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The Magician and the Sorcerer
From Shaar HaPesukim, parashat Balak, in
the Writings of the Ari
Translated by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky
I see fit to explain here the characters of Balak and Balaam,
who were unrivaled magicians and sages. As our sages have said, in one
respect Balak was inferior to Balaam, and in another Balaam was inferior to Balak.
The Zohar (III: 184b) also speaks at length about
Balak and Balaam, noting that [the former] is called "Balak the son of Tzipor"
because of his wisdom; he performed magic using a certain bird.  | | " Balak...owed his magical powers to a bird..." | | |
"Tzipor" in Hebrew means "bird"; thus, "Balak
the son of Tzipor" means "Balak, who owed his magical powers to a bird."
We note also their unbounded and unfounded hatred of
the Jewish people. No other people [exhibited such hatred] save Amalek, who also
hated the Jewish people greatly.
I therefore wish to base the explanation of this
matter on the statement of the Zohar (III:199b) that "King David said, 'For
behold, the wicked draw the bow; they aim their arrow....' They said, Amalek
means 'The people [in Hebrew, "am"] that lick [in Hebrew, "lak"]',
i.e. the people that lick [their sustenance] from us.... Balak means 'Come
[in Hebrew, "ba"] to lick ["lak"]'.... Balaam means
'the non- [in Hebrew, "bal"] people ["am"].' What letters remain?
Those that spell 'depth' [in Hebrew, "omek"]. He confused their deep
thoughts so that they could not rule, and they did not remain in the world..."
"Balaam" is spelled beit-lamed-ayin-mem.
"Balak" is spelled beit-lamed-kuf.
"Amalek" is spelled ayin-mem-lamed-kuf.
The Zohar here notes that the names "Balaam", "Balak",
and "Amalek" are phonetically inter-related. The first two letters of "Balaam"
and "Balak" are the same; the last two letters of "Balak" and "Amalek" are the
same; and the first two letters of "Amalek" are the same as the last two letters
of "Balaam". Furthermore, the letters of the names "Balak" and "Balaam" that are
not common to both spell "Amalek". These phenomena will be used later. | | " Amalek is the waste product of evil that was separated out of Cain..." | | |
Know that all these things are based on the
transmigration of the souls [of these nations] and [the significance of] their
origins. Amalek is the waste product of evil that was separated out of [the soul
of] Cain, the son of Adam.
As we will see, there was a good and an evil aspect to
Cain's soul. The evil was separated from the good and became the source of
Amalek.
This is one of the five types of [spirituality
embodied in] the mixed multitude that became intermixed with the Jews. These
[five types] were the Amalekites, the Rephaim, etc., as mentioned in the Zohar
(I:25a; Tikunei Zohar 50, 86a) that in the Mixed Multitude there was an
admixture of the evil of [the souls of] both Cain and Abel.
Therefore, Amalek hated Israel greatly, as it is
stated further on in Scripture, that the Kenites follow the Amalekites.
As far as I can tell, this refers to the fact that in
Balaam's prophecies concerning what will happen in the messianic future (Num.
24:14-24), his prophecy concerning the Kenites (ibid. 24:21-22) follows his
prophecy concerning the Amalekites (ibid. 24:20). The Kenites (in Hebrew, "Keini",
spelled kuf-yud-nun-yud) are evidently etymologically related to Cain (in
Hebrew, "Kayin", spelled kuf-yud-nun, ibid. 24:22)
For the good in Cain was separated out into Jethro,
who is called "Chever the Kenite", i.e. who was separated out of Cain, that is,
from the evil of Cain, which [then became] Amalek.
Spiritually, thus, Jethro derives from the good part
of Cain while Amalek derives from the evil part of Cain. The fact that Jethro is
called "Chever the Kenite" alludes to his spiritual descent from Cain, just as
the juxtaposition of Amalek and the Kenites in Balaam's prophecies alludes to
the spiritual descent of Amalek from Cain.
Balak and Balaam both comprised both evils: the evil
of Cain and the evil of Abel. Therefore both their names contain the letters
beit-lamed from Abel.
