Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Bilam calls himself שְׁתֻם הָעָיִן (shetum ha-ayin) (Bemidbar 24:3). This means something like, “the person whose eye is open.” But what does THAT mean?
According to the Talmud (Bavli Sanhedrin 105a), it means Bilam was blind in one eye.
It’s also possible that shetum ha-ayin could be a metaphor for the way that Bilam looked at Benei Yisrael.
תָּאנָא, אָמַר ר' יִצְחָק, בֹּא וּרְאֵה מַה כְּתִיב בְּהַהוּא רָשָׁע דְּבִלְעָם, בְּשַׁעֲתָא דְּאִתְּמְסַר לֵיהּ לְבָרְכָא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, הֲוָה מַשְׁגַּח בְּעֵינָא בִּישָׁא, בְּגִין דְּלָא יִתְקְיָּים בִּרְכָתָא, וַהֲוָה תָּלֵי מִלּוֹי בְּהַהוּא עֵינָא בִּישָׁא, דִּכְתִּיב… וּנְאֻם הַגֶּבֶר שְׁתוּם הָעָיִן, דְּסָתִים עֵינָא טָבָא מִנַּיְיהוּ, בְּגִין דְּלָא יִתְבָּרְכוּן, וְלָא יִתְקַיֵּים בִּרְכָתָא.
We have learned that R. Yitzhak said: Come and see what is written about that wicked Bilam. When he blessed Benei Yisrael, he looked with his evil eye so that the blessing would not last. And he made his words depend on that evil eye, as it is written… “And the word of the shetum ha-ayin.” He closed (satam) his good eye from them, so that they would not be blessed, and the blessing would not last.
- What’s the difference between looking at things or people with a good eye vs. looking at them with a bad eye?
- How can your perspective have an impact on the words you say or the people you meet?
- Why might a blessing not last if you are looking at things with a bad perspective? Why might it last only if you’re looking with a good perspective?
- What’s an example of a time when having a good perspective will help a blessing last, and an example of a time when having a bad perspective will make it end?
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