Parashat Balak tells the story of Bilaam, who tried to curse the Jews multiple times. In the haftarah that we read of Parashat Balak we learn that of the 10 things we should remember every day, one of them is to remember what Balak’s plan was, what Bilaam tried to do, and how Hashem saved us.
As the Navi and Gemarah further explain, there’s a moment in time every day where G-d gets angry. If the Jews were to be cursed during that time of day, the curse would be lethal. Bilaam knew this, and he knew how to curse. His plan was to bring out G-d’s wrath on the Jewish people and destroy them.
So what did G-d do? G-d protected us by not getting angry during those days. He changed his nature, so to speak, to save us.
We are supposed to remember how G-d protected us.
The question is asked: Out of all the wars the Jewish people fought, why is this the one we have to remember?
The rabbis answer that other wars were known miracles, known events. We witnessed them. Hashem wants us to remember the hidden miracles.
If Hashem hadn’t told us they were trying to curse us, we’d never have known what Balak and Bilaam were up to. It’s as if they stood on a mountaintop and shot missiles straight at us and they all missed. This story is a daily reminder that G-d is watching over us and protecting us from things we never even know about.
There a famous commentary on a very short perek in Tehilim (117) that says the goyim will say thank you and praise Hashem
הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־ה כָּל־גּוֹיִ֑ם...
Praise Hashem, all you nations...
What’s their thank you?
כִּ֥י גָ֘בַ֤ר עָלֵ֨ינוּ ׀ חַסְדּ֗וֹ ־׃
for His great hessed toward us.
That G-d loves and does kindness to the Jews? Why is this their praise?
The answer given by Rav Yitzhak Volozhin is that when the Mashiach comes, the Jews will interview the goyim, and only then will they share all their plots and plans to harm us, that we never knew about. Only the goyim know how Hashem saves us from all their plots. That will be their praise.
The Chafetz Chaim gave a mashal based on his youth to explain this. It was the mid-1800s and boys being boys, his friends were bored and decided to play a trick on the milkman. It was a cold, frigid night and after the milkman went to sleep, they went out and filled all of his jugs with water. Their plan was that the jugs would freeze overnight and then, at 4am when the milkman would come out to milk the cows, he’d first have to chisel out all the ice. The boys planned to wake up early to watch the spectacle from afar. The Chafetz Chaim was a good soul, however, even at a young age, and felt bad for the milkman. So after the boys filled the jugs with water and went home, he went and emptied out all of the water.
At 4am the boys got up to watch the fun. The milkman got up, went to get the (empty) jugs, milked the cows and went on his way. The mischievous young boys couldn’t understand what had happened! The Chafetz Chaim smiled to himself, for only he knew that he had poured out the water.
That’s the mashal. The nimshal is
that Hashem is the Chafetz Chaim. He’s out there pouring out the water for us, averting disasters all the time.
The mischievous boys are the terrorists and plotters of today, trying to destroy the Jewish people physically and spiritually.
And we are the innocent milkman with no idea what our lives are being saved from. We go on our merry way.
That’s why in Modim we say
ועל נסיך שבכל יום עמנו
we say thank you for the miracles that are with us every day- the hidden miracles that we aren’t even aware of.
That’s the lesson of Balak and Bilam. Hashem is always watching over and protecting us.