In memory of Father, Yosef Ben Zelig.
March 25th 1911 - May 2nd 2008

In memory of Mother, Nechama Bas Tzvi Hirsh.
June 9th 1925 - April 16th 2003

In Loving Memory of Moreinu Horav Shmuel Yaacov Weinberg, Rosh HaYeshiva Ner Yisroel
In Loving Memory of Rabbi Avigdor Miller
Spiritual Parents to Thousands of Returnees to Torah

Balak (Numbers 22-25)

23:13 And Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you will see it [the camp of Jewish people]. You will see only a part of it, not all of it. And curse (them) for me there."

The wicked Bilam was brought by Balak to curse the Jewish people. Why was it important that he see only part of them?

The following came to mind.

We are taught that G-D guaranteed the Jewish people that they will survive throughout history. While we are not immune to misfortune, we will never be totally destroyed. So perhaps Bilam focused on destroying only part of the Jewish people for he knew that his curse would be nullified had he tried to destroy them all.

The following also came to mind.

In every group of people you will usually find people who are good and people who aren't. Sometimes you find more of the good and other times the reverse. This is true of every group, including subsets of the Jewish people.

As a whole, the Jewish people were held in high esteem by even their enemies, for their lower elements are more than compensated by those who are upright. Perhaps this is why Balak didn't want to present Bilam with the entire nation.

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