Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan - Parashat Balak

good evening today we're learning parashat balak as we said last week the Jewish people are standing on the border between the land of Israel and trans Jordan ever higher then the lands that we conquered from sihon and OG and they are right next to the country called Moab and people of Moab are our cousins people of MOA have come from a lot from one of his daughters and they are promised by Hashem that they will keep their land that the Jewish people will not conquer their land when um they pass to the land of Israel and um previously the King sihon fought against Moab and conquered part of their land and because he conquered part of their land that land is no longer called the land of Moab and when the Jewish people won a war against sihon they conquered his entire land including the strip that he took from Moab so now the Jewish people have possession of part of land of Moab the rest of the land of Moab is still forbidden for them and uh not only they're not allowed to um fight them they're not allowed to harass them and everyone knows about it they are cousins their relatives um however the Parsha begins on page 857 of article hamash by saying that balak the king of Moab saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite sihon the king of Emory Emory and the country of Moab became very frightened of the Jewish people because the Jewish people were numerous and they were so frightened that they became disgusted in the face of the children of Israel now the question is why are they so scared the Jewish people are not allowed to take their land they're not allowed to harass them they're not allowed to fight them and the answer is because for us it's obvious Hashem told us not to take the land from Moab not to fight them and that's what we're gonna do we'll listen to our God however by the nations of the world there is no such thing as listening to their God because if they don't like one God they can always find another one one Idol another Idol 500 idols and you can always choose whichever one fits you that day and that is why we see it all the time that uh whenever Jewish people make a covenant make a treaty with others they are always sincere and they keep their part of the deal the Jews are considered they are trustworthy the Jew that is why Hashem chose them somebody who is trustworthy is uh easy to deal with you make a deal with him and you can be assured that he will keep his promise so the Jewish people keep their promise to Hashem we chose one God and we stick with him already for almost 4 000 years and we commit ourselves to anything and we stick with it whereas uh Moab knowing their own nature couldn't believe such a thing so what God told the Jews not to conquer us the Jews can always say uh I'm sorry I'm gonna do it anyway they can uh fight conquer and then just bring an offering to their uh God and everything will be permitted to them they couldn't understand that a nation would listen to God seemingly for their own detriment it's unheard of among the nations of the world so Moab became very frightened of the Jewish people so they they had to think of a way to prevent the catastrophe to prevent the Jews conquering more of even though the Jews were not allowed and we're not planning to conquer more so they thought of a plan verse four Moab said to the Elders of Midian so they sent Messengers to a nearby country median now the congregation meaning the Jewish people will look up our entire surroundings they will destroy everything in their sight as an ax licks up The Greenery of the field just like the ax eats everything green inside so too they said the Jews are going to take everything from us and by the way the Torah informs us balak is the son of support that we mentioned at the beginning of departure was the king of Moab at that time and I would say just say the extra words at that time tell us that it was only at that time that he was the king they lost a war to sihon and they needed to appoint a temporary King to help them fight against the Jews so they chose the first uh the first the first uh person meaning uh he was not really qualified to be a king he was not from Royal Blood but they took him for the time being they needed him and she was only a king at that time later he stopped being a king as well so he sent messages Messengers to bilan and bilam was a sorcerer a famous guy the midrash says that he used to be advisor of Paro so he was familiar with the Jewish people and um he was familiar with the Witchcraft and black magic because Egypt was famous for it so he trained in Egypt and he was a very wise man in fact he was a great man so much so that uh God chose him to be a prophet for the Nations for the nations of the world and um Hashem did this in order to prevent a future a potential complaint for from the the non-jews who will say of course the Jews are so good because you send them Prophets they know what you want from them and they do it if you would send the prophet to us we would also be good so knowing that potentially the they might claim that Hashem sent them a prophet and not just a simple Prophet a prophet on the level of mosherabeno the the talmud says even though the Torah says there never again arose a prophet among the Jewish people like Moshe but it says among the Jewish people there was no Prophet like Moshe but