260625.Balak v029

260625.Balak v029

Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda encounter the small son of Rav Hamnuna Saba, and find that he is preternaturally wise. The child rebukes them for not having read the Kriat Sh'ma and for having started to say grace while their hands were still dirty. He talks about the five fingers on the hand, the five bars of acacia wood, and the five hundred years, and he concludes from this that all the blessings of the priest are dependent on the fingers. The boy discusses the grace before the meal and the grace after the meal. When his mother begs the rabbis to look at her son with a benevolent eye, the child says he is not afraid of an evil eye because he is the son of a great and worthy fish, and a fish has no harm from the evil eye as the water acts as a protection for it. He talks about the fact that Malchut is called 'angel' when she is an emissary from Aba and Ima, but when she is at rest over the two Cherubim she is called Adonai. We read that Malchut appeared to Moses as an angel but to Abraham as Adonai, and that Jacob called to Malchut in the name of angel when he died. Moses joined with Malchut during his lifetime while still in his body but Jacob joined with her only in spirit after he died. We read about Metatron and Sandalphon who are from the great ocean, Malchut, and that they are fruitful and multiply in the land. When the wise boy says the blessing over the cup of blessing he speaks of Rabbi Yitzchak's nearness to death and says that he should find a guarantor down below, meaning Rabbi Shimon. The rabbis leave the boy's house, and Rabbi Shimon, when encountered, says that the boy will not live long. Next the rabbis wonder why Moses' merit did not protect the Midianites from destruction even though Ruth and Naamah protected Moab from destruction. Rabbi Shimon explained that Moab had not yet produced Ruth and her offspring so it had to be protected. Three of the rabbis return to see the boy, who welcomes them and who knows without being told that they have been talking about Amon and Moab. He discusses the secret of the wave offering and why barley is offered. They talk about wheat, saying that it is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We hear that the Other Side has a part - the chaff - in all the five kinds of grain, and the chaff is exempt from tithe because it has no share in holiness. The boy says that even if the snake had not tempted Eve, Adam would still have produced offspring immediately, due to God's commandment to be fruitful and multiply. The boy talks about the grapevine known as sanctity and the grapevine of the Other Side; he tells why water must be added to wine for the blessing after the meal, to add compassion to mercy. We hear about the bad advice that the elders of Midian gave to Moab, and how they were punished. The boy informs the rabbis that Moab was punished later by David after Ruth had come out of that country. Generations later the Midianites were still longing to attack Yisrael. We learn that King David summoned the hosts of heaven and included his soul with them to bless God, and that later Yisrael took over the task of the serving angels. The boy and Rabbi Elazar talk about sanctification and blessings and about the mighty ones who perform God's bidding. Finally we hear about the great importance of teaching the Torah to one's son.