The Tzaddik's Prayer That Conquered the Emori

1“And Balak son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emori.”¹ The Kli Yakar asks why the verse does not say that Balak also saw all that Israel had done to Egypt, where far greater miracles took place.² Why did he reflect only on the miracles done for Israel in the war with the Emori?

2Perhaps the answer is this. At the Exodus from Egypt, Klal Yisrael stood on a very high level. The whole order of creation was changed for them, and that entire generation was fit to receive the great miracles that took place. But the Jewish people does not always stand where it stood at the Exodus. Even so, in every generation there are rare, choice individuals, the tzaddikim of the generation, who stand on a high level. They can receive the flow of blessing on behalf of Klal Yisrael and bring every good down to it. And when a simple Jew binds himself to the tzaddikim of the generation in his prayer, they can raise his prayer and his Torah on high.

3We know from the holy sefarim that there are two levels of prayer. The first is simple prayer: attending to the meaning of the words and knowing before Whom one stands. The second is the way of those who truly serve Hashem. They pray with hispashtus hagashmiyus, divesting themselves of the physical, like someone who is no longer in this world at all. Such prayer moves a person to change his ways and deeds for the better, for when the tzaddikim pray, they cleave to the very highest heights. It is told of the holy Rebbe R' Aharon of Belz, zt"l, that once during his prayer his right hand touched his left, and he cried out, “Who is touching me?”³ He was so completely divested of the physical and of everything in this world that he did not feel one of his own hands touching the other. When a servant of Hashem reaches this level, his prayer does not only raise him on high; through it an abundance of holiness and goodness flows down to others as well.

4This is what the verse hints at in Yaakov's words to Yosef: “And I have given you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow.” Onkelos renders “with my sword and with my bow” as bitzlosi uvva'usi, [“with my prayer and with my supplication.”]⁴ Yaakov Avinu was telling Yosef HaTzaddik: I have given you one level more than your brothers, the privilege of praying divested of the physical, which is the level of the tzaddik of the generation. “Which I took from the hand of the Emori”: through the power of this lofty prayer, divested of the physical, I prevailed and took the flow of blessing from the Emori. For by the power of such prayer one can defeat all who rise up against Israel and bring Israel an abundance of good.

5This is the meaning of “And Balak … saw all that Israel had done to the Emori.” Balak saw with his mind's eye and reflected on how Israel had defeated the Emori. He understood that this could surely come only from the power of prayer divested of the physical, the prayer of the choice individuals, the tzaddikim of the generation. It was just as Yaakov Avinu said, “which I took from the hand of the Emori with my sword and with my bow,” that is, “with my prayer and with my supplication.” Through the prayers of the tzaddikim of the generation Israel wins all its wars, and the tzaddikim bring Israel an abundance of good. That is why “Moav was terrified of the people”:⁵ Moav feared even the simple folk of the nation, because they are bound to the tzaddikim of the generation. And “Moav was disgusted … because of Bnei Yisrael”: Rashi explains that “they were disgusted with their lives,”⁶ and “Bnei Yisrael” means the tzaddikim. They stand on the level of “Yisrael,” the higher of Yaakov's two names, the great level of lofty prayer divested of the physical. Moav feared that because of the prayer of the tzaddikim of the generation, it would not be able to defeat Israel.

6This is also hinted in the words of our parshah, “How goodly are your tents, O Yaakov.”⁷ “Your tents, O Yaakov” are the tents of the simple folk, who stand on the level of “Yaakov,” as the Zohar explains.⁸ Their tents are goodly because they are bound to “your dwelling places, O Yisrael,” the tzaddikim on the level of “Yisrael.” Through the tzaddikim's prayer every kind of good flows to the simple folk, both spiritual and physical.

7May Hashem grant that we be privileged to receive a good flow of blessing and every good, selah. Amen.