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1)

(a) When Bilam saw the Keini (one of Yisro's seven names) - he expressed his surprise at the heights that Yisro had attained since they sat together at the time of Paroh's decree of 'Havah Nischakmah Lo' (to enslave the B'nei Yisrael).

(b) When he said "Eisan Moshavecha", he was referring to the fact that Yisro's descendants were destined to sit on the Sanhedrin in the Lishkas ha'Gazis (as we have already explained).

(c) Rebbi Chiya bar Aba Amar Rebbi Sima'i described how, when the three leaders (himself, Yisro and Iyov) sat together on that occasion - Bilam, who advised Paroh to enslave Yisrael, would eventually be killed, Iyov who remained silent, was made to suffer, and Yisro, who fled, merited that his descendants would sit in the Lishkas ha'Gazis.

(a) Resh Lakish interprets the Pasuk "Oy Mi Yichyeh mi'Sumo Keil" to mean 'Woe to those who make themselves into gods - with particular reference to Paroh and Chirom.

(b) Rebbi Yochanan interprets the Pasuk to mean - 'Woe to the nation who tries to interfere when Hashem, when He comes to redeem His children'. Who would dare to place his cloak between a lion and a lioness when they are intimate.

(c) "ve'Tzim be'Yad Kitim", means - that large ships will come from 'Libun Aspir', a place in Rome.

(d) "ve'Inu Ashur ve'Inu Eiver".

1. ... until they reach Ashur - the invaders will kill.
2. ... once they pass Ashur - they will enslave.

(a) Before taking leave of Balak, Bilam told Balak what his people were about to do to Yisrael. He was he was referring to - the episode of Ba'al Pe'or, designed by himself to make Yisrael sin.

(b) And he said "Asher Ya'aseh ha'Am ha'Zeh le'Amcha", and not the other way round - out of respect for Balak, to avoid conveying the idea that he Balak, needed to seek ways and means to destroy Yisrael, but rather that Yisrael are the ones who need to find ways and means to defend themselves. Alternatively - it is the Torah that changed from what Bilam said, as it is not Kavod to write that Yisrael fell to Moav in such a dishonorabe way.

(c) Two things gave Bilam the idea. One of them was the fact that the G-d of Yisrael hates immorality, the other - that Yisrael loved linen clothes, and that is what the Moavim could use to arouse their interest.

(d) After the Moavim had set up stalls selling linen clothes from Har Sheleg till Beis Hayeshimos - the Jewish men discovered an older woman standing outside the stall selling linen clothes at the regular price, and a young woman (a prostitute) selling them at half price inside the stall. After offering the clothes a few times, they would invite the men to make themselves at home and offer them some strong Amoni wine.

(a) The Amoni wine was not forbidden to drink - because the Chachamim would only decree on S'tam Yeinam later.

(b) After the wine had its effect, the women convinced the Jewish men to serve their idol - by informing them that all that was expected of them was to defacate in front of it, and they, unaware that this was the conventional method of worship regarding this particular idol (Pe'or), readily agreed.

(c) Once they had worshipped their idol, and the men were pleading with them to acquiesce to their advances - they would refuse unless they denounce the Torah of Moshe their Rebbe (see Agados Maharsha).

(d) According to Rebbi Eliezer, the place was really called 'Shitim', whereas according to Rebbi Yehoshua - the name reflects the 'Sh'tus' (nonsence) in which they had indulged.

(a) According to Rebbi Eliezer, "Vatikrena la'Am le'Zivchei le'Eloheihen" implies that the women were naked (see Agados Maharsha). According to Rebbi Yehoshua however - it implies that when the men saw the women, they all had an emission (and became Ba'alei Keri [which is from same root as "Vatikrena"]).

(b) The last stop before Har Sinai was Refidim. According to Rebbi Eliezer, that was its name; whereas according to Rebbi Yehoshua, it is the acronym of "Rafu Yadayim", which means that they were lax (in Torah), and explains why Amalek attacked them.

(c) Rebbi Yochanan explains that whenever the Torah writes "Vayeishev", it always implies trouble (like we find by the current episode, where the Torah writes "Vayeishev ha'Am be'Shitim, Vayechel ha'Am Lizenos el B'nos Mo'av". Following the Pasuk ...

1. ... "Vayeishev Ya'akov be'Eretz Megurei Aviv ... " - Yosef spoke Lashon-ha'Ra about his brothers, who subsequently sold him as a slave.
2. ... "Vayeishev Yisrael be'Eretz Goshen" - Ya'akov became ill and died.
3. ... "Vayeihev Yehudah ve'Yisrael la'Vetach Ish Tachas Gafno" - Hashem sent Hadad the Edomi to attack Yisrael.

