Parashat Balak
Question
A gutn erev Shabbos!
In this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak (which the Chida explains is an acronym: ברכה לא קללה “a blessing and not a curse” because Bilaam intended to curse Am Yisrael, but instead Hashem caused him to bless them), the Torah says:
Bamidbar 24:16
“The words of the one who hears the sayings of Hashem and knows the knowledge of the Almighty.”
Rashi explains:
“And knows the knowledge of the Almighty” he knew how to determine the exact moment when Hashem becomes angry".
The Gemara in Berachos 7a explains that the moment when Hashem’s anger is aroused lasts for exactly a moment, literally a rega.
The Question:
If Bilaam wanted to curse Klal Yisrael specifically during that moment of anger, how would he have enough time to say the entire curse in such a small amount of time?
Answer
This question is asked by Tosafos in Berachos 7a, and Tosafos gives two answers.
Be’ezrat Hashem, we will explain the two answers of Tosafos and study the halachic debate that arises from one of Tosafos’ explanations.
Tosafos writes:
“If you will ask: What could he have said in such a short moment?
We could answer that he could have said the word ‘כלם’ (destroy them). Or we could say that since he would begin his curse at that moment of anger, it would then continue on until he completed what he wanted to say.”
Let’s now study in depth the holy words of Tosafos.
The First Answer of Tosafos
Tosafos answers (as also brought in Tosafos Avodah Zarah 4b) that Bilaam intended to say the word:
כלם “Destroy them”
But Hashem changed the order of the letters into:
מלך “King”
As the pasuk says:
“וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ”
“And the friendship of the King is with them.”
(In the sifrei Mussar and Chassidus it is explained that this was not merely a word scramble, but rather a great lesson in Avodat Hashem.
The letters of כל"ם stand for:
כבד לב מוח
Liver Heart Brain
Meaning, Bilaam wanted the liver and heart, representing physical desires and the yetzer hara, to control the brain. The mind would then only be used afterwards to justify a person’s lifestyle and desires.
But Hashem reversed it into:
מל"ך מוח לב כבד
Brain Heart Liver
Meaning that when Klal Yisrael allows the mind and intellect to lead and control the desires of the heart and body, then they merit:
“וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ” the presence of the King is among them.)
However, we can ask:
How would it have helped for Bilaam to just say “כלם” if he did not mention whom he wanted to curse?
The Pesach Einayim brings this question from the Yaaros Devash (who, because of this question, gives a different explanation). However, the Pesach Einayim answers in two ways:
1. Since Bilaam’s intention was directed towards Klal Yisrael, he did not need to actually mention their name.
2. Bilaam specifically wanted to see the camp of Klal Yisrael, so that when he said “כלם” while looking at them, and that would be sufficient.
As he writes:
“I saw in the sefer Yaaros Devash who questioned the explanation of Tosafos, because which nation would the curse apply to? There was no time to mention the name of the nation being cursed.
We could answer that since we find in Berachos 34a that one who prays for mercy on behalf of his friend does not need to mention his name, as Moshe prayed ‘Please Hashem, heal her’ and did not mention Miriam’s name. So too here, Bilaam did not need to mention the nation explicitly; it was enough that his intention was directed toward them.
Alternatively, since he was looking at the nation while saying ‘כלם’, that was sufficient. Perhaps this is the reason Balak needed to bring Bilaam to a place where he could see them, because according to this answer of Tosafos there was no time to mention their name.”
The Second Answer of Tosafos
Since Bilaam would begin the curse during the moment of anger, the moment of anger would then extend throughout the curse.
There is a discussion in halacha regarding someone who begins Shemoneh Esrei before sof zeman, but continues davening the Shemoneh Esrei after the zeman:
Do we say that since he began within the proper time, the whole tefillah is considered to have been said on time?
In other words, is the main thing just to start the tefillah before sof zeman?
The Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 110:1) writes in the name of the Knesses HaGedolah that if a person sees that the time for tefillah is about to pass, he should not begin Shemoneh Esrei if he will not finish in time. Rather, he should say the shortened form of Shemoneh Esrei known as Havineinu.
However, the Aruch Hashulchan (110:5) disagrees and brings proof from our Tosafos:
Just as by Bilaam’s curse, once he began during the moment of anger he could continue afterwards, we see that everything follows the beginning.
Therefore, regarding tefillah as well, if one began before sof zeman, it should be considered that the time of tefillah extends until he is finished.
The Aruch Hashulchan writes:
“It appears from Tosafos in Berachos that we follow the beginning. If he began during the time of tefillah, it is considered tefillah in its proper time, even though he finished afterwards.”
However, we could differentiate between an eis ratzon (a special time of favor) and the halachic time of tefillah.
Regarding an eis ratzon, Tosafos teaches us that if one begins during that special time, it can continue afterwards.
But when Chazal established a specific time frame for Shacharis, the entire Shemoneh Esrei must be completed during that time in order to be considered a tefillah in its proper time.
With regard to “extending” the time of the eis ratzon we find an interesting idea from the Arizal, brought in the Machatzis Hashekel (Siman 6).
When a person davens with a minyan and afterwards remains in shul to say Tehillim, the eis ratzon of tefillah b’tzibbur continues even when he is now davening alone.
Practical Halacha
We asked Moreinu HaGaon HaRav Amram Fried shlit”a what is the halacha Le’maaseh on this subject.
The Rav answered:
Le’halacha, we follow the opinion of the Magen Avraham, as brought in the Mishnah Berurah (89:4 and 233:13), that the entire Shemoneh Esrei must be completed before sof zeman.
Therefore:
* If a person is davening Shacharis and realizes that he will not finish the entire Shemoneh Esrei before the end of zman tefillah, he should see the guidelines brought in Azamrah Lishmecha #328 regarding what parts of davening may be skipped so that the whole Shemoneh Esrei is completed before sof zman.
* If one will not manage to complete the entire Shacharis Shemoneh Esrei before chatzos, he should not begin, and instead should daven Mincha twice.
* If one will not manage to complete the entire Maariv Shemoneh Esrei before alos hashachar, he should not begin, and instead should daven Shacharis twice.
On behalf of the entire staff of the Sheilot website, we wish you a Shabbos Shalom uMevorach