among the non-jews there was a prophet like Moshe and that was bilam so imagine you have a Moshe Rabino among and he speaks to Hashem whenever he needs to and does it help them no not only doesn't help them but it causes their ruination instead of serving Hashem he is serving himself we will see in the Parsha he is lustful for money and for forbidden relations and uh instead of using his talent to help people and to come closer to God he uses it only to benefit himself now they gave him a message Behold a people has come out of Egypt and it has covered the surface of the Earth and it sits opposite of me so now please come and curse these people for me so they're asking bilam to curse the Jewish people they understood that there is power in words they know that if somebody pronounces a curse it will have an effect if somebody says a blessing it will have an effect we see that time and again even bad people recognize the power of a blessing we see that Asaf was crying he was begging his father for blessing such a such a man that didn't care for any any anything spiritual he transgressed every possible sin but when it came to a blessing he was crying like a baby and asking don't you have a blessing for me my father why what does he care about the blessing let him go and uh kill and steal and do whatever he wants why does he need a blessing so we see that they understood they understood that that a blessing has great power for now and for all future and they also understood that Wars don't have to be fought only with weapons you can fight a war also by wishing bad on your opponent which means if you bring a Heavenly power against your enemy you will be victorious so the the Jewish people do it the opposite they pray to Hashem to help them and and they did it a different way they asked Hashem to curse their enemy shalom so we see that that it was a universally recognized idea that your words have power and they say for it is too powerful for me to fight them physically perhaps we will be able to strike it and drive it away from the land thanks to your blessing for I know that whomever you bless is blessed bilam has the power to bless as well he is a prophet he is a great man he can achieve a lot and whomever you curse is accursed how do they know it and the answer is that there was a previous war that one country used belam against the other country and they actually won um thanks to his curse to The Other Nation and so they want to use it against the Jews now for those that may be wondering is black magic true his witchcraft true is sorcery true I'll tell you that I have a couple friends who come from countries that are known for their use of black magic and sorcery and in fact I know um people from three or four countries one of them being Uzbekistan unfortunately um where predictions looking into the future putting curse on other people Shalom is popular unfortunately we should all avoid it as well as I have a friend from Haiti who tells me all the Witchcraft that goes on there real stuff and I have a friend from New Guinea in Africa who also tells me that this is normal life for them if you don't like someone you just go to your local sorcer you pay him some money and he puts a curse on your neighbor or enemy and then he gets sick and he suffers sometimes this dies and if he figures out what happened he will go to a different Source or pay him and put a curse on the guy who put the curse on him and like this they fight constantly not fist fights but curse fights real real black magic curses and um this is real it has an effect and those that experienced it on themselves can testify to it but there is a way to be above it and that is to connect yourself to Hashem and that's the purpose Hashem creates good and Hashem creates bad in order to give a person a choice to choose good and so if there was only powers of uh Purity Holiness goodness then there would be no test if someone tries to do bad it wouldn't work someone tries to do good it would work then everyone would be good so Hashem created evil in the world evil is not really evil evil is just a test for us will we choose it or not evil is like he wants to test us but it hopes we're not going to choose it because both yet and Evil is the creation of Hashem they are Servants of Hashem and therefore they want to fulfill the will of Hashem they're there just as puppets and they hope that people will choose to serve Hashem and not them so therefore Hashem has to allow magic witchcraft black magic and sorcery to work because otherwise the test will be not as great and the greatest the test is the um the grid is the reward now they asked bilam to come and curse the Jews and we see that Hashem did not allow bilalam to curse the Jews and from that we see that Hashem was concerned that if Bilal would curse the Jews it would work so Hashem had to tell him no don't curse them and Hashem would tell him I'm not going to allow you to curse them I will put blessing in your mouth why what does Hashem care let him curse them would nullify no a a curse any word that comes out from a human being has a power the talmud says there is a special Covenant that Hashem made with lips it's a covenant that must be kept whatever the person says will be again unless you connect to Hashem if you connect to Hashem and you say Hashem I recognize that you're the source of everything nobody can harm me nobody can put