As was explained previously, on the verse "And he saw
the angel of G-d in the heart of [in Hebrew, "belabat"] the fire
within the bush" (Ex. 3:2), the only part of Abel that was rectified was the
[first] letter [of his name, the] hei, this being the last letter [of the
name Havayah]. It signifies the good of Abel, and it was given to Moses.
We have seen previously that Moses was a reincarnation
of Abel. We see here that it was specifically the hei of Abel's name (in
Hebrew, "Hevel") that became reincarnated in Moses.
The remaining two letters, beit-lamed, were not
rectified, and they embodied the evil of Abel. They were given to Balak and
Balaam, as the first two letters of their respective names.
The evil of Cain that was mixed into them is also
alluded to in their names, for we already stated that the evil of Cain is Amalek,
and the first three letters of "Amalek" (spelled ayin-mem-lamed) were
given to Balaam and the last letter (kuf) remained for Balak.
Balaam: beit-lamed-ayin-mem; beit-lamed
from Abel and lamed-ayin-mem from Amalek.
Balak: beit-lamed-kuf; beit-lamed from
Abel and kuf from Amalek.
The lamed of Balaam here does double-duty: it
signifies part of the beit-lamed of Abel and the ayin-mem-lamed of
Amalek.
Nonetheless, even though both Balaam and Balak
embodied the evils of Cain and Abel, Balak mainly expressed the evil of Cain and
Balaam mainly expressed the evil of Abel.
The Arizal now explains how this is so.
The character of Balak is alluded to in the verse "And
Balak, the son of Tzipor, saw...." [Balak] was a descendant of Jethro, of whom it
is said, "The bird [in Hebrew, "tzipor"] has also found its home..."
(Psalms 84) Jethro was the father of Tzipporah, the wife of Moses, as mentioned
in the Zohar (III: 3:196b). Jethro took the good [of Cain for himself] and thus
became a permitted bird. He transmitted the evil [of Cain] to his offspring,
i.e. Balak, who was descended from Jethro, as mentioned there [in the Zohar].
We have already explained (Shaar HaGilgulim, introduction 32 (34a) that
the soul [ Neshama] of Cain was reincarnated in Jethro and the spirit [ Ruach]
of Cain in the prophet Samuel.
Jethro's connection to Balak is alluded to by the fact
that named his daughter Tzipporah, i.e. "the bird of the [holiness of G-d's
name, represented by the letter] hei [of His name]". By so doing, he
indicated that he had rectified part of Cain's soul and had identified with the
good in it. The evil, indicated by the word "tzipor" without the hei,
the plain bird, was passed on to Balak, the son of Tzipor.
We have explained on several occasions that Balaam is
derived chiefly from Abel, this being the mystical meaning of [our sages'
statement on] the verse, "And there arose in Israel no other prophet like
Moses," meaning that in Israel there arose no [such prophet], but amongst the
nations there did arise [a comparable prophet], i.e. Balaam. ( Bamidbar Rabba
14:34) | | " Balaam embodied the evil of Abel..." | | |
We also explained, [in our comments] on the verse
"Behold, Milcah gave birth to children, she as well, from your brother Nahor"
(Gen. 22:20) that the initial letters of the words for "she, children from your
brother" [in Hebrew, "hi banim leNachor"] spell the name "Abel". This
indicates that Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramite, was an incarnation of
Abel. All his family was also from [the same soul-root], as we have explained in
our comments to the story of the Golden Calf.
One of the children of Nahor (Abraham's brother) and
Milcah enumerated in this verse is Bethuel, the father of Laban.
This is especially so in light of what you have
already learned, namely, that Laban himself was reincarnated in Balaam.
Thus, Balaam embodied the evil of Abel.
You must know [also] what type of admixture there is
between Balak and Balaam.
We have explained [in our comments] on the verse "And
Rachel stole her father's terafim" (Gen. 25), that the middle third of
tiferet of Zeir Anpin, which is located at its chest, is where the
lights of yesod of Imma begin to be revealed. At that level,
behind [Zeir Anpin], is where the keter of Rachel begins, and
within [the keter of Rachel] are vested the two heels of the feet of
Leah. This is the location of the terafim.
