Architectural Astonishment
Shira Smiles shiur 2022/5782
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Our Sages tell us that Hashem gave the gentile nations a prophet of the same caliber and potential as Moshe Rabbenu. He was indeed so famous for his prophecy and the power of his words that Balak, King of Moav, hired him to curse Bnei Yisroel to prevent them from entering Eretz Yisroel. However, when prophesying, a prophet can only transmit the words Hashem puts into his mouth. so, although the Prophet Bilaam wanted to curse Bnei Yisroel, the words that came out were blessings.
Interestingly, Bilaam's third attempt to curse Bnei Yisroel resulted in an iconic verse that we use as part of our opening prayer every morning upon entering the shul: מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנתיך ישראל/"How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling place, O Israel." Our Sages saw such deep meaning in this verse that it became a prominent mantra.
Before beginning this curse/blessing, Bilaam calls himself "the man with the open eye." However, an open eye merely sees, but does not interpret. Pirkei Avot understands the psychology of what one sees. While disciples of Avraham Avinu have a "good, positive eye," the disciples of Bilaam, having learned from Bilaam, have an evil eye. It is one's heart and one's mind that determine whether what one sees will be positive or negative. The basis of his negative eye was another one of Bilaam's characteristics, his haughty spirit. What changed that caused Bilaam now to change his perception and view Bnei Yisroel positively, to praise their living arrangements?
Rashi notes that from this new vantage point, Bilaam now saw that the tents were organized so that no person could look into the tent of another and invade their privacy, even inadvertently. The tents were aligned so that no door faced the door of his neighbor. After all, as Rabbi Rivlin notes the ohel/tent was not only a place of living, but also the place of intimacy. Bnei Yisroel carried this inner modesty with them when they went down to Mitzrayim, guarded it throughout their long enslavement, and retained it when they were freed and headed toward Eretz Yisroel. Yosef was the paradigm of this modesty throughout his youth in Mitzrayim. Yosef was such a magnificently handsome man that women would throw things at him, hoping he would look up at them [Think fans at a rock concert lehavdil.] Yet Yosef's eyes remained averted, writes Rabbi Rivlin. Hence, Yosef was immune to the ayin hara, and the Jews following in his lead, were likewise immune from Bilam’s ayin hara as well.
Bilaam was referencing both men and women in this vision. The ohel/tent refers to the modesty of the women, for when the angels visited Avraham Avinu and inquired about Sarah, his wife, Avraham told them that she is [modestly] in the tent. Further, when Moshe ascended Sinai to receive the Torah, Hashem instructed him leimor/to say [gently] to Beis Yaakov/The house of Yaakov and tagid liVnei Yisroel/relate [more harshly] to Bnei Yisroel. As Rashi explains, the gentle dialogue is for the women, while the harsher instruction is for the men.
The Ohr Doniel notes that parental focus on tziniut/modesty helps raise children that are God fearing and talmidei chachamim/learned in Torah. Perhaps that is why, as the Chayei Moshe notes, this is the only part of all Bilaam's oracles that is written in second person, "Your tents..."
The layout of the camp was not haphazard, but specifically organized to prevent improper observation. The men were fully cognizant of human frailty and sought ways to block temptation. Curiosity is human, writes Rabbi Pincus, therefore train yourself not to peak into open doors or windows as you pass, or into cars (other than to smile), or snoop around what may be embarrassing situations, such as police stops. Most important, don't ever share secrets.
While we tend to think of tziniut/modesty as referring to one's manner of dress, it is important to realize that tziniut extends to all aspects of life, to anything that can be considered private, especially correspondence. Rabbi Walters cites Rabbenu Gershom's ban on reading someone else's mail, and today, we can include that to include emails and text messages. Since halachic decisors agree that one needs permission from both the sender and the recipient to read the mail, whether on paper or electronically, one generally may not read discarded letters as one seldom has permission from both parties. Emails often contain confidential information. Do you have permission to forward that email to others? However, when one suspects illegal or dangerous activity between the corresponding parties, one is permitted to read the correspondence and take appropriate action as a preventative measure.
Basically, in spite of changing social norms, we, as Jews, we must maintain our sense of modesty and bashfulness, our need for privacy. It was this realization that stunned Bilaam.
Having each tribe and each family facing a different direction also reinforced the idea that everyone had his own unique mission and should not look into the affairs of another, writes Rabbi Chafetz, citing the Saba of Slabodka. We can learn this from Tehillim 137:7-9. After the verse states that Hashem made the great luminaries, the following verses then designate how the sun rules by day and the moon by night, each recognizing its own purpose and proper place.
Bilaam never saw anything that someone else had that he didn't desire for himself. When he looks down at Bnei Yisroel, he encounters something strange. For the first time, he sees an entire nation who distances themselves from anything that doesn't belong to them, writes Chochmat Hamatzpun. He suddenly realizes how base he is and how exalted they are. Bilaam's eye is a desirous eye. Seeing something creates a desire, often followed by action, properly or not, to get what you desire. The sun and the moon each remained in their respective domains, and each was content.