evil eye on me nobody can curse me and even if they do it's not gonna work because I'm connected directly to Hashem then all the curses will not work and all the black magic will not work but you have to sincerely believe and understand that Hashem is the true source of everything so now let's continue we are again on page 857 verse 7 the Elders of Moab and the Elders of Midian the two countries together went with charms with special instruments with which you can do black magic and sorcery they came to bilam and spoke to him the words of balak so the question is we understand why Moab was scared because Jewish people already took part of the land that belonged to them that they lost to sihon and they were right next to their border and more abides were scared that the Jews might take more from their land but why did midianites go against the Jewish people that's hard to understand the country of median was not right in that vicinity it was a little further further away that was the country where Moshe went when he ran away from Egypt and that's the country that his wife was from Sephora why would they go against the Jews and the answer is that more more abides have had a reason to be scared of the Jews and therefore we see in the future they were not punished for what they did but the midianites really did it only out of their hatred for the Jews and uh therefore midianites were severely punished they were annihilated late in the in the next Torah portion besat Hashem will see now they came to bilam and offered him to do what he loves doing cursing people and surprisingly he tells them in verse spend the night here and I shall give you a response as Hashem shall speak to me so he realizes who he's dealing with these are Jewish people he has to go directly to their God he has to go to Hashem to the true God no Idols are going to help over here he tells them put your charms away this is not about charms anymore this is about reality only God can give me permission to curse the Jews alone and I need to ask him so the officers of Moab stayed with billah and the question is that what happened to the officers of Midian where did they go they came to ask as soon as he tells them stay here overnight they left because they right away felt that it's not gonna work if he is not sure if he cannot give us the answer now that's it be it's it's over so they left only the officers of Moab State now we're on page 859 God came to bilam and said who are these men with you Hashem often asks a question even though he knows what's going on in order to it should start the conversation not to scare a person not to give him a command right away it's as if he's uh saying Hi how are you who are these men with you Hashem knows who they are so bilan says to God son of support King Of Wands Moab sent to me that I should curse them and in verse 12 God says to be loved you shall not go with them you shall not curse the people because they are blessed I bless them cannot curse them I want them to remain blessed and surprisingly billum doesn't argue Blum arose in the morning and said to the officers go to your land for Hashem refuses to let me go with you so I can't do it belam admits that he cannot do anything without hashem's permission he is a prophet prophet of the true God the officers of marav arose and came to balak and said bilam refused to go with us but balak sends a second delegation and a third delegation balak kept on sending officers more and higher ranking than these from these words we see that he kept on sending again and again and again raising his offer to Bilal and again Bilal was saying what do you want from me I I can't Hashem doesn't give him permission so the last delegation the highest caliber delegation came to bilam and said to him so said balak Son of support do not refrain from going to me for I shall honor you greatly and everything you say to me I shall do so now go and curse these people for me answered them the same way even if balak will give me his house full of silver and gold I cannot transgress the word of Hashem my God to do anything small or great but let me try one more time now you two stay here for the night and I will know what more Hashem will speak with me so Hashem came to bilam at night and said to him the man came to summon you and you really want to go I'm not gonna stop you anymore Hashem tries to stop a person once and twice and three times protecting him not letting him go lost but if the person insists we say Otto on a way that the person wants to go they lead him Hashem allows the person to go and again this is because we have freedom of choice if Hashem would stop us all the time whenever we want to do bad then we would never do bad because Hashem wouldn't allow us and so Hashem has to allow us he hints to us he tries but if we insist then Hashem says okay go but in this case only the thing that I shall speak to you that shall you do so belam happily arose in the morning and settled his she donkey and later we'll see why it was a she donkey and went with the officers of Moab now we're on page 861 bilam heard the message and bilam is still hoping to curse the Jews he is still happy that he received the permission to go the first part is accomplished he is allowed to go and now he's thinking how can I trick God to slip in the curse so that God can't stop me and therefore verse 22 page 861 God's Wrath flared because