(a) When Yisrael eventually avenged their honor and defeated the Midyanim, killing the five princes of Midian, they killed Bilam too. Bilam had arrived in Midi'an, says Rebbi Yochanan, in order to get paid for the twenty-four thousand who died as a result of the sin of Ba'al Pe'or.

(b) Mar Zuta bar Tuvya Amar Rav cites the adage in this connection - of a camel who came to claim horns, and not only did he not get any, but they cut off his ears too.

(c) At first, says Rebbi Yochanan - Bilam was a Navi, and the Pasuk in Yehoshua refers to him as a sorcerer, because that is what he was relegated to, after he attempted to curse Yisrael.

(d) Rav Papa quotes an adage in this connection about the wife of a prince - who committed adultery with the man who pulls the rope of the boat along the canal, or with a carpenter.

7)

(a) Rav extrapolates from the Pasuk "Hargu B'nei Yisrael ba'Cherev el Chaleleihem" - that they (symbolically) killed Bilam with all four Misos Beis-Din (first they hanged him [Chenek], then they set fire to the gallows [Sereifah], they cut off his head [Hereg] and he received Sekilah, when the rope burned through and he fell to the ground (see also Agados Maharsha).

(b) When a heretic asked him how old Bilam was when he died - Rebbi Chanina replied that although this is not clearly written anywhere, based on the Pasuk in Tehilim "Anshei Damim u'Mirmah Lo Yechetzu Yemeihem", he would say that he died at thirty-three or at most thirty-four.

(c) The heretic - conceded that he was right, as he had seen in Bilam's ledger that Bilam the lame was thirty-three when Pinchas Lista'ah killed him.

(d) The ledger refer to Pinchas as 'Pinchas Lista'ah' - because, in this context, it means 'General'.

(e) What we just learned doesn't tie up at all with Rebbi Sima'i, who maintained above that Bilam was one of Paroh's advisers by the decree of ''Havah Nischakmah Lo'' (more than two hundred years earlier) - because Rebbi Chanina - clearly argues with that.

(a) Mar B'rei de'Ravina told his son - that he should avoid Darshening anything derogatory about any of the kings and Hedyotos listed in our Mishnah with the sole exception of Bilam, where he should actually make a point of doing so.

(b) One Pasuk speaks about Do'eg, and another, about Doyeg. Rebbi Yochanan explains - that initially, Hashem was worried ('Do'eg') that he might go out to evil ways. Once this happened, He said 'Vai' (which form the middle letters of 'Doyeg') that he did.

(c) Rebbi Yitzchak explains the Pasuk ...

1. ... "Mah Tis'halel be'Ra'ah ha'Gibor, Chesed Keil Kol Ha'Yom" to mean - that Hashem asked Do'eg why he boasted about the evil that he perpetrated , seeing as he was so great in Torah (and it was not becoming for him to speak Lashon ha'Ra about Nov Ir ha'Kohanim) and that he was surrounded with the kindness of Hashem (to do Teshuvah [Agados Maharsha], so why didn't he?).
2. ... "ve'la'Rasha Amar Elokim Mah Lecha Lesaper Chukai" to mean that - for all Do'eg's knowledge, what would he do when he arrived at the Parshah of slanderers and murderers (since he was also the one to kill the Kohanim of Nov)?

(d) Rebbi Ami explains this, based on the Pasuk "Vatisa B'risi Alei Picha" - which means that his Torah was from the lips and outward, but did not affect his heart (i.e. he did not internalize what he learned).

(a) And Rebbi Yitzchak explains the Pasuk which first speaks about the fear of the Tzadikim, and then describes how they will laugh - with reference to Do'eg, who, they were initially afraid, due to his enormous success in life, would serve as an example to others; but when he died at a young age, they were happy.

(b) Based on Rebbi Yitzchak's interpretation of a Pasuk in Iyov, when David prayed that Do'eg should die, Hashem replied - that he would wait until he forgot all his learning.

(c) David's response to that was - that Hashem should not wait for that to happen, but should make it happen immediately.

(d) And, still based on Rebbi Yitzchak's interpretation of a Pasuk in Iyov, when Hashem asked David him whether ...

