaam was on par with Moshe Rabenu, yet he did possess some degree of greatness. Bilaam described himself as veyode-a daat Elyon "who knows the knowledge of the Supreme One" (Bamidbar 24:16). Chazal pose the following question: "if Bilaam did not know what was on the animal's mind, could he possibly know the mind of the Supreme One"? (Sanhedrin 105b). Chazal proceed to describe in great detail the interchange Bilaam had with the donkey and how the donkey was victorious every step of the way - yet he claimed to know "the knowledge of the Supreme One". Despite Bilaam's shortcomings, Chazal teach us that he indeed did have daat Elyon - he was aware of the precise moment when Hashem was angry and he planned to curse the Jewish people at precisely that moment.

Bilaam had tremendous secrets revealed to him - nothing short of our upcoming Redemption, may it arrive speedily in our day. His tremendous knowledge and vision, however, had no effect on his personality. He was aware of all of these great secrets yet his end was being killed in the war against Midian and he has no share in the World to Come. We find in the book of Yehoshua that Bilaam is referred to as a kosem, a sorcerer. The Gemara asks: "A sorcerer? Why he was a prophet! R' Yochanan said: at the beginning he was a prophet but at the end a sorcerer" (Sanhedrin 106a). He lost all his prophetic powers, for they were only external clothing and had no influence on him.

TORAH IS MORE THAN JUST WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE

We find in the midrash: "if one were to tell you there is wisdom amongst the nations then believe them; if, however, one were to tell you there is Torah among the nations, do not believe them" (Midrash Eicha). There are many non-Jews who are well-versed in Bible, but Bible is not their Torah. The wisdom of their Torah is simply wisdom rather than being their guiding force in life. We are forbidden from simply viewing the Torah as a source of wisdom - it is our guide (moreh is from the same root as Torah).

For Bilaam, the Torah is a tremendous source of knowledge. He knows what happened and what will happen in this world and the Next. We find that Bilaam is actually interested in a share in the Next World: "may my soul die the death of the upright and may my end be like this" (Bamidbar 23:10). Bilaam wished to die the deaths of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, but he had no interest in living like them. The Torah was not his guide for life.

As with Bilaam's blessings, there are many areas in which our thoughts influence what takes place. This is particularly pronounced in the laws relating to sacrifices. The Torah specifically states there: "you shall slaughter it to gain favor for yourselves" (Vayikra 22:29). This requirement of an offering having to be brought by our own desire prompts the Gemara to rule: "an act performed incidentally in connection with consecrated animals is invalid" (Chullin 31b). This means that if one slaughters an animal meeting every requirement down to the last detail, but did not realize that this was for the sake of an offering, the sacrifice is invalid. Furthermore, slaughtering an animal shelo lishmo, without the proper intent, invalidates the korban, as does one who has in mind during the slaughtering to partake of the meat beyond the permitted time (this not only renders the sacrifice invalid but is considered pigul - consumption of such meat is punishable by karet).

If an improper thought can destroy, a proper thought can have a tremendous positive effect, for: "a measure of good is greater than a measure of retribution" (Sanhedrin 100b). This does not mean that actual sinning can be nullified by proper thoughts, rather proper behavior coupled with positive thoughts and proper intention is better than one who performs the mitzvoth without his heart and mind in the right place. This is irrespective of whether or not we rule: "Mitzvot tzrichot kavana" "commandments require intent" (Brachot 13a). Performance of a mitzvah with a lack of proper love and fear of Hashem, may be technically valid according to the opinion "Mitzvot ein tzrichot kavana", yet it is second rate work. In addition, such a person has not fulfilled the Torah's commandment of: "to serve Him with all your heart" (Devarim 11:13). In fact, in mitzvoth from the Torah we rule that one who has performed the mitzvah without the proper kavana, intent must repeat the Mitzvah.

TORAH IMPROVES OUR MIDDOT

Observing the Torah should not only bring about an improvement in our actions but in our character traits as well. If learning and observing the Torah does not accomplish this, then there is something amiss with the way we are learning. Perhaps we are viewing the Torah as knowledge and wisdom rather than as Torah - a guide to life.