We are often called the “People of the Book,” yet I think we would be better described as the “People of Miracles.” It is difficult to comprehend how after thousands of years of persecution and barbaric treatment, we are still here. Not only do we exist, but we continue to grow and thrive in both spiritual and material ways. Throughout our history God has provided us with national and personal miracles. These miracles have sustained and inspired us in times of joy and distress. Miracles usually fall into two categories. There are utilitarian miracles, which are miracles performed to remedy an immediate, necessary need (e.g., the splitting of the sea, manna in the desert ….), and there are “teaching miracles,” miracles which occur to teach us a lesson or shape our ideology (jug of oil which lasted 8 days). In this week’s Parsha we find a most peculiar miracle. After seeing the downfall of the two powerful Canaanite kings, Sichon and Og, Balak, the King of Moav, realized that he could not defeat the Jewish nation through conventional means. Balak hatched a new plan. He dispatched messengers to the great gentile prophet, Bilaam, with a simple request, “curse the Jewish people.” As Bilaam traveled with the messengers of Balak, the Torah records an amazing episode. God dispatched an angel to stop Bilaam from carrying out this doomed mission, but Bilaam did not “see” the angelic emissary. However, Bilaam’s donkey did, and as a result, the donkey veered off the road and wandered into a nearby field. Bilaam, angered by this display of disobedience, struck the donkey. The Torah relates:

God opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Bilaam: “What have I done to you, that you have hit me these three times”? Bilaam said to the donkey: “Because you have ridiculed me; would that I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you now.” The donkey replied to Bilaam: “Am I not the very same donkey that you have been riding on all your life until this very day? Was it ever my habit to do this to you”? And he said: “No.” God then enabled Bilaam to see, and he observed the angel of God standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand. He bowed his head and prostrated himself on his face (Bamidbar Chapter 22:28-31).”

This miraculous event begs a simple question – Why? Why was this miracle necessary? What was the message being conveyed in this miraculous and supernatural event?

Rabbeinu Bachya (Spain, 1255-1340) explains: “God performed this wondrous act, changed the regular laws of nature, and allowed the animal to speak to teach us that even the animal understood that this mission was not appropriate and would not result in success.”

In other words, the donkey was able to see what Bilaam was not. Already in the beginning of the Parsha when Bilaam was first approached by the messengers of Balak to curse the Jewish nation, Bilaam inquired of God as to whether he should go. God responded: “You shall not go with them! You shall not curse the people because they are blessed (Bamidbar 22:12).” God made it clear from the beginning that if Bilaam’s intent was to curse the Jewish people, he would not succeed. The people are blessed. But Bilaam was so intent on cursing them (either out of hatred or more likely because of the wealth and fame it would bring him) that he ignored the Divine warning and convinced himself he would succeed. He managed to convince himself to such a degree that he became oblivious to the signs unfolding all around him. His trusted donkey suddenly veered off course. There was an angel on the road with an outstretched sword. His first attempted “curse” resulted in beautiful blessing. Sign after sign, yet each of them was ignored by Bilaam. Numerous signs of Divine displeasure so obvious and clear that even the donkey understood them – yet Bilaam did not.

And it is here, in the midst of this story that the Torah teaches us such a profound and crucial lesson. There are times in life when we are so desperate to believe that something is true. There are times in life when we feel compelled to perpetuate a particular reality. There are times when we have so much invested in our personality and lifestyle that even when we realize the need for change, we are reticent to do so. Instead, we often ignore certain realities and signs in order to perpetuate and sustain the life and identity we have created. Like the alcoholic who refuses to see how his habit is destroying his life, we are often unable to see the realities of our life for what they are. We refuse to confront our demons and challenges. We prefer to live in a state of cognitive dissonance in which we create an alternate reality for ourselves. An alternate reality where my faults do not exist, my weaknesses are ignored, and my problems remain unsolved.

