Parsha discussion

Question : In their conversations, בלק and בלים always refer to ״העם״, without saying whom explicitly. Why? Approach: it is clear from the ברכות that the names יעקב & ישראל were known, so we cannot answer that a name wasn't available or known. However, בלק and בלעם both refer to the "nation who left Egypt" in their first reference. And it could be that they simply refer to the "nation we were discussing" thereafter. We could also suggest that they didn't want to formally mention the name of their "enemy" - similar to how we see the opponents of דוד המלך refer to him as בן ישי - without mentioning his name explicitly.

Question:  Why do the people not weep when מרים passes away, in sharp distinction to her brothers? Approach: we could suggest that, due to the lack of water immediately after her passing, the people were not able to concentrate on mourning. We may also consider that the people didn’t realise quite what they’d lost when מרים passed away. Only in retrospect did they realise and hence corrected things when it came to אהרן and משה

Question:  If the מחתות נחושת were used improperly, why are they used to cover the מזבח? Approach: We can suggest that the claim of כל העדה כולם קדושים is somewhat true, and that the intentions of the 250 people were not all negative - but they went about it the wrong way. That therefore allows for the מחתות to be used on the מזבח.

Question:  Why would the failure to bring the people to the promised land reduce the effect of יציאת מצרים? Approach : The main purpose of יציאת מצרים was to show "כי אני ה' בכל הארץ", i.e. for the people to recognise God's existence and ongoing השגחה. Since one of the stated purposes - at least to משה - of יציאת מצרים was to enter the Land, and hence the ultimate purpose wouldn't be realised if the people were to be killed off. The end result, a gradual killing off, seems to be somewhat of a halfway house between the two.