The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Balak

The Rebbe says:

1. In this week’s Torah portion a non-Jewish king named Balak asks Balaam (a non-Jewish man who was able to converse with Hashem and had special gifts) to curse the Jewish people. In the end Balaam was not able to curse the Jewish people, and only Blessings came out of his mouth.

2. One of the Blessings to the Jewish people which came out of Balaam’s mouth was; “For from its origin, I see it rock like, and from hills do I view it. Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations” (see Chapter 23, Verse 9).

Our Sages tells us that when Balaam said “from its origin” he was referring to our forefathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and when he said “and from hills” he was referring to our foremothers (Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel and Leah). (See Midrash Tanchuma on Parshas Balak, number 12. See Bamidbar Rabbah Chapter 20 Number 19. And see Zohar, third part, Page 210, Side 2).

3. The Rebbe now discusses the role of a mother and father in a child’s life:

The Alter Rebbe (the first Chabad Rebbe) tells that a child’s detailed formation of all his body parts happens through it’s mother when it is in it’s mothers stomach during pregnancy, however the general matter (the body) of a child is from the father. (In other words, the wife develops the husband’s seed). (See Tanya, Chapter 2).

And since this is the way a child is created we see that after a child is born the mother feels closer to the child then the father; because the mother formed the child into what he/she is right now (for 9 months) and the father didn’t. And we also see it clearly the other way around- a child expresses his love to his mother more then to his father, and he fears his father more then his mother. This is because love is an expression of being close (the mother) and fear is an expression of being removed from the thing you fear (the father). (See Tractate Kiddushin, Page 30, Side 2. And in Rashi on Chumash Vayikra, Chapter 19, Verse 3).

4. The Rebbe now points out that this also applies to the mothers and fathers of every single Jew:

The same is true for the mothers and fathers of every Jew: We are awed by our patriarchs and we feel more closeness to our matriarchs. (Just like a child of every mother and father does not only love his mother and only fear his father, but the dominating feeling regarding them is so, so-too regarding our forefathers and foremothers- the dominating feeling for our forefathers is reverence and the dominating feeling for our foremothers is endearment).

5. The Rebbe now discusses how this order of events (that the mother develops the child and therefore is closer to the child and the father created the child and is therefore not as close to the child) came about:

Everything that happens in this physical world is a manifestation of what is happening in the spiritual worlds. Therefore when we say that a father is not as close to the child as the mother is and this is because the mother developed the child while the father did not, this must be because of what is happening in the spiritual realms- what the source of a father is and what the source of a mother is and they interact with their “children”:

The Alter Rebbe explains (in Tanya, Chapter 3) that a father in spiritual terms is the level of Chochmah-Wisdom, a mother is the level of Binah-Understanding, and the children are the seven emotive attributes (Chessed, Gevurah, Tiferes, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchus – Kindness, Strictness, Justice, Vistory, Splendor, Foundation, and Kingship) which are born from the mind.

To explain what we mean when we say that the “children” are born from the mind we will give an example- when a person thinks and meditates on the awesomeness of Hashem a feeling of love and fear for Hashem will be “born” in him, thus the mind is the “parents” of the emotions.

Now within the mind itself there are two parts- Chochmah-Wisdom and Binah-Understanding. Chochmah is the “flash of lightning” which happens in the mind which has in it the seminal point of the whole idea that you will later process and figure out. Binah is where this seed of thought is processed and understood with all its intricate details. (For example- the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Mishnah is like the level of Chochmah and the Gemara is like Binah, every detail which will later be developed and understood later on in the Gemara was already included in the few short words of the Mishnah, we just don’t see it).

The husband, the father, is the level of Chochmah, the seed from where it all comes from. The wife, the mother, is the level of Binah where the seed is processed and developed. And the children are the emotive attributes which are born as a result of all this.

And since this is the source for men, women, and children, the same formula takes place with regards to a husband, a wife, and their children: The husband gives the seed of creation, the wife processes and develops it and gives birth to children. And since the level of Binah, which is the wife, is in close contact to the emotions, which is the children, the children feel closer to the mother then to the father.

6. The Rebbe finishes off by teaching us how a Jewish home should be conducted:

Every Jewish home is its own world and it must lean from the way the world runs. Just like Hashem set up in the world that there is a level of Chochmah and a level of Binah and then there is their children (the seven emotive attributes), so-too every Jewish home has this full picture:

The father is the Chochmah. He must plant the seeds on which his house must be built. However the wife is the Binah and it all depends on her to see to it that the “seeds” are developed. Most of the day the father is not home and the wife is at home taking care of the children and all the household needs, therefore it is her responsibility and privilege to make sure that the ideals set up by the father are planted in the children. The woman has the possibility of making sure that the children grow up with the proper perspective on life- the perspective of Torah and Mitzvos, that the children grow up in a house which has guests and takes care of them, that the children see Tzedaka (charity) being given regularly, and so on.

The strength for parents to be able to fulfill their missions is inherited to them by our patriarchs (Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov) and matriarchs (Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel and Leah). And if they follow the instructions of Torah and make their house a house of Torah and Mitzvos with the proper education for their children, then Hashem says “And I will rest in them” and where Hashem rests there is only Blessings.

Translated by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos Volume 2.