Balak: Chapter 41

"And Elohim came to Bilaam," refers to the appointed minister

Synopsis

We are told that the Elohim that came to Bilaam and to Laban was their appointed minister. Bilaam used the power of his she-mule to remove himself from the power of God and operate under his own authority. Rabbi Yitzchak relates what Rabbi Yehuda told him about the ten lower Sfirot of the right and the ten of the left. We learn from Rabbi Yosi that Joseph studied the wisdom of the lower Sfirot of the Other Side while he was in Egypt. Rabbi Shimon tells the others that in the future God will tie up the she-mule that is Yisrael's Accuser so that he can no longer harm them. We hear about the Sfirot that pertain to divination and the Sfirot that pertain to enchantment; the ox comes from the aspect of enchantment and the she-mule comes from the angle of divination. This is why Bilaam used the she-mule in his witchcraft to remove himself from God's power. We hear about the angel of compassion that stood in Bilaam's way when he tried to leave God's jurisdiction, and how the angel confounded Bilaam's wisdom and deflected him from his path of witchcraft.