«Во сне 😴 и наяву» Балак 5784

(21) When he arose in the morning, Balaam saddled his ass and departed with the Moabite dignitaries. (22) But God was incensed at his going; so a messenger of יהוה took a position in his way as an adversary. He was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants alongside, (23) when the ass caught sight of the messenger of יהוה standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. The ass swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat the ass to turn her back onto the road. (24) The messenger of יהוה then stationed himself in a lane between the vineyards, with a fence on either side. (25) The ass, seeing the messenger of יהוה, pressed herself against the wall and squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he beat her again. (26) Once more the messenger of יהוה moved forward and stationed himself on a spot so narrow that there was no room to swerve right or left. (27) When the ass now saw the messenger of יהוה, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam was furious and beat the ass with his stick. (28) Then יהוה opened the ass’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” (29) Balaam said to the ass, “You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I’d kill you.” (30) The ass said to Balaam, “Look, I am the ass that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing thus to you?” And he answered, “No.” (31) Then יהוה uncovered Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the messenger of יהוה standing in the way, his drawn sword in his hand; thereupon he bowed right down to the ground.*right down to the ground Lit. “and prostrated himself to his nostrils.” (32) The messenger of יהוה said to him, “Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who came out as an adversary, for the errand is obnoxious*obnoxious Precise meaning of Heb. yarat uncertain. to me. (33) And when the ass saw me, she shied away because of me those three times. If she had not shied away from me, you are the one I should have killed, while sparing her.” (34) Balaam said to the messenger of יהוה, “I erred because I did not know that you were standing in my way. If you still disapprove, I will turn back.” (35) But the messenger of יהוה said to Balaam, “Go with the men.*men (So NJPS.) See note to v. 9. But you must say nothing except what I tell you.” So Balaam went on with Balak’s dignitaries.

(Devarim, Ibid. 10) "And there shall not arise in Israel again a prophet such as Moses": But among the nations, there did arise. And who was he? Bilam the son of Beor.

And this is what Balaam said to Balak: Since God is not becoming angry, I can do nothing, as: “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I execrate whom the Lord has not execrated”? (Numbers 23:8). The Gemara further discusses this matter: And how long does His indignation last? It lasts a moment. And how long is a moment? Ameimar, and some say Ravina, said: It lasts as long as it takes to say the word moment [rega]. The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that God’s anger lasts for only a moment? As it is written: “His anger is but for a moment; His favor, for a lifetime”

because the brain rules over the heart [as explained in Raaya Mehemna, Parashat Pinchas] by virtue of its innately created nature. For this is how man is created from birth, that each person may, with the willpower in his brain, restrain himself and control the drive of lust that is in his heart, preventing his heart’s desires from expressing themselves in action, word, or thought, and divert his attention altogether from the craving of his heart toward the completely opposite direction, particularly in the direction of holiness.