The Gemara* cites the following exposition relating to the central character of our sidra, Bilam: נאמנים פצעי אוהב ונעתרות נשיקות שונא, Mishlei says – Faithful are the blows of a friend, while burdensome are the kisses of an enemy,** טובה קללה שקילל אחיה השלוני את ישראל מברכה שבירך בלעם הרשע, this means – better was the curse that Achiyah the Shilonite cursed Israel than the blessing which the wicked Bilam blessed them with. How so? כי אחיה קילל בקנה. מה קנה עומד במקום מים וגזעו מחליף ושרשיו מרובין ואפילו כל הרוחות שבעולם באות ונושבות בו אין מזיזות אותו ממקומו אלא הוא הולך ובא עמהן, For Achiyah cursed by equating the Jews with a reed. Just as a reed grows in a place of water and its stalk regenerates itself and its roots are many, and even if all of the winds in the world blow at it they cannot move it from its place, rather it goes back and forth with them, so too Israel. In contrast, בלעם ברכם בארז. כיון שנשבה רוח דרומית מיד עוקרתו והופכתו על פניו, Bilam blessed them by equating them with a cedar, which lacks the above qualities, and once the south wind blows, it immediately uproots it and turns it on its head.

In unpacking this passage, let us start with a verse in Yirmiyah***: אל יתהלל חכם בחכמתו ואל יתהלל גבור בגבורתו ואל יתהלל עשיר בעשרו כי אם בזאת יתהלל המתהלל השכל וידוע אותי כי אני ה', Let not the wise man take praise in his wisdom, nor the mighty one in his strength, nor the wealthy one in his wealth; only in this shall one take praise – cognition and knowledge of Me, for I am Hashem. The Rambam**** explained this verse in light of the notion that there are four aspects of Man which are subject to perfection: property, physicality, intelligence, and religiosity. Perfection in the first three aspects, when disconnected from religiosity, is undeserving of praise, because they do not relate to the human essence, only superimpositions. Only perfection in one’s service of Hashem is deserving of praise, as that stems from one’s essential soul.

Another explanation may be that there is a juxtaposition of these qualities to provide insight into them. Just as a wealthy person is not satisfied with the riches he has amassed, always seeking to acquire more, so should the wise man not rest on his laurels, basking in the praise of meaning of that which the Parah is מטהר טמאים – by seeking out new growth, one elevates himself from impurity to purity. And it is מטמא טהורים, it demands that previous accomplishments are rendered obsolete and replaced.

This is true about service of Hashem in general. One ought to not be content with whatever Torah and good deeds he has heretofore accomplished; rather, he should always be striving to climb to ever higher levels. It is for this reason that Man is described as a הולך, one in motion, in contrast to an angel, who is described as an עומד, one who is static.***** (It is for this reason, suggests the Olelos Ephrayim,****** that each year the Kohen Gadol retires his Yom Kippur attire forever; it indicates that next year he must start anew on a higher plane.) Instead of complacency, one’s knowledge should be that of השכל וידוע אותי, like one’s knowledge of Hashem. The more that one knows of the Creator, the more that he realizes how little he knows. As the philosophical principle goes, the purpose of all knowledge [of G-d] is the awareness that we do not know [a ,אמרתי אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני ,significant amount of what there is to know].******* Or, as Shlomo put it the wiser that I get, the more I realize how distant the wisdom is from me.********

As is known, this latter verse is associated by Chazal with the Parah Adumah.********* This connection can be appreciated in light of a thought which I heard from the maggid Reb Mendel.********** In the Admonition we are warned, והיו חייך תלוים לך מנגד, your life shall be suspended before you.*********** On the one hand, this is clearly a punishment; on the other, the Zohar describes it as a blessing. The Maggid explained this dichotomy with an analogy: There are two types of people who are successful in business. One slowly climbs the economic ladder, experiencing ever-greater success. For him, each new accomplishment in his field is a terrific experience. There is another kind of person, though, who also experiences this, yet he is aware from the start of just how many more rungs on the ladder he has yet to climb. He can never be happy with his gains. The same phenomenon exists in spiritual growth, when one’s spiritual life is suspended before him. One may be making strides in his personal growth – a veritable blessing – yet he cannot derive satisfaction from it due to his awareness of how much more there is to accomplish – a veritable curse.

