The plague of Hail is foretold in this weeks parsha with the following words: Behold at this time tomorrow I shall rain a very heavy hail, such as there has never been in Egypt, from the day it was founded until now. And now, send forth; gather in your livestock and everything you have in the field. All the people and animals that are found in the field and will not be gathered into the house – the hail shall descend upon them and they shall die. [Shmos 9:18-19] The Torah testifies in the very next two pasukim [verses]: Whoever among the servants of Pharaoh feared the word of Hashem made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. And whoever did not take the word of G-d to heart – he left his servants and livestock in the field. In the Medrash, Chazal state that the expression whoever feared the word of Hashem refers to Iyov and the expression whoever did not take the word of G-d to heart refers to Bilaam (both of whom -- we learn elsewhere -- were advisors to Pharaoh). We previously mentioned that the pasuk and whoever did not take the word of G-d to heart... provides a fundamental insight into the personality of Bilaam. Hail was already the seventh plague. By this time, one would have to be very obtuse in order to not understand that Hashem means what He says. If Moshe Rabbeinu threatened a catastrophic hailstorm that would kill all animals and livestock left out in the open, one could bank on that storm coming. After six previous plagues, how could anyone, at this point, doubt that what Moshe predicted was certain to occur? The answer lies in the words did not take the word of G-d to heart. There is a capacity among humans to be totally immune to stimuli. People can totally shut themselves out from messages that are constantly occurring. A person has the ability to be so insensitive to obvious facts that if someone banged him over the head with a baseball bat, he still would not get it! He simply does not take the words of G-d to heart. If Bilaam is the personification of this type of individual who just does not get it no matter what he sees, Moshe Rabbeinu is at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Yakov Weinberg, ztl, once noted the following: From Parshas Shmos through Parshas Zos HaBracha (which is the bulk of Chumash), the Torahs main narrative centers around the personality of Moshe Rabbeinu. With the exception of Parshas Tezaveh (as is discussed by the commentators) Moshes name appears prominently in each of the parshios of the last 4 books of Torah. However, there are very scant details in the pasukim of the Torah that introduce this central figure in our religion. In fact, we are told very few details of the first 80 years of his life! Therefore, said Rav Weinberg, every time the Torah DOES tell us some detail about Moshes life and about how he became who he was, the detail must be significant. One of the first times the Torah mentions anything about Moshe is at the Burning Bush. After describing the phenomenon of the thorn bush which was burning without being consumed, the Torah states: And Moshe said: Let me go and investigate this great sight – why will the bush not be burned? [Shmos 3:3]. Rav Weinberg said that we see from this incident that part of what made Moshe Rabbeinu the great person who he was, was his sensitivity to stimuli that are constantly occurring. Moshe Rabbeinu stands in stark contradistinction to Bilaam. Moshe was always seeking out messages from G-d. Whenever a noteworthy event took place, Moshe was certain to investigate, analyze and see what meaning and interpretation he could draw from that event. The Chofetz Chaim once pointed out something unique about Parshas Balak, which is really the story of the wicked Bilaam. There is not a single break point (indicated by a Samech [closed break] or a Pay [open break]) in the entire narrative from the time Balak invites Bilaam until the time Bilaam leaves and returns home. Uncharacteristically, approximately four consecutive columns of Torah script do not contain a single break in the flow of the text. The Chofetz Chaim explained that the Samechs and Pays in the Torah mark the places where Moshe was given time to reflect when the Torah was transmitted to him on Har Sinai. Moshe needed time between sections to reflect and introspect, to pause and digest the material just covered. Moshe Rabbeinu – the personification of let me investigate what this (burning bush) is telling me – needs pauses in the text. Bilaam, who is so obtuse that he is characterized by the expression the one who does not take to heart (in connection with the plague of Hail), Bilaam who is so insensitive to Divine messages that he can have his donkey talk to him and still not react to it, does not need pauses in the text. Regardless of whether pauses were present or not, Bilaam would run right through them without pausing to reflect and introspect. This is what the Torah is trying to teach us here. A person must be open to stimuli. He has to listen to his messages.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 20:15:00 +0000
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