Curses of Jews Are Good:
The Kotzker Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Emes V’emunah) explains the reason why Balak only wanted to show him part of the nation by saying that when one looks at individuals, he may see flaws in them. But when one looks at all of Klal Yisroel as a whole, he will see no flaws. For this reason, Balak didn’t want Bilaam to see all of Klal Yisroel, as he wanted him to see their individual flaws so that he could curse them better.
The Yismach Moshe (Parshas Korach) writes that there are certain things that are bitter and unpleasant if eaten on their own, such as salt or pepper, but if they are mixed with other food, such as fish or meat, they provide a pleasant taste. So too, there are individuals in Klal Yisroel that seem flawed, but when everyone is mixed together, they all are pleasant. Each one has his own good qualities. One may learn a lot of Torah, while others do a lot of chesed or give much tzedakah and others daven very well. Thus, when they are all together, they combine to make a pleasant mixture.
His grandson, the Yitav Lev zy”a, uses this idea to explain the “mesorah” in our Parshah that the word “v’kulo” is used two times, once in this verse where Balak tells Bilaam not to look at the entire nation, and once in Shir Hashirim 5:16), where it is stated: “And they all are desirable.” He explains that Balak was telling that he should only look at part of the nation, and not the entire thing, because when they are one united group “they are all desirable” to Hashem, and he wouldn’t be able to harm them.
The Yitav Lev adds that we can learn from this that one should never separate himself from the public (Brachos 49B), as being part of the tzibur makes one part of a group that is entirely desirable to Hashem. But if one is alone, he will not have this benefit.