Herein lies the true tragedy of the Bilaam story. God tried to prevent him from making this terrible mistake (that would later cost him his life). God spoke with him. God sent messages and messengers, but Bilaam was too wrapped up in his contrived reality to see or heed what was really happening. God sends the signs but cannot force us to see and internalize them.

We each put incredible amounts of time, effort, and resources into constructing ourselves and our lives. As we continue on the journey of life, it is important to pay attention to the messages before you and periodically take a step back to examine the lives we lead and the people we have become. We should not keep living or acting a certain way simply because, ‘this is how I have been doing it.’ If I possess negative traits or if my life “hashkafos” are skewed or incorrect, I must find the strength to re-think and potentially restart. We must find the courage that Bilaam lacked. We must find the strength to open our eyes, see the signs, modify, adjust, and if necessary – start again.

Bilam was a man on a mission. After receiving the invitation of Balak, the king of Moav, to curse the Jewish people, Bilam gathered some possessions, loaded his donkey, and began the journey.

“In the morning, Balaam arose, saddled his she-donkey, and went with the Moabite dignitaries. God’s wrath flared because he was going, and an angel of the Lord stationed himself on the road to thwart him, and he was riding on his she-donkey, and his two servants were with him (Bamidbar 22:21-22)”. 

Rashi comments:

To thwart him: It was an angel of mercy, and he wanted to prevent him from sinning, for should he sin, he would perish. 

The Hebrew word the Torah uses for “thwart” is l’satan. This word conjures up many images. The Satan is often understood to refer to the prosecuting angel who highlights our shortcoming and faults before the heavenly tribunal. At other times, the Satan is a reference to the yetzer hara, the evil inclination which seeks to undermine our dynamic life growth. Yet, Rashi explains that this angel which came l’satan, to thwart was an angel of mercy sent to try to prevent Bilam from making a terrible mistake.

It is in this simple statement that Rashi teaches us a profound life lesson about failure. There are times when like Bilam, we set out to accomplish something great. We load the proverbial donkey and ready ourselves to move forward only to encounter a roadblock. These roadblocks occur often throughout the journey of life. At times, they are barriers which prevent us from moving forward, and at other times they actively derail and overturn us. We must always remember that the roadblocks are merciful. God puts roadblocks in front of us for two primary reasons. Sometimes, the roadblocks tell me that I am headed down the wrong path. This is not the proper road for me. I need a new direction, a new destination. Many times, I think I know where I am supposed to go – but I am wrong. The destination I think I need to get to is not the right one for me (either for right now or perhaps forever). The roadblock tells me to turn around, choose a new destination, and try again. Yet, sometimes the roadblock is there to make me work harder. The roadblock tells me to find an alternate route, a detour; the destination is correct but will be so much more impactful and meaningful if I put in the additional effort to reach it. The roadblock is there to test my resolve.  How badly do I want to get to the intended destination? How far am I willing to travel? How hard am I willing to work? The roadblock doesn’t tell me to turn around just to try harder.

It was an angel of mercy who tried to tell Bilam to turn around. He was headed down the wrong path; a path which would ultimately lead to his demise. It is this same angel of mercy who often stands in our way as well. At times, he tells us to turn around and find another path and at times he smiles as he directs us onto the shoulder or towards a detour and gently encourages us to try harder and travel wiser. May God grant us the wisdom and understanding to know when to take the detour and when to turn around. (Reprinted from 5779)

We are often called the People of the Book, but perhaps we would be better described as the People of Miracles. It is difficult to comprehend how after thousands of years of persecution and barbaric treatment we are still here. Not only do we exist, but we continue to grow and thrive in both spiritual and material ways.  Throughout our history, God has provided us with national and personal miracles. These miracles have sustained and inspired us in times of joy and distress. Miracles usually fall into two categories: There are utilitarian miracles, performed to remedy an immediate, necessary need e.g. the splitting of the sea, manna in the desert etc. Then there are teaching miracles which occur to impart to us a lesson or shape our ideology e.g. jug of oil which lasted 8 days.

