In Torah portion Balak, the Moabite king commissions the prophet Bilaam to curse the Jewish people. To prevent this, God performs supernatural miracles to protect the Jews. A talking donkey berates Bilaam and an angel is sent to block his path. Despite these obstacles, Bilaam continues attempting to curse the Children of Israel but due to Divine intervention, the prophet blesses them instead.
It’s unclear if the Jews were aware that God saved them from the imprecations of a professional curser. A beautiful lesson here is that God works “behind the scenes” to save us from our enemies, while we often remain blissfully unaware of our own miraculous salvation. Rabbi David Fine connects this with a teaching of the Brisker Rav on Psalm 117 (the shortest psalm): Praise the Lord, all nations, laud Him, all peoples. For his kindness has overwhelmed us [the Jews], and the truth of the Lord is eternal. Hallelujah!
The Brisker Rav asks, why should non-Jews praise God for the kindness He shows to the Jews? The Rav answers that many times our enemies have plotted against us and God saved us – without us even knowing. Therefore non-Jews are actually the most qualified to testify to God’s love for Jews because they saw Him save us even when we didn’t.
Let us all be thankful to God for the seen and unseen miracles He performs on our behalf!
Image: The Prophet Balaam and the Angel. John Linnell (1792–1882)
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