The terafim were idols; Rachel intended to stop
her father from serving idols by stealing them from him when she left his home.
Yesod of Imma is the drive of the intellect
to express itself in the emotions. Although this drive is what gives birth to
Zeir Anpin, the partzuf of the emotions, it is subdued throughout the
initial, higher stages of its development, i.e. its own intellect and the
primary emotions of chesed and gevura. Only at the level of
tiferet - and at that, the middle level of tiferet, not the higher
part of tiferet that is basically the interface between it and the
primary emotions - does the intellect's drive to express itself as emotion begin
to be revealed. For it is at this level that true awareness of the other occurs.
Chesed and gevura, although they are the impetuses to give or
withhold from another, are primarily concerned with their own needs to give or
withhold. Tiferet is where true awareness of the needs of the
recipient comes into play, i.e. empathy.
As we have explained previously, there are two
principle iterations of Nukva of Zeir Anpin, two "mates" or means
of expression the emotions flow through. The higher one is Leah, or thought, and
the lower one is Rachel, or speech. Since speech is an expression of the
emotions that have been processed through thought, the lower level (the "heel")
of Leah becomes the highest level (keter) of Rachel.
The evil of Balak and Balaam, which we are seeing
derived here, can come to be only when Rachel is back to back with Zeir Anpin.
This, we know, is the initial state when these partzufim are created. As
we have seen previously, whenever the male and female are not in full spiritual
union there is an opening for evil to draw sustenance.
[For the full explanation of this,] see there at
length. But the idea in short is this:
We already know - from our discussion of walking four
cubits in the Land of Israel - that the radiance of chesed and gevura
[of Abba] present in the yesod of Abba eventually reaches
Leah. In addition, we know that Leah originates from the malchut of
Imma, which is vested in Zeir Anpin. Thus, there are lights of both
Abba and Imma in Leah. | | " Abba is insight, or abstract intellect, while Imma is applied intellect..." | | |
Abba is insight, or abstract intellect, while
Imma is applied intellect. Thought derives from applied intellect, since
thought is the most natural means for intellect to express itself. Malchut
of Imma is the expression of intellect. Nonetheless, something of the
inspiration of Abba also is present in thought, for as we have explained
previous, the initial purity of insight of chochma must be present
together with bina to keep the flow of thought from going astray.
Now, Leah's head is situated behind the daat of
Zeir Anpin, in which is vested the yesod of Abba, in which
[in turn] is vested the lights of chesed and gevura [of Abba,
as we have just stated]. The yesod [of Abba] itself is vested in
the yesod of Imma, in which is vested as well other lights of
chesed and gevura. The yesod of Imma is vested in the
middle cavity of the skull of Zeir Anpin, which is the seat of its
daat.
Leah, being thought, is situated opposite the upper
half of Zeir Anpin. As we have seen, the lights (mentalities, energies,
consciousness) of Abba and Imma are concealed as they descend
through the upper half of Zeir Anpin, becoming revealed only from Zeir
Anpin's tiferet and below.
Thus, when the lights of Imma shine into Leah,
they have to break through two barriers: the vessel of yesod of Imma
and the vessel [i.e. the skull] of the head of Zeir Anpin. Only then can
they issue outward and enter the head of Leah, then spreading through her entire
length, reaching her heels, and becoming vested in the keter of Rachel,
as we have described.
Now, it is explained in our comments on the passage
regarding the terafim that here [i.e. the keter of Rachel] is the
position of the heels of Leah, which herself is complete judgment - since she
derives from diminished lights that issue from the location of the concealed
lights, which issue only by breaking through [the barriers,] as we said. [Her
nature of complete judgment] is particularly apparent in her heels, which
express harsh judgment.
