Welcome to the Daily Chizuk. There’s a mitzvah (commandment) mi-divrei Kabbalah (from the prophetic tradition) to remember that Balak and Balaam tried to destroy us and Hashem saved us. It’s one of the ten zechirot (remembrances) that we have to mention every single day. Why? The pasuk (verse) in this week’s haftarah says, “So that we realize how kind Hashem is to us.” What’s so special about this kindness? The Mefarshim (commentators) tell us that while Balak and Balaam were trying to wipe out the entire nation, we were oblivious to the whole thing. The Jews were living life as usual, with no idea how much danger they were in. Hashem wants us to know this because there are a lot of potential dangers in the world that we have no idea about. But Hashem is the Shomer Yisrael; Hashem is our protector, and we don’t have to worry because we have a guardian. They could try all they want to hurt us, but Balaam said it so eloquently: “Mah ekov lo kabbo El. How could I curse if Hashem doesn’t want them to be cursed?” Not only did Hashem protect us from the curse, but He turned the curse into the most beautiful blessings. As the pasuk says, Hashem overturned the curse to be a blessing, because Hashem loves you. Hashem protects us in miraculous ways, and that which might look negative is harmless to Hashem. He could take the curse, but He doesn’t want it to be a blessing. This is the very item that was meant for harm, and He uses it for our good.
Rav Chaim Brim once told the story about a certain tank during the 6th Day War. The driver was religious, and the other 3 people we met were not. It was hit by a bomb, and the door was warped, making it impossible to get out. The tank was burning, and it was only a matter of time. The religious man told the others, “Let’s call Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel),” and they said it all together. All of a sudden, another bomb from an Egyptian tank hit it in the exact same spot, warped the door even more, and it opened up, allowing them to escape. Hashem can use the very same thing that appears to be a curse and turn it into the yeshuah (salvation).
The Chovot HaLevavot in Sha'ar Avodat HaElokim writes that it’s incumbent upon a person to talk about the kindnesses of Hashem constantly. And as the Navi (prophet) says further in the Haftarah, the more we realize the kindnesses of Hashem, the more we should be running to serve Hashem better. Hashem is so kind: He pays us for the mitzvot as if we do everything ourselves, even though He’s helping us most of the way. We could only give charity because Hashem gives us money. We could only do chesed because Hashem gives us health and strength. The Midrash, commenting on a pasuk in Iyov, says, “Mi hikdimani va'ashalem (Who has preceded Me, that I should repay?) Amar HaKadosh Baruch Hu (The Holy One, blessed be He, said),” and I’m skipping a little bit. “Did I ever ask you to do a Berit Milah (circumcision) without first giving you a son? Did I ever ask you to put up a mezuzah (doorpost scroll) without first giving you a house? Did I ever ask you to put up a fence without first giving you a roof? Did I ever ask you to put on tzitzit (fringes) without first giving you clothing? And did I ever ask you to give a corner of your field to the poor without first giving you a field?” Hashem gives us everything, yet He still pays us for the mitzvah. And this could be another explanation in the pasuk in Tehillim: “Lecha Hashem chesed ki atah teshalem le'ish kema'asehu.” Hashem is so kind because He pays us back for our deeds. But what’s so kind about paying us for exactly what we did? You do a good deed; you get rewarded. The chesed is that Hashem pays us as if we did everything ourselves, even though we needed so much of His help. We have to feel so indebted to Hashem for all of the chasadim He does for us, of course for the ones we notice, but we also have to thank Him for all the chasadim that we don’t know about. And this should give us strength to improve. Shabbat Shalom.