he was going and Hashem sent three angels to stop billah for his own good and an angel of Hashem stood on the road to impede him he was writing his she donkey and his two young men were with him the she dunk he saw the angel of Hashem standing on the road with his sword drawn in his hand and so that she donkey turned away from the road and went into the field donkey so more than the prophet of God so this was a special Duncan we see that later this donkey will speak and talmud tells us that this donkey was created on Friday Twilight at the beginning of creation for this purpose and this donkey belonged to avrahama Vino and later billum came into possession of it this was a special donkey the donkey that can talk on the other hand we also know that animals can see certain things that people cannot and that is because people have more intelligence if they would see what's going on in a spiritual world they would be so frightened they would pass out or if they don't pass out they would be so aware of reality that they would not be able to sin they would lose their freedom of choice and therefore Hashem makes us have blind we don't see most of things that go on just like we cannot see physically anything above a violet light and anything below red light we don't see those colors those uh um whatever it's called the that light and we those frequencies we and and uh radio waves and uh everything else that exists we only see a tiny tiny sliver of spectrum tiny 99 of the spectrum we don't see and we don't hear we only hear a little bit sounds that are too low or too high we don't see we don't hear part of the reason is it's a it's a kindness of Hashem because otherwise we would not be able to survive we would be overwhelmed with all the sounds and the sights and the the information and so too we cannot observe what's going on in a spiritual world uh practically we know we cannot see germs we cannot see bacteria and viruses imagine if you would see all the little buggies crawlies that are on your hands on your face in your mouth you will be so disgusted you couldn't you couldn't live so Hashem says I'm gonna allow you to see whatever you can handle so again the same thing is with the spiritual world but animals who have less intelligence they're not going to be bothered if they see all all the Spiritual Beings walking around them so the angel the the the donkey saw now when bilam saw that the the donkey is all of a sudden not going on the path and going into the field struck the Shi donkey to turn it back onto the road so the donkey was forced to continue going on the road the angel of Hashem stood again in the path of The Vineyards and there was a fence on both sides so the she donkey saw the angel of Hashem and pressed against the wall and it pressed billum's leg against the wall and crushed it and he continued to strike it not knowing why the donkeys all of a sudden misbehaving and the angel of Hashem went further and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn right on the left and she dunk again saw the angel of Hashem and crouched beneath belong and bilam's anger flared up and he struck the she donkey with the staff so three times the donkey is trying to save Bilal from the angel of death and belong gets angry this is uh the stupidity of becoming angry when a person becomes angry he's really showing that he is blind the reason why things don't go his way is for his own God and he should recognize it must be Hashem doesn't want me to have it or to be there and that is why things don't go work out my way and that is why people don't do what I want for some for whatever reason it's not what's supposed to be and the person gets angry he is really uh showing a lack of trust in Hashem and he is showing that he thinks that he is in control so that is what bilam is showing and all of a sudden in verse 28 Hashem opened the mouth of the she donkey and it's said to be lamb what have I done to you that you struck me these three times and instead of being shocked that his own donkey is talking to him and rebuking him what does bilam do belong said to the she donkey because you mocked me because you made fun of me if only there were a sword in my hand I would now have killed you he is talking to the donkey as if the donkey is his equal as if the donkey is a human being he loses his mind and the she donkey continued and said to belam am I not your she donkey that you have ridden all your life until this day have I been accustomed to do such a thing to you and bilam had to admit and he said no this is the first time it ever happens then we're on page 863 Hashem uncovered bilam's eyes and finally he saw and the angel of Hashem standing on the road with his sword drawn in his head bow bowed his head and prostrated his himself on his face BLM is now flat on the ground now the question is what is the donkey saying am I not your she donkey that you have ridden all your life until this day I would say just say that if you look carefully in the tour of the the expression that is being used here is a similar expression that is used for marital relations and from here they derive that belam actually was married to his donkey he didn't have a wife he had a she donkey and and why why would the prophet we understand a lowly a lowly person would do such a thing well why would the prophet prophet of God who recognizes God a wise man why would he have a she