Thursday's Parsha Tidbits - Parshas Balak

The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts on the parsha that R' Frand spoke about in his shiur tonight. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.

In Bamidbar 23:8, Bila'am says to Balak - How can I curse if Hashem has not cursed, how can I anger if Hashem is not angry? Rashi explains that Bila'am was saying that even when the Jews should have been cursed, Hashem did not curse them. By example when Ya'akov was upset about Shimon & Levi killing Shechem, he did not curse them, he cursed their anger. And when Ya'akov took the brochos that Yitzchak intended to give to Esav, Yitzchak said - he will also be blessed. Even when the Jews stood on Har Eval, they were not addressed as a nation to be cursed.

R' Frand quoted the Maharal who says that one can see this in the posuk - because the language in the pasuk is past tense - in the past they were worthy of being cursed and Hashem did not curse them. This is not a discussion of the future, but of what has not happened to date.

The Klei Yakar explains that when things are difficult and people are suffering, people curse their king or their perception of G-d. But here, Bila'am observes, the Jews even when things are tough, they don't curse Hashem. Even when Hashem deals with them harshly, they don't curse Hashem and even bless Hashem for the negative. So if they never curse Hashem, how can I curse them?

R' Frand quoted R' Avraham Bukspan who cited the Gemara in Berachos 20b in which the angels said to Hashem - You don't favor any nation, yet the pasuk says in Bamidbar 6:26 - May Hashem lift His Countenance to you and establish peace for you? To this Hashem responds, I need to show favor to them, because one only needs to bench after a meal that is filling, yet they do bench even after eating only an olive or egg sized piece of bread.

The obvious question on the Gemara is - why is this the chumra selected as being worthy of praise? Given all the chumras in Shabbos, or kashrus or taharas hamishpacha, why is this chosen?

R' Bukspan answers by quoting the sefer Yalkut Yehuda by R' Ginsburg who explains that the Gemara is not saying that benching on a small amount is what is meritorious about the Jews. Its that when a Jew only has a small amount of food - just an olive or egg size piece of bread - the Jew still thanks and praises Hashem for this. 

To this, Bila'am says - if they praise Hashem and do not curse him when they have so little, how can I curse them - Hashem will not accept it!

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