We mentioned above that in this week’s parsha we have the pasuk: ‘כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם בישראל’ —‘For there is no sorcery in Yaakov and no divination in Yisrael’ (23:23).
The Gemara in Nedorim (32a) teaches: תני אהבה בריה דרבי זירא: כל אדם שאינו מנחש, מכניסין אותו במחיצה שאפילו מלאכי השרת אין יכולין ליכנס בתוכה, שנאמר: ‘כי לא נחש ביעקב ולא קסם בישראל וגו׳’.
‘Ahava, son of Rabbi Zeira, teaches: Any person who does not divine his future is brought inside a partition close to Hashem to a place that even the ministering angels cannot enter inside, as it is stated: ‘For there is no divination with Yaakov, neither is there any enchantment with Yisrael…’
The question is, what is the remarkable quality of avoiding sorcery that elevates a person to a level above that of malachim?
R’ Yosef Sorotskin shlita in his sefer Meged Yosef explains that sorcery is essentially a shortcut — a spiritual power that allows an ordinary person, without any real effort or inner achievement, to produce wonders, simply because someone taught him the right formulas and secrets. This stands in complete contrast to the powers of neviim and tzaddikim, which are the fruits of their toil and struggle, and which reflect what those individuals genuinely are.
For example, when Moshe and the Egyptian sorcerers both turned their staffs into snakes, the sorcerers’ power came from knowledge others had transmitted to them; whereas Moshe’s power was an expression of his own spiritual standing.
The way of the Torah is not to seek shortcuts to achieve things beyond one’s spiritual level, rather, the Torah wants a person to elevate himself with toil and great effort, until he attains a spiritual level that he is able to carry out wonders.
This also explains why one who avoids sorcery surpasses the level of malachim. A malach, however exalted he may be, did not earn his level — he was created that way, never having waged war against a yetzer horah. A human being, however, fights his inclinations and ascends step by step until he manages to reach great heights.
Based on the above, we can understand why one who avoids sorcery and refuses to take shortcuts, and instead labors for genuine spiritual achievement, merits to be in a place higher than that of malachim. (See further, Michtav M’Eliyahu Vol. 4 pg. 16b)