donkey as a wife and the answer I would say just give is that Bila also practiced sorcery black magic witchcraft for which you have to connect two forces of impurity and as such he had to find a way to become impure whenever he wanted now this also answers another question why most of people who deal with witchcraft are women witches are more popular than Wizards and that is because a woman has a natural cycle of Purity and impurity and she naturally is connected for part of the month to the source of impurity and therefore it's easier for a woman to do witchcraft for a man it is harder because he has to do something bad in order to be connected with a source of impurity either he has to have relations with Anita a woman that is experiencing menstrual cycle that is bleeding or since such a woman is not always available if she's in her pure um part of the cycle then what how can he do witchcraft so for that he has to have marital relations with an animal and that is why bilam said I am a professional Sorcerer And wizard I have to be constantly connected to the source of impurity to do my uh my job well and therefore he acquired himself a trustworthy donkey which helped him to be in constant Source uh state of impurity now verse 32 in on page 863. the angel of Hashem said to belan why did you strike the she donkey these three times behold I went out to impede because you were rushing so fast your donkey saw me and turned away if it didn't turn away I would have killed you this was an angel of death pilum said to the angel of Hashem I have sinned because I didn't know that you were standing opposite me on the road and now if it is evil in your eye I shall return again bilam is is very tricky instead of just simply saying I'm sorry I'm going home he's continuing he's charade if it's evil in your eye I will return as if he doesn't understand that Hashem doesn't want him to do it so Hashem now makes fun of billon and the angel of Hashem said to be loved no go that's what you want to do go with the man but only the word that I shall speak to you shall you speak so bill went with the officers of balak again bilam hears the message from Hashem that he will not be able to curse why is he going verse 36 bilam balak the king of Moab heard that Dylan had come so he went out toward him verse 37 balak said to bilam did they didn't I urgently send to you to summon you why did you not go to me am I not capable of honoring you to balak behold now I have come to you it's as if he's giving him a hint you know why are you complaining about the past you wanted something you got it you wanted me I came now I have come even if I came late I came be happy and uh don't complain and then he explains to him why he came late am I empowered to say anything whatever word God puts into my mouth that shall I speak so here again billum is is tricky instead of saying God told me to bless the Jewish people he is saying whatever God will tell me I'll say which gives uh ballak false hope that who knows maybe God will give him a curse has a shalom now they went to kiriatricsod which was on the edge of the Jewish camp so that belam can see the Jewish people balak slaughtered cattle and sheep to eat and he sent to biliman his officers and they spent the night there in the morning balak took bilam and brought him to the heights of Bal was their Idol and from there he saw the edge of the people now page 865 billum said to valak built for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven Rams bilob knows that to get something you have to first appease God and that's what he's doing and he's making seven altars and uh the commentators say he knew precisely that our ancestors have built seven altars to Hashem and bilam is saying Hashem I am canceling out all their service and I'm going to serve you please allow me to curse the Jews now in verse 4 God happened upon belam and he said and bilam said to God I have prepared seven altars and brought up a bull and RAM on each altar I'm so good and Hashem put words in bilam's mouth and said go back to balak and thus you shall say to him so he went back to balag and he declaimed that his parabon said from Aram and I mean in verse 7 from Aram balak king of mom Moab led me from the mountains of the East come curse Yago for me come bring anger upon Israel how can I curse God has not cursed how can I anger Hashem is not angry for from its Origins from the Jewish people's Origins I see that the Jewish people are rock-like they're strong and from hills do I see it behold it is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the Nations belam makes a prophecy a prediction the Jewish people will always be alone they will not have any friends among the Nations they will have temporary friends and allies but all of them will eventually abandon them they do will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations in the future when time will come for Hashem to judge the Nations and to punish them the Jewish people will not be reckoned they will not be counted among the Nations to receive the punishment now we turn to page 867. verse 10 that now his Blessing continues who has counted the dust of yaakov and numbered even a quarter of Israel they are so numerous cannot be counted may my soul die the death of the upright and may my end be like his belam is so overwhelmed by what he sees he sees the end of the Jewish people and it's so