Leah is principally judgment, since she derives from
the lights of Abba and Imma that are hidden within the upper half
of Zeir Anpin (as opposed to how they become revealed when they descend
to the lower half of Zeir Anpin, as we said). Since these lights are
concealed, Leah does not benefit from the broad perspective of uncontextualized
intellect. Thought is a process of weeding out invasive thoughts and focusing on
the idea on which the individual wishes to think about. Thought is thus a
phenomenon of judgment, of rejecting competing thoughts.
The heels express harsh judgment because they are hard
skin, designed to be impervious to attacks from thorns and rough ground.
For this reason, the forces of evil can derive
sustenance from this level, and a radiance of the said lights of Imma
that spread down to Leah's heels, which break through into the keter of
Rachel's head and enter into it, as we said, issue outside, and the forces of
evil latch on to it.
As we have seen previously, even though the purpose of
judgmental attitudes is to preserve the integrity of holiness, its downside is
that when it gets wrapped up in its own momentum it begins to focus on the
negative aspects of all parts of reality, turning on the good it intended
originally to protect. This is the perfect opportunity for evil to gain a
foothold. As we all unfortunately know, well-intended but unchecked anger and
judgmental attitudes are the ruin of many otherwise salvageable situations.
The part of the lights of Imma that reaches
Leah's two heels and breaks through and enters Rachel's head and shines outward
to the force of evil, is called "Balak". This is so for two reasons: first, the
meaning of the word "Balak" [is "to break through" (see Isaiah 24) and
thus refers to how] these heels break through Rachel's head and enter it. Since
they shine outward through breaking through, they are called "Balak".
Second, Jethro was the ancestor of Balak, as we said,
and he embodied the yesod of Imma, which was also embodied in
Cain, as we have explained - [in our comments] on the commandment [that the king
should] not have many wives. Yesod of Imma is indicated by the
name Eh-yeh, specifically the four known spellings out of Eh-yeh,
i.e. two using the letter yud, one using the letter alef, and one
using the letter hei. The combined numerical value of all of them is the
same as that of Jethro [plus the three kolels for the three
spellings-out].
The numerical value of the two names Eh-yeh
spelled with the letter yud is 322; that of the name Eh-yeh
spelled with the letter hei is 151; that of the name Eh-yeh
spelled with the letter alef is 146. 322 + 151 + 146 = 619.
Jethro, in Hebrew "Yitro", spelled
yud-tav-reish-vav = 10 + 400 + 200 + 6 = 616.
Balak is [Jethro's] descendant, who is derived from
him, as we said, and he is derived from Imma, from whose malchut
Leah is constructed, all the way to her heels.
The lights that issue from the lights of Imma
(that are present in Zeir Anpin) into Leah are the four mentalities
[expressed through the four spellings out of the name Havayah] whose
numerical values are 72, 63, 45, and 52. Their roots [i.e. the four letters of
the name Havayah itself] remain in Zeir Anpin, while the letters
used to spell them out shine outward to Leah. As is known, the feminine is
alluded to in the letters used to spell out the Name. The numerical value of the
four sets of letters used to spell out the Name these four ways, together with
the four kollels is the same as that of "Balak".
The numerical value of the letters used to spell out
the 72-Name ( Ab) of is 46; that of the letters used to spell out the
63-Name ( Sag) is 37; that of the letters used to spell out the 45-Name (Mah)
is 19; that of the letters used to spell out the 52-Name ( Ban) is 26. 46
+ 37 + 19 + 26 = 128.
Balak, spelled beit-lamed-kuf = 2 + 30 + 100 =
132.
[This indicates that] Balak was rooted in these four
spellings-out, i.e. in the two heels of Leah that break through Rachel's head.
We explain this idea more in our discussion of the verse "...who envisions the
vision of the Almighty" further on.
As for Balaam, he derives principally from the lights
of daat of Abba, as we said. The explanation of this is as
follows.
When the lights of Abba shine outside, to Leah,
they have to break through three barriers: yesod of Abba, yesod
of Imma, and Zeir Anpin's head. Only then can they be revealed
[outside] and enter Leah's head. They subsequently spread throughout her entire
stature, all the way to her heels. [These heels] then break through and enter
Rachel's keter.
