Parshas Balak – Inspiration
The Passuk in this week’s parsha says that “Hashem opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Bilam, ‘What have I done to you that you hit me three times?’” Bilam replies, “You have made a mockery of me. If I had a sword, I would kill you.”
The Rabbeinu Bachaya says that naturally one would be flabbergasted from experiencing the open miracle of an animal speaking to them and would realize that it was a pure act of Hashem, yet Bilam was unfazed because of his cruelty and his crooked nature. It was therefore that he responded as if he was talking to a friend.
The Baalei Mussar explain that of course Bilam had the capacity to be inspired, but he knew that if he would then his inspiration would deter him from carrying out his evil plans against Klal Yisroel so as an alternative he made himself numb to inspiration.
There are two important lessons that can be learned from this Chazal:
Firstly, that a person can ruin themselves so much that they become callous to open miracles.
Secondly, that the power of inspiration is such that it could bring even a rasha like Bilam to do teshuvah.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!
Rabbi Anton