I will share with you an incredible GR”A on Parshas Balak which I would not have understood except that Rav Issac Sher explains it in Leket Sichos Mussar.
The GR”A says that we know that Bilam is compared to Moshe in nevuah, but we also find that in Pirkei Avos 5:19 that Bilam is compared to Avraham Avinu. There are talmidov shel Avraham Avinu and talmidov shel Bilam harasha. What is the comparison between Avraham and Bilam?
The GR”A says in Aderes Eliyahu that just as Avraham Avinu had 10 tests in which he succeeded, Bilam also had 10 trials. Where are the 10 trials? We have this one Parsha with the story of Bilam. Where are the 10 trials?
Rav Issac Sher says that it is all in the Parsha, as follows. Avraham Avinu wanted to serve the Ribbono Shel Olam. He had 10 Nisyonos, 10 things that would pull him away from serving Hashem and he withstood them all. Bilam harasha had a different type of asara nisyonos. Bilam had a hatred for kedusha, a hatred for the Jewish people. He wanted to do damage to Klal Yisrael. Hashem sent him 10 opportunities, 10 messages to not go, as follows: The initial message of don’t go, then Vayichar af Hashem b’Bilam, and then the incident with the donkey, then seeing a malach, then three times when he wanted to curse, a Beracha came into his mouth, then Balak screamed at him, and then Balak said go home. Repeatedly, Bilam had nisyonos.
I counted eight in the list that I just said. There are another one or two that Hashem put as roadblocks to stop him. But nothing happened. Bilam failed in all of the nisyonos.
Rashi tells us that when the malach stood in front of Bilam in 22:22, מלאך של רחמים היה. These were the nisyonos of Bilam. The malach said don’t go. If Bilam had listened to the malach and not gone, it would have been wonderful. Bilam thinks the malach is his enemy? מלאך של רחמים היה! Sometimes Hashem sends us nisyonos to stop us from learning and davening and we have to withstand them, and sometimes Hashem sends trials to save us from bad ideas, and we have to accept them.
In Atara L’melech, Rav Pam writes in his piece on shidduchim that sometimes someone wants a shidduch and something happens that ruins it. Somebody says lashon hora about the boy, and the girl is not interested. Sometimes the girl is just not interested and the young man is upset. Rav Pam says מלאך של רחמים היה. If the shidduch had gone through, then it would have been bad, so מלאך של רחמים היה. HKB”H sometimes sends you a malach and stops you from doing things. Do you know what is good and what is not good? When HKB”H clearly is stopping something, then מלאך של רחמים היה. So Bilam’s type of nisayon is that sometimes when you have an idea and it is not such a good idea and HKB”H in His kindness stops you from doing it and puts roadblocks in your way from doing it, get the message. Sometimes when something is blocking you, stop a minute. Maybe it is not a good idea. Maybe this malach is a מלאך של רחמים. Don’t be like Bilam. Accept what comes from shamayim.