Now, Rachel's keter is [in this context] called
the place where [these lights] are absorbed, for it clothes Leah's two heels and
absorbs [their light] within it.
Rachel's entire stature is constructed out of revealed
lights, i.e. those [lights that shine] from [Zeir Anpin's] chest
downward. [Rachel] therefore exhibits more mercy than does Leah. But in this
location [i.e. her keter], her light is dimmed because [it must shine
through] a number of barriers, i.e. vessels. For the light that issues from
yesod of Imma - which terminates at the chest [of Zeir Anpin],
is revealed there, breaks though the back of the vessel of tiferet of
Zeir Anpin, and shines outward toward Rachel - must first traverse the
barrier of the back of the vessel of Rachel's head, which is right next to the
body of Zeir Anpin, as is known. | | " Abba speaks and Imma acts..." | | |
It must then traverse two more barriers, i.e. that of
each of Leah's heels, which are there inside Rachel's head, as we said. Each
heel has two barriers: its back and front. It must then traverse the front of
the vessel of Rachel's head. Only then do these lights reach Rachel's keter,
which is situated in her front. It is obvious, thus, that these lights must be
considerably weakened [by the time they reach Rachel's keter], and
therefore the powers of evil can latch on to them.
This is especially true when we consider another
reason (that we have explained in our discussion of the Tree of Knowledge), that
wherever the lights of Imma are revealed outside their sheath the powers
of evil can latch on.
Therefore, from the radiance that reaches Rachel's
keter - in which are absorbed the Leah's two heels - a further radiance
shined outward to the powers of evil. This is the location of Balaam, who is so
named because Rachel's keter absorbs (in Hebrew, "boleia")
Leah's heels.
Nonetheless, Balaam's chief origin is the lights of
Abba that enter Leah and extend to Rachel's keter, as we said.
We thus see that Balak is from the lights of Imma
in Leah's heels, while Balaam is from the lights of Abba in Rachel's
keter.
It appears to me, Chaim [Vital], that this is how we
understand that Balak and Balaam comprise elements of both Cain and Abel. For
there is light from Abba and Imma in both of Leah's heels and in
Rachel's head. It is just that Leah's heels derive mainly from the lights of
Imma while Rachel's keter derives mainly from the lights of Abba.
So it appears to me.
You can now understand why Balak was a magician while
Balaam was a sorcerer, as is stated in the Zohar. This is because a sorcerer's
power is just in his mouth, and so Balaam was mainly from Abel, as we said, and
he was the evil breath that issues from the mouth.
"Hevel", Hebrew for "Abel", means "breath".
But Balak was mainly from Cain, who was derived from
Imma, which is expressed through action, as you know from [our discussion
of] the 32 times the name Elo-him is mentioned in the account of
Creation. There we explained that Abba speaks and Imma acts.
The name Elo-him is associated with bina,
and it is the only name of G-d used in the account of Creation, which chronicles
G-d's action as the Creator of the universe. In this account, G-d is
described as both creating through speech ("G-d said 'Let there be...' and
there was...") and action ("And G-d made...).
Magic is performed with the hand, as it is written,
"...with magic [tokens] in their hand...", for Balak was more expert at these than
was Balaam.
Balak's emissaries came to Balaam with magic
instruments, so that he not be able to refuse on account of not having the right
tools.
It appears to me, Chaim [Vital], that I head from my
master, of blessed memory, that the numerical value of Balaam is 142, which is
the numerical value of the names Havayah and Eh-yeh and the names
Havayah and Ado-nai, together with their four kolels. The
significance of this is that [Balaam] takes the radiance from Zeir Anpin,
which is referred to by the name Havayah, that shines to Leah, which is
referred to by the name Eh-yeh - and the said radiances from Zeir
Anpin, which are indicated by two names Havayah that shine to Rachel,
who is referred to by the name Ado-nai.
"Reprinted with permission from Chabad of California.
Copyright 2004 by Chabad of California, Inc. All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof, in any form,
without permission, in writing, from Chabad of California, Inc."
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