ספר במדבר

Numbers 22,4. “now this multitude will lick up all that ‎is around us as does the ox licking up the grass of the field, ‎etc.;” Why did Balak draw a comparison between the ‎encampment of the Israelites and the manner in which oxen ‎denude the soil of its grass cover? Before explaining this it will ‎help to explain Deuteronomy 11,15 where the Torah promises ‎the Israelites that when they observe the Torah once they are on ‎their own soil: ‎ונתתי עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת‎, “I will provide ‎the grass of the field for your beasts and you will eat and be ‎satisfied.” After the first sin G’d had condemned Adam to eating ‎the grass of the field. (Genesis 3,18) We need to remember that ‎whatever man eats is surrounded by commandments of the Torah ‎being fulfilled in the process. Long before the farmer can eat the ‎bread from the corn he grew this corn was subject to a variety of ‎regulations of the Torah that have to be fulfilled first, in order for ‎the farmer not to have been remiss. The farmer had to fulfill ‎commandments relating both to ploughing, such as not having a ‎donkey and an ox pulling the same plough; when seeding the ‎farmer must take care not to seed the same field with a mixture ‎of seeds of different grains, etc., before the tithes and related gifts ‎to the poor, etc., of the actual harvest become applicable. ‎‎(compare Deut. 22,10 and 9) By performing these various ‎commandments prior to enjoying the result of his labours, the ‎Jewish farmer becomes G’d’s partner in spiritually elevating the ‎‎“sparks” (of holiness) contained in some of these foods, i.e. ‎rehabilitating parts of G’d’s creation, such as some angels which ‎had been spiritually downgraded through failing to perform their ‎duties.When man is reduced to eating the grass of the field, i.e. ‎vegetation which grows without human input, he is unable ‎through his eating, i.e. his partaking of G’d’s largesse, to ‎accomplish his own or his environment’s rehabilitation.‎This was the negative effect of the curse pronounced by G’d ‎as part of Adam’s punishment, i.e. road to rehabilitation, decreed ‎in Genesis 3,18. [This more than offsets the apparently ‎beneficial effect of picking his food from the ground effortlessly ‎and eating it as is. Ed.]‎When the Torah describes the Israelite as “eating and being ‎satiated” in Deuteronomy 11,15, it does not refer to the Israelite ‎eating grass, but to his eating the ox after it has been duly ‎slaughtered, examined for blemishes, its blood having been ‎removed, etc., etc., i.e. numerous commandments having been ‎performed, so that by eating it eventually the party doing so ‎participates in the process of rehabilitating “fallen” sparks. ‎Through this round about manner of man eating grass, i.e. grass ‎which had first been eaten by the ox, he is enabled to participate ‎in the rehabilitation of holy beings that had been demoted from ‎their lofty origins.In his writings, the Ari’zal has stated ‎that the four basic levels of phenomena in this lower universe in ‎which we mortals live, i.e. the inert, the vegetarian, the ‎animalistic and the articulate, i.e. the human beings, there exist ‎four levels in the universe known in a descending order as ‎‎atzilut, b’riyah, yetzirah, and assiyah. In ‎other words, the level of the animalistic, or ‎חי‎, corresponds to the ‎level of ‎בריאה‎, creatures in the early stage of existence known as ‎בריאה‎ a stage in which this “creature” is distinct from other ‎‎“existences” on a similar level.The soul of repentant sinners is ‎in a better position to help rehabilitate converts (who used to be ‎pagans) than is the soul of a person who has always been a true ‎believer in monotheism. The wicked Balak of which our portion ‎speaks, was afraid of Israel because the Israelites had ‎demonstrated their ability to help rehabilitate fallen sinners, i.e. ‎‎“sparks,” during their journey through the desert, and he hated ‎holiness, as has been alluded to in the line ‎ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל‎, ‎‎“that Moab was disgusted by the Children of Israel,” i.e. their ‎moral/ethical values. The mere thought of having to be in the ‎presence of holiness, literally caused Balak to ‎puke.[The root occurs in connection with Rivkah’s ‎telling Yitzchok of being disgusted with her life if Yaakov would ‎marry a daughter of Canaanite descent as had his twin brother ‎Esau. (Genesis 27,45) Ed.]According to Ari z’al ‎what bothered Balak most, was the fact that during their ‎wanderings the converts had been most successful in ‎rehabilitating these “fallen” sinners, “sparks” and that is why the ‎Torah describes this ‎עם‎, i.e. the converts of the Jewish people as ‎being ‎רב‎, a major component of the people who rehabilitated ‎sinners. He feared them more than the natural born Israelites, i.e. ‎ויגר מואב מפני העם מאד‎, “Moab feared the newly converted ‎Israelites very much.” The reason was that ‎רב הוא‎, they were such ‎a powerful influence in rehabilitating pagans. The Moabites were ‎not nearly as afraid of the ‎בני ישראל‎, the natural born Israelites ‎being able to attract as many converts.In Balak’s eyes it was ‎as despicable to be an Israelite as it had been in the eyes of the ‎new King over Egypt and his nation in Exodus1,8-‎‎12.Moreover, he was aware that if his people would come into ‎contact with other recent Jewish converts, the influence of those ‎converts who had themselves come closer to G’d through joining ‎the Jewish people, would be powerful enough for them to elevate ‎Moabite converts to the highest spiritual level of life on earth, i.e. ‎the level of ‎בריאה‎. Referring back to the 4 spiritual levels of ‎existence in the physical part of the universe, spiritual ascent, ‎when it occurs, proceeds to the next higher level, the level of ‎בריאה ‏‎ being the one corresponding to ‎חי‎, the level of animalistic ‎creatures. This is hinted at by Balak when he compared the ‎people to the animals eating grass, i.e. ‎כלחוך השור את ירק השדה‎.‎