Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) 
 
  One Eye of the Higher Mind

 From the Weekly Parsha Column on www.KabbalaOnline.org, Chabad Discourses, Deep analyses of major mystical topics from the seven generations of the "intellectual chasidim"

By Rabbi Schnuer Zalman of Liadi 

"...He hired against you Balaam son of Beor, of Pethor, Aram Naharaim, but G-d did not wish to listen to Balaam and He reversed the curse to a blessing for you because G-d, your G-d, loves you." (Deut. 23:5-6)

It seems that if not for G-d's refusal to listen to Balaam's curses the Israelites would have suffered their effect. This essay explores the source of Balaam's power and the dynamics through which this power is neutralized.

The  Torah's depiction of G-d's "vision" is inconsistent. King David speaks of the "Eye of
G-d" (Psalms 33:18) - in the singular. Other verses in the Torah speak of G-d's eyes, in the plural: In Jeremiah's words G-d's eyes are open upon on all the ways of man. (Jeremiah 32:19) Zachariah, similarly, sees G-d's eyes roving over all the earth. (Zachariah 4:10)

 Kabbala explains that the "two eyes" of G-d refers to the divine manifestation on the level of what is called Zeir Anpin. On this level there are two eyes, one of  chesed and one of  gevura, kindness and judgment. This is the level referred to as  daat tachton, or "lower mind", where the same situation can be judged in two opposite ways.

" That daat contains chesed and gevura can be seen in the  mitzvah of tefillin...." 
 
On the human level, for example, a person can judge his own act to be noble while considering a similar act committed by his enemy to be criminal. The difference in view stems from a subconscious motivation: his personal bias caused by his self-love causes his mind to lean towards chesed in one case, to gevura in the other.

(The Talmud tells of certain sages who refused to preside over court-cases where one of the disputants had accorded them even the smallest favor for fear that their judgment would be biased. (Ketubot 105b) Bribery is not only prohibited when the judge is persuaded to cheat for his patron; it is even forbidden in cases such as those recounted in the Talmud where the favor accorded the judge may cause his daat to unwittingly lean in one particular direction.)

So the divine "lower mind" in its manifestation in Zeir Anpin contains within it the potential for chesed and gevura.

That daat contains chesed and gevura can be seen in the mitzva of tefillin. The four passages of Torah written on the scrolls placed in the tefillin - all four on one scroll in the arm tefilla and four scrolls for the head tefilla - correspond to the "four brains": The passages entitled Kadesh and V'haya ki yiviacha correspond to  chochma and  bina, while Shema and V'haya correspond to chesed and gevura. This is because daat is the intermediary between chochma and bina and chesed and gevura.

Generally the mind is divided into three: chochma, bina, and daat.  Chochma is the initial, unarticulated flash of insight; bina is the development and articulation of the insight; and daat is the bridge between intellect and emotion, where the insight goes from an abstract thought towards an emotional feeling. The emotional feeling can be either positive or negative, love or rejection. Thus daat includes within it four elements: chochma and bina, its "parents", and chesed and gevura, its "children".

There is, however, a deeper level called daat elyon, "higher mind". This level stands beyond the division of chesed and gevura. Daat elyon is pure kindness. This is the level of One Eye referred to by King David. Of this level it is written in the  Zohar, "there is no left side [i.e. judgment] in this  Atika." (Idra Rabba Nasso 129a)

Balaam

Balaam son of Beor introduces himself as the man "with an open eye". (Num. 24:15) The Talmud derives from this self-description that Balaam had only one open eye: the other was blind. (Nidda 31a) His one-dimensional view was the view of gevura alone, strict judgment. Similarly, in Pirkei Avot, the students of Balaam are described as having "an evil eye", while the students of Abraham possess "a good eye". (Avot 5:19)

" Whereas Abraham saw everything from the point of view of kindness, Balaam saw only strict judgment...." 
 
Whereas Abraham saw everything from the point of view of kindness, Balaam saw only strict judgment. And it was this view that he wished to invoke upon the Israelites in the desert.

A similar phenomenon occurs every  Rosh Hashanah when the "children of  Elo-him (the aspect of judgment) come to stand upon  Havayah (related to kindness)." (Job 1:6, 2:1) See Zohar Bo 32b) This refers to the argument of Satan, whose power stems from finding the sins of man and demanding the implementation of the attribute of judgment, Elo-him. Satan obviously has no power of his own; it is merely his function to be the mouthpiece for judgment.[1]

Chesed and gevura are conceived of as right and left. Thus the right side is always given precedence in Judaism. (The right hand is used to hold the object of a mitzva, such as the kiddush cup or the coin being given to tzedaka, or any food upon which a blessing is being made; the mezuza is placed on the right side of the doorway, etc. Chasidic custom goes so far as to mandate that even men's clothing should button right over left.) Indeed those  mitzvot that take place on the left side, such as tefillin and menora, reflect a unique sublimity that allows them to thrive even in the realm of the left.

So when the Torah speaks of the uplifting of the right hand of G-d (Psalms 118:16) that means that chesed is overpowering gevura.

Where does chesed derive the strength to overpower gevura, its equal? - From the "one eye", from the place that is beyond division and is all kindness, daat elyon. According to the Zohar (parashat Pekudei 221a.),[2] this is the level of Moses.[3]

Moses is identified with the phrase "one with a good eye shall be blessed." (Proverbs 22:9. See Nedarim 38a) This is different than the "eye of good" (ayin tova) attributed to Abraham, which is the counterpart of Balaam's "evil eye". The kindness represented by Abraham is within the realm of kindness and judgment. Moses, by contrast, is called "good eye" (tov ayin), referring to the One Eye, which is beyond the division of chesed and gevura.

When this level is evoked, as it was in the case of Balaam, G-d's right arm is raised and chesed rules.[4]

[Maamarei Admor Hazaken, parshiyot hatorah 1:124. See also Maamarei Admor Haemtzai  Bereishit p. 199.]

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Footnotes:
[1] This is also the idea behind the concept of concealing one's good fortune for fear of an "evil eye," which many consider to be mere superstition. In truth, however, when one looks upon a fellow with a jealous or "evil" eye, this has the effect of evoking the attribute of judgement, which calls into question the good fortune enjoyed by the particular person. Ed.'s note.

[2] See  Tanya 42. See Likutei Sichot 6:244 for a lengthy discussion seeking to identify the exact level of Moses and to reconcile the seemingly inconsistent statements in this regard found in various kabalistic and chasidic texts.

[3] Balaam says of himself that he knows daat elyon (Num. 24:16), since he stems from the "back side" ( achorayim) of daat elyon, whence the division of chesed and gevura begins.

[4] Abraham, on the other hand, unsuccessfully pleaded for the people of Sodom. For the "one eye" can only work by influencing the right side of kindness to overpower the left side of judgement. However, if the right side does not have anything to stand on, the "one eye" does not overrule the attribute of judgment.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Reprinted with permission from www.KabbalaOnline.org and www.AscentofSafed.com. To learn more about Chasidic and Kabbalistic perspectives on the Weekly Parsha, please visit their sites.