In this week’s Parsha we find a most peculiar miracle. After seeing the downfall of the two powerful Canaanite kings, Sichon and Og, Balak the King of Moav, realized that he could not defeat the Jewish nation through conventional means. Balak hatched a new plan. He dispatched messengers to the great gentile prophet, Bilaam with a simple request, “curse the Jewish people.” As Bilaam traveled to the Jewish camp with the messengers of Balak, the Torah records an amazing episode. God dispatched an angel to stop Bilaam from carrying out this doomed mission, but Bilaam did not see the angelic emissary. However, Bilaam’s donkey did, and as a result the donkey veered off the road and wandered into a nearby field. Bilaam, angered by this display of disobedience, struck the donkey. The Torah relates:  

“God opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Bilaam: ‘What have I done to you, that you have hit me these three times?’ Bilaam said to the donkey: ‘Because you have ridiculed me; would that I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you now.’ The donkey replied to Bilaam, ‘Am I not the very same donkey that you have been riding on all your life until this very day? Was it ever my habit to do this to you?’ And he said: ‘No.’ God then enabled Bilaam to see, and he observed the angel of God standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand. He bowed his head and prostrated himself on his face.” (Bamidbar Chapter 22:28-31)

This miraculous event begs a simple question. Why was this miracle necessary? What was the message being conveyed in this miraculous and supernatural event?

Rabbeinu Bachya (Spain, 1255-1340) explains: God performed this wondrous act, changed the regular laws of nature and allowed the animal to speak to teach us that even the animal understood that this mission was not appropriate and would not result in success.

In other words, the donkey was able to see what Bilaam was not. Already in the beginning of the Parsha when Bilaam was first approached by the messengers of Balak to curse the Jewish nation, Bilaam inquired of God as to whether he should go. God responded, “You shall not go with them! You shall not curse the people because they are blessed.” (Bamidbar 22:12) God made it clear from the beginning that if Bilaam’s intent was to curse the Jewish people, he would not succeed. The people are blessed.  But Bilaam was so intent on cursing them (either out of hatred or more likely because of the wealth and fame it would bring him) that he ignored the Divine warning and convinced himself he would succeed. He managed to convince himself to such a degree that he became oblivious to the signs unfolding all around him. His first attempted “curse” resulted in beautiful blessing. Then, his trusted donkey suddenly veered off course. There was an angel on the road with an outstretched sword. Sign after sign, yet Bilaam ignored each one. Numerous signs of Divine displeasure so obvious and clear that even the donkey understood what Bilaam did not.

It is here, in the midst of this story, that the Torah teaches us such a profound and crucial lesson. There are times in life when we are so desperate to believe that something is true. There are times when we feel compelled to perpetuate a particular reality. There are times when we have so much invested in our personality and life-style that even when we realize the need for change, we are reticent to do so. Instead we ignore certain realities and signs in order to sustain the life and identity we have created. Like the addict who refuses to see how his habit is destroying his life, we are often unable to see the realities of our life for what they are. We refuse to confront our demons and challenges. We prefer to live in a state of cognitive dissonance in which we create an alternate reality for ourselves whereour faults don’t exist, our weaknesses are ignored and our problems remain unsolved.

Herein lies the true tragedy of the Bilaam story. God tried to prevent him from making this terrible mistake (that would later cost him his life). God spoke with him, sent messages and messengers, but Bilaam was too wrapped up in his contrived reality to see or heed what was really happening. God sends the signs but can’t force us to see and internalize them.   

We each put incredible amounts of time, effort and resources into constructing ourselves and our lives. As we continue on the journey of life, it is important to periodically take a step back to examine the lives we lead and the people we have become to make sure that we are travelling in the right direction. We should not keep living or acting a certain way by rote. If we possess negative traits or if our life hashkafos (values) are skewed or incorrect, we must find the strength to rethink and potentially restart. We must find the courage that Bilaam lacked and open our eyes, see the signs, modify, adjust and if need be – start again.