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Why did Balaam switch from cursing Israel to blessing them? The shiur develops a chiddush that Balaam understood a devastating truth: blessings people cannot handle become more destructive than direct curses. Only the blessing of study halls remained positive because spiritual connection, unlike material abundance, cannot corrupt into selfishness or arrogance.
This shiur examines the profound psychological and spiritual dynamics behind Balaam's attempt to curse the Jewish people through blessings. Rabbi Zweig begins by analyzing the puzzling narrative where Balaam, hired to curse Israel, suddenly offers to bless them instead. Rashi (רש"י)'s commentary reveals that God rejected both the curse and the blessing, telling Balaam that Israel neither needs his harm nor his honey. The key insight emerges from the Talmud (תלמוד) in Sanhedrin, which states that all of Balaam's blessings eventually became curses, except for his blessing of the study halls and synagogues. This leads to three fundamental questions: Why did Balaam switch from cursing to blessing? How do blessings become curses? And why did only the blessing of Torah (תורה) institutions remain positive?
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