The Parah Adumah is חוקת התורה, the way of the Torah: the Torah demands constant growth. מי יתן טהור מטמא, yesterday’s accomplishment is today’s failing, demanding that it lead to fresh vistas of improvement. לא אחד, one cannot remain at a stagnant level. This is the meaning of that which the Parah is מטהר טמאים – by seeking out new growth, one elevates himself from impurity to purity. And it is מטמא טהורים, it demands that previous accomplishments are rendered obsolete and replaced.

This may be the meaning of the talmudic teaching that בראש השנה יצא יוסף מבית האסורין, on Rosh ha-Shanah, Yosef emerged from prison.************ Yosef, whose name implies addition, symbolizes this never-ending push for growth. How does one achieve such drive? By escaping the clutches of the Yetzer ha-Ra, by engaging one’s spiritual odyssey, in his ראש השנה, in his earliest years. Just as the way in which one spends his annual Rosh ha-Shanah impacts the following year,************* so does a בראש ,youth well spent lay a foundation for a lifetime. Furthermore, continues the above source .on Rosh ha-Shanah, the labor [in Egypt] ceased from our ancestors ,השנה בטלה עבודה מאבותינו Through youthful service, spiritual inspiration – associated with the Avos, our ancestors – is freed from the bonds of the Dark Side and allowed to flourish.

This can also unlock the meaning of the talmudic explanation of the juxtaposition of the passage ,לומר לך מה פרה מכפרת אף מיתתן של צדיקים מכפרת – of the Parah Adumah and the death of Miriam to teach that just as the Parah atones, so do the deaths of the righteous.************** A small observation: Why is מיתתן in the plural?

Just as Parah Adumah is a cycle of growth and the negation of that growth, so is the life of a tzaddik. Every day he accomplishes another level of greatness, infusing himself with life. But the next day the accomplishment is deemed inferior, killed off, and replaced with yet a higher level. Thus, the tzaddik lives a life of perpetual “deaths.” It is the lack of satisfaction which accompanies such a lifestyle that earns atonement for the tzaddik.

Just as the tzaddik lives such a life of unceasing improvement, so it is appropriate to cajole others into striving for greater heights.

If we categorize the various types of preachers that exist, we would find them four in number. There are two who confront Hashem about the Jewish People: one speaks their praises, another criticizes them. Then there are two who confront the nation itself, both of whom must address the problems of the people. The archetype of one model is the aforementioned Achiyah ha-Shiloni. He enjoyed a long career, learning Torah first from Moshe Rabbeinu, then the court of Dovid; serving as the teacher of Eliyahu ha-Navi; and, more recently, serving as the mentor of my master, the Besht. The second model is personified by Bilam.

In order for reproval to be effective, the preacher cannot be reticent about the issues that need attention. As the Derashos ha-Ran put it,*************** citing Hoshea, כרפאי לישראל ונגלה עון אפרים,**************** in order to heal Israel, its iniquity must be exposed. Like a surgeon attempting to heal a wound, it must be cut open wider to allow the procedure to be effective. And all the more so will he not allow the people to rest on their laurels vis-à-vis its accomplishments. Like the tzaddik in the micro, the preacher plays them down, pushing the nation to achieve ever more. Bilam, in contrast, is an ersatz preacher, who focuses instead on the praises of Israel.

This is the meaning of the Midrash’s application of the verse from Mishlei to Achiyah and Bilam. טובה תוכחת מגולה, better is the former’s reproof which cuts straight to the failings of the nation than the glib glossing over from the latter. However, as mentioned, this is all when the nation is addressed. מאהבה מסותרת, privately, in the company of Hashem alone, the superior preacher focuses on Israel’s positive qualities.