The layout of the camp was not only to guard privacy, but also to protect against jealousy, writes Rabbi Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah. Comparing oneself to others is extremely destructive. One must understand that Hashem has given each of us exactly what is best for each of us.
Rebbetzin Smiles presented a wonderful analogy. When she was waiting for her luggage at the airport carousel, she asked her daughter if she should pick up the purple suitcase. After all, it was much prettier than her own black one. Her daughter wisely told her, "Ima, nothing in that suitcase would fit you. It belongs to someone else."
Before Bilaam begins this prophecy, the Torah states that, "The spirit of Hashem was upon him." While Rashi explains this to mean that Hashem rested His spirit on Bilaam so that "Bilaam could receive the prophecy, the Ohr Hachaim interprets this to mean that Hashem rested His spirit on Bnei Yisroel to protect them from Bilaam's evil eye. Because Bnei Yisroel protected their eyes from seeing inappropriate things, Hashem protected them from the evil eyes of Bilaam.
What protected Yosef Hatzdik from the evil eye? If we examine every interaction and dialogue Yosef has, we will note that he takes no credit for anything. He attributes all his skills to Hakodosh Boruch Hu and dedicates everything to Hashem's service, writes Rav Ber. If we develop the same attitude, we will protect ourselves from the influence of the evil eye.
Just as each of the tribes had its own special space as Bnei Yisroel encamped, so did each tribe have its own window for their prayers to reach heaven Therefore, it is customary to build twelve windows into the architecture of every shul, continues the Chayei Moshe, citing the Arizal.
In Avnei Ephod, Rabbi Friedman gives another reason for Bilaam's literal change of perspective. One of Bilaam's arguments was that Bnei Yisroel were merely copying each other in their service to Hashem. When he saw that they could not be copying each other because they could not see what anyone else was doing, Bilaam realized that each was serving Hashem in his own way.
When Yitzchak prayed for a child opposite his wife Rivkah and Hashem answered Yitzchak's prayers, Rashi comments that the prayers of a tzadik who is also the son of a tzadik is more powerful than the prayers of a first generation tzadik. Rav Dessler here explains that a tzadik the son of a tzadik is one who is a tzadik in his own right, following his own unique path, not following the exact steps of his father. Every tribe has its own greatness, as does every individual, writes Rabbi Mintzberg. Even in areas of spirituality, find your own path and don't blindly follow others.
On Rosh Hashanah, although our combined prayers are powerful, we nevertheless pass before Hashem kivnei maron/as individuals, with our own unique qualities, emotions and character, writes Rabbi Wolbe. When we do a mitzvah, are we accessing our unique focus and emotions in its performance? Just as Hashem is singular, so did He create each of us in His image, as individuals. In the very first of the Ten Utterances at Sinai, Hashem speaks to each of us as individuals: "I am Hashem Elokhecha/your [second person singular] God Who hotzeisicha/has taken you [second person singular] out of Egypt..." Tap into your uniqueness and be comfortable with who you are. Appreciate the silence of listening to your inner voice. "How goodly are your tents," each of you is an individual.
Rabbi Druck Takes Rashi's comment in yet another direction. When Rashi says the openings of their tents did not face each other, Rabbi Druck understands this on a metaphysical level. From Shir Hashirim, we hear Hashem knocking on our door, "Open up for me...," which our chazal then elucidate, "Open for me a small opening like the eye of a needle, and I will open up for you openings wide enough for wagons and chariots to go through." The opening to our hearts is tiny, but Hashem helps us with a large opening. He bears witness to our desire to do teshuvah. Hashem sees those moments and helps us even before we are aware of it ourselves. The ‘openings’ are not aligned.
As human beings, we are prone to make mistakes and even experience constant failure in our attempts at doing teshuvah. The process may seem hopeless. But Rabbi Freifeld assures us that we should not be discouraged. Since teshuvah predates creation, it does not follow the probabilities of this world. We can always break into the power of teshuvah and harness its power, even after multiple previous failures. We can regenerate and recreate ourselves.
Rebbetzin Smiles related the incident involving a barber in Bnei Brak whose store was vandalized. Everything of value was stolen. But when the barber returned and checked his drawer, he noticed that miraculously the money he had collected for tzedakah was intact. In the salvaging of that particular item of value, the barber saw the hand of God and proclaimed Hashem's praises.
Several months later, a man with a beard, looking very religious, approached the barber and confessed to being the thief who had vandalized the shop. He admitted that he had not seen the envelope or he would have taken that as well. However, witnessing the barber's reaction and faith in Hashem, the thief started on a path of teshuvah, and was now a fully observant Jew.
Even a thief was able to put a positive spin on what he had seen. He could easily have ridiculed the barber for being so happy at what was saved, albeit the envelope with money was designated for tzedakah. Instead he used the barber's reaction as the impetus to returning to a life devoted to Hashem. If a thief can see with a positive eye and transform himself, how much more so should we train ourselves to see the world and the people around us with a positive eye.