beautiful that he says I wish I can have their end I wish I can have their future their reward it's so good but He Still Remains an evil person he only says I want to die a righteous death I want the reward like the Jewish people but I'm not willing to live properly I still want my Pleasures my honor my money it's only my wish to be good but I'm not planning to so verse 11 Bala gets angry balak said to Bila what have you done to me to curse my enemy have I brought you and behold you have even blessed and Billa Manson is it not what I said that whatever Hashem puts in my mouth that I must take heed to speak so balak tries another place and he says go now with me to a different place from which you will see them and you will curse it from me from there and again they built seven altars and brought up a bull and a ram on each so verse 16 Hashem happened upon Milam and put an utterance in his mouth and said go back to balak and say so he came and he said in verse 19. God is not a man that he should be deceitful nor a son of man that he should change his mind would he say and not do or speak and not confirm no such thing this is a very powerful words even Villa the non-jewish prophet proclaims that God does not change his mind he's not a human being and therefore this is our answer to Christianity and Islam they claim that God changed his mind and we say as much as you want to believe that God is a man and a son of man he is not therefore he doesn't change his mind he chose the Jewish people and the Jewish people will stay forever his people he will never choose any other Nation behold to bless have I deceived God has blessed and I shall not contradict it he God perceived no bad no inequity in yaakov he saw no perversity in Israel Hashem his God is with him and the friendship of the king is in him Hashem loves the Jewish people even when the Jewish people sin Hashem closes his eyes Hashem sees no iniquity in yaakov he sees no perversity in Israel like a loving father like a loving mother he only sees good in his children it is God who brought them out of Egypt according to the power of His loftiness now the blessing continues on page 8 69. four there is no Divination in yaakov and nor sorcery in Israel and he this has two meanings number one one of the reasons that God loves Jewish people is because they don't practice Witchcraft and sorcerer and black magic because they only believe in God and God loves them and another meaning is there is no Divination in Yakov and no sorcerer in Israel means that no magic black magic and no sorcery works against the Jewish people they are above muscle even now it is said to yaakov and Israel what God has wrought verse 24 behold the people the Jewish people will arise like a lion cub and raise itself like a lion he is predicting that in the future the Jewish people are going to be great this was in times of shilomo David and shalomo it will not lie down until it consumes prey and drinks the blood of the slain and it he hints also to the time of Mordechai and estere now balak again gets angry neither shall you curse them at all nor shall you bless them at all and Billa Manson have I not spoken to you saying whatever Hashem shall speak that I shall do and now balak tries the third time he says go now and I shall take her to a different place perhaps it will be proper in God's eyes that you will curse them for me from there so verse 29 bilam said to balak built for me here seven autism prepared for me here seven bowls and seven ramps and now verse three bilam raised his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes and the spirit of God was upon him he declaimed his Parable and said now we turn to page 871 and we hear beautiful beautiful words that Hashem put in bilam's mouth verse 5 how goodly are your tents or yaakov your Dwelling Places or Israel bilam sees Jewish Community he sees how Jews are modest and they care for one another and he can't believe it this is the best the best place on Earth is a Jewish Dwelling Place stretching out like Brooks like Gardens by a river like aloes planted by Hashem like Cedars by Waters this is all a description of a Jewish um nation and as well as a blessing water shall flow from his Wells which means they will have paranasa and his seed shall be by Abundant Waters that Jewish people will have a lot of children his King shall be exalted over a gag that is and his kingdom shall be appraised David and shalomo it is God who brought him out of Egypt according to the power of His loftiness he will consume the Nations and oppress he that oppressed him and crushed their bones and his arrows shall pierce them he crouched and laid like a lot down like a lion and like a lion cub who can stand him up those who bless you are blessed and those who curse you are accursed beautiful blessing may it always come true and balak now is very angry balak's anger flared against Bila and he clapped his hands to curse my enemies did I summon you and behold you have continually blessed them these three times now flee to your place I said I would honor you but behold Hashem has withheld you from honor bilam said to valak did I not speak to your emissaries whom you sent to me saying even if balak gives me his household full of gold and silver I cannot transgress the word of Hashem to do good or bad on my own whatever Hashem speaks that shall I speak and now behold I'll go to my people so