The reason, as the verse continues, is נאמנים פצעי אוהב. The preacher who truly loves Israel exposes their failures – their “injuries” – as the first step towards healing them. The phony preacher, in contrast, glorifies them, ignoring their faults, contorting their situation much as a pitchfork (עתר) flips the grain. נעתרות נשיקות שונא. And, as Mishlei continues, נפש שבעה תבוס נופת, a sated soul tramples sweetness.***************** By stuffing the Jewish People with talk of their greatness, rebuke – which is sweet to those who appreciate it – is distasteful to them. נפש רעבה כל מר מתוק, for the hungry soul, any bitter thing is sweet. If the people are told that they are hungry – empty of good qualities – they will find rebuke sweet and beneficial.

Perhaps this is the meaning of another verse in Mishlei as well: מברך רעהו בקול גדול השכם קללה תחשב לו, One who praises his fellow in a loud voice, by the next morning it shall arise as a curse unto him.****************** The Midrash sees in this a reference to Bilam,******************* who had initially sung Israel’s praises yet eventually brought them to sin. It seems to me that the message is that if one flatters another with his positive qualities, he will eventually need to justify his failings – even dubiously, if necessary. For example, if the object of one’s praise converses in shul, it can be justified as necessary talk. If he neglects to pray, one can cite talmudic sources that today we aren’t truly obligated in prayer. Ditto for a lack of Torah study; as the Gemara says, one can write off that obligation with a minimum of the daily recitation of Shema. So not only does the ersatz preacher ignore the faults, he justifies them. This is what happened with Bilam.

This is the meaning of the talmudic teaching with which we began. Achiyah was a beneficial preacher. He cursed the Jews – in the sense that קללה means to degrade – by criticizing their failings. He did so by comparing them to a reed. This is the benefit that he provided them: through breaking their arrogance and lowering them to a lowly reed, they were capable of acknowledging their failures and attending to them.

This process occurs in three stages, alluded to by the three superior qualities of the reed described in the above midrash. One is that the reed grows adjacent to water. As Yeshayah states,************* הוי כל צמא לכו למים, Ho! All thirsty – go to the water! The word  צמאhas the same numerical value as ענו"ה, humility. With their reed-like humility, they are now free “to go to the water,” i.e., to seek healing and guidance from those wiser than them. 

Consequently, their branches regenerate themselves. That is, the plant expands beyond its original single root. So too, the newly rehabilitated Jew is able to expand beyond his original level of spirituality to greater ones.

Finally, this strong reed is able to withstand the pressure of the winds upon it, returning to its upright posture upon their cessation. So too, this tzaddik is able to temporary lower itself to less becoming positions in order to facilitate the growth of others. Upon completing his task, he gracefully reverts to his lofty level.

In contrast of all of this, Bilam blessed Israel to be akin to the proud cedar. It does not grow near water – so too the arrogant one is incapable of hearing reproof from others. It does not regenerate itself when cut – so does the arrogant one remain spiritually stagnant. 

And it is of few roots, prone to be overturned by the southern wind. The significance of this can be appreciated with an observation made by R. Shlomo Algazi in his work Ahavas Olam.************** He notes that in the verse in Zecharyah, the Satan stands to the right of the accused to incriminate him.*************** Why is he standing on the right side? Isn’t Satan associated with the Left, the flank which houses the Dark Side? The answer, I believe, is that in order to compromise Israel with arrogance, Satan takes the guise of a preacher, speaking of their positive qualities, much as Bilam did. Hence, he stands to the right, the place of the positive angels. When this runs its course, the southern wind – the southern direction is associated with the right side – blasts out against the arrogant one, shattering it.   

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* Sanhedrin 105b.
** Mishlei 27:6.
*** 9:22
**** Moreh Nevuchim 3:54. 
*****As per Zecharyah 7:4. 
****** 252
******* Bechinas Olam 13:33. 
******** Koheles 7:23. 
********* Bamidbar 19:3.
********** See Vayakhel, n. 2. 
*********** Devarim 28:66. 
************ Rosh HaShanah 10b.
************* See Darchei Moshe, OC 583. 
************** Moed Katan 28a.
*************** Derush 9.
**************** 7:1
*****************.27:7
****************** .27:14
*******************Tanchuma, Balak 15. .
********************55:1
********************* 69b
********************** 3:1