1. ... Do'eg should go to Olam ha'Ba, he replied that He should cut him down forever.
2. ... the Beis-Din shel Ma'alah should quote Divrei Torah in his name, he replied - that he should be uprooted from the Beis-Hamedrash forever.
3. ... he should have children who are Talmidei-Chachamim, he replied - that he should be uprooted from the land of the living.

(a) When Rebbi Yitzchak explains "Ayeh Sofer" as 'Ayeh Sofer Kol Osiyos she'ba'Torah' - he means that Do'eg and Achitofel were experts in the Chaseiros and Yeseiros (missing letters and extra ones).

(b) "Ayeh Shokel" refers to all the 'Kal va'Chomers' in the Torah. And he interpret "Ayeh Sofer es ha'Migdalim" - with regard to the three hundred Halachos in 'Migdal ha'Pore'ach be'Avir'.

(c) This might refer to the top of the 'Lamed', which is bent downwards (much in the same as way as Rebbi Akiva Darshened 'from every crown piles and piles of Halachos'). If 'Migdal' is taken to mean a sort of moving wagon - then it pertains to the question of whether someone who travels to Chutz la'Aretz in a wagon becomes Tamei (like he does when he walks there) or not.

(d) It might also be referring to Halachos concerning stopping a cupboard in mid-air by magic. But it probably pertains to a Mishnah in Ohalos, which rules - that if a cupboard is standing in the open, and there is a piece of Tamei Meis inside it, then any vessels that are inside the cupboard are Tamei.

(a) Rebbi (or Rebbi Ami) stated - that nobody could resolve the four hundred She'eilos that Do'eg and Achitofel asked with regard to a 'Migdal ha'Pore'ach be'Avir'.

(b) Rava commented on this - that it was no big deal to ask She'eilos (from the lips and outwards, as we learned earlier). What is important is to internalize the Torah that one learns ('Rachmana Liba Ba'i').

(c) And he based it on the distinction between his generation and that of Rav Yehudah when it came to ...

1. ... Torah-study, where the latter concentrated all their efforts on learning Nezikin, whereas the former had thirteen Yeshivos who were learning Uktzin (the last Masechta in Shas).
2. ... levels of Chasidus, where in his generation, they prayed for rain to no avail, yet all Rav Yehudah needed to do was to remove his shoe, and Hashem would respond immediately.

(d) We learn from the Pasuk "va'Hashem Yir'eh la'Leivav" - that 'Rachmana Liba Ba'i'.

(e) Rav Yehudah's problem with the Mishnah in Uktzin was why the Tana renders Tahor the pickled vegetables or the pickles olives, should the stalks or the leaves (respectively) become Tamei. He did not understand why they do not transmit their Tum'ah on to the vegetables and the olives (seeing as normally, stalks and leaves are considered a Yad, transmitting their own Tum'ah to the vegetables or fruit to which they are attached).

(a) Mar Zutra objects to Rav Mesharshaya's statement, that Do'eg and Achitofel were not conversant in Halachah - on the basis of the Pasuk "Ayeh Sofer, Ayeh Shokel ... " (that we just discussed).

(b) So he amends the statement to read - that they did not merit that their opinions should be accepted as Halachah (against the opinion of others) ...

(c) ... a special merit that comes with Yir'as Shamayim, as the Pasuk writes "Sod Hashem li'Yere'av".

(d) Based on the Pasuk "Hu Yamus be'Ein Musar u've'Rov Avlaso Yishgeh", Rebbi Ami says - that Do'eg did not die before he had forgotten all his learning.

(a) According to Rav, Do'eg was stricken with Tzara'as before he died, and he extrapolates this from the Pasuk (with regard to Do'eg) "*Hitzmatah* Kol Zoneh Mimeka" - because Unkelus translates the same word "li'Tzemisus" (in Parshas Behar, to do with the sale of land) as 'la'Chalutin', a word which is turn, is used regarding Tzara'as (a Metzora Muchlat).

(b) Rebbi Yochanan describes how three destructive angels were employed to handle Do'eg at the time of his death; one made him forget all his learning, another burned his Soul - and the third one scattered his ashes in the Batei-Kenesi'os and the Batei-Medrash.

(c) Do'eg, who lived in the time of Shaul, and Achitofel, who lived during the latter years of David - never saw each other.

(d) The Beraisa (which we bring in support of Rebbi Yochanan), states - that, based on the Pasuk in Tehilim (that we already quoted above) "Anshei Damim u'Mirmah Lo Yechetzu Yemeihem", Do'eg died at the age of thirty-four, and Achitofel, at thirty-three.

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