he goes to his people back to his country empty-handed but he can't just leave peacefully he says come I shall advise you what these people will do to your people in the end of days and now he puts a curse on balak himself he's upsetted him and he curses him verse 17 I shall see him but not now I shall look at him but it is not near a star has issued from yaakov and the scepter Bearer has arisen from Israel that refers According to some to mashiach some to King David and he shall pierce the Nobles of Moab and undermine all the children of shed children of shed refers to all Humanity because Shad was the third son of um of Adam from whom the entire Humanity came so he is predicting that the Jewish people will be victorious over the entire non-jewish world now Verse 18 adore shall be a conquest which means they also will fall and shall be the conquest of his enemies and Israel will attain success one from yaakov shall Rule and destroy the remnant of the city verse 20. a curse against amalek he saw amalekan declaimed his Parable and said amalek is the first among nations to attack the Jews but its end will be Eternal destruction then he gave a blessing to the descendants of yitro who are part of midianized nation but then they left and they formed their own nation of canines he saw the canine and declaimed his Parable and said strong is your dwelling and set in a rock is your nest four and now he says a cryptic passage for if the canine should be laid waste till where can Assyria take you captive now verse 875 he gives us a hint of times of mashiach he declaimed his Parable and said oh who will survive when God imposes these and now this is again prediction for the future some say this is prediction of the times when Rome ruled the world some say this is a prediction for the times of mashiach for the war of Gogan Magog big ships from the coast of kitim will afflict Assyria and afflict the other bank but it to the the key team whatever country that refers to will be forever destroyed there will be a World War then bilam rose up and went and returned to his place now chapter 25 the midrash and the talmud tell us that before bilam went back to his place he even though he was upset at um moabites for at balak that they didn't pay him but pilam was also um still had his hatred for the Jewish people and uh he gave advice to the to to balak how to win against the Jews he told him yes you cannot win against them with weapons you cannot curse them God will not allow but there is one thing you can do you can cause them to sin he said I know then and I know their God their God hates immorality if you can find a way to cause Jewish men to sin God will punish them himself and then you don't have to do anything so that's what happened the moabites and midianites started sending their girls to seduce the Jews Israel settled in the shittim and the people began to stray towards the daughters of Moab they translate as commit harlotry but in Hebrew it says to stray towards the daughters of Moab and the daughters of Moab invited the Jewish people to Feast of their gods they told them if you want to have relations first bow down to my idol so the people ate and prostrated themselves to the more by gods Israel became attached to Bal peor the the idol of Moab and the wrath of Hashem flared up against Israel exactly what bilan predicted happened Hashem said to Moshe take all the leaders of the people hang them before Hashem against the sun which means who all the leaders of those who follow the more by the midianite ladies who sinned with them take them and hang them publicly and only then the flaring Wrath of Hashem will withdraw from Israel and Moshe said to the judges of Israel Let each Man kill his man who were attached to Baltimore whoever did idolatry and whoever committed horology with the daughters of Moab and behold something terrible happened a man of the children of Israel came and brought a midianite woman near to his brothers in the to the camp of the Jewish people in the sight of Moshe and in the sight of the entire assembly of the children of Israel while they were Weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting and he committed harlotry with that midianite woman in front of everybody he brought her publicly into his tent and lay with her and verse 7. pinchas the son of elazar the grandson of aharona kohen saw and he stood up from amida assembly and took a spear in his hand he followed the Israelite man into the tent and Pierce them both together the Israelite man and the woman into the her stomach and the plague was halted from upon the children of Israel those who died in a plague were 24 000 people imagine because the Jewish people followed their desires girls of foreign Nations and they also caused them to serve Idols 000 people died in the plague that's just the people that died in the plague and many more were hanged and killed by uh officers that moshes sent to kill all those that publicly served idols so thousands upon thousands of people died through this incident and then we will see that later Billa will come back to Moab and he will say to balak pay me I gave you a good advice I caused deaths of tens of thousands of the Jewish people and later bilam and the the entire nation of media were punished for it okay may only blessings come to the Jewish people and uh may we only hear good news thank you for listening shabbat shalom