494. "And now, behold, I go to my people..." (Bemidbar 24:14). Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion with the verse: "You shall not deliver to his master the servant...he shall dwell with you" (Devarim 23:16). How lovely are the words of the Torah before the Holy One, blessed be He, and how beloved is the Torah that he gave her as a legacy to the Congregation of Yisrael. Come and see: At the time they left Egypt, Bilaam heard that his witches and sorcerers, and all those ties THAT THEY PERFORMED, were not effective against Yisrael. He began to scratch himself and tear his hair out of his head. Then, he went to the mountains of darkness and reached the iron chains, WITH WHICH AZA AND AZAEL ARE BOUND.
495. This is the manner of the one who reaches them. As soon as a person enters there, between the mountaintops, Azael, THAT ONE that is called "having his eyes open" (Bemidbar 24:4), notices him. He immediately informs Aza. They then give the sound signal and the great burning snakes gather to them and surround them. They send a TYPE OF small CREATURE CALLED 'Onimta' towards that person. We were taught that it is a cat-like animal with a narrow snake-like head. It has two tails and its hands and feet are tiny. A person who sees it covers his face and brings A VESSEL WITH ASHES THAT IS CALLED 'smoked shreds' from the burning of a white rooster and throws them in front of the Onimta, which then comes with him.
496. He goes until he reaches the top of the chains, because the top of those chains is stuck into the ground and reaches to the great depths. In the great depths, there exists a socket that is stuck into the lower depth, and into that socket the top of the chains is connected. When a person reaches the top of the chain, he knocks at it three times. They, AZA AND AZAEL, call for him. He then kneels on his knees, bows down and continues to close his eyes until he reaches them. He then sits up in front of them and all these snakes surround him from either side. Then he opens his eyes and sees them. He is shaken, and he falls on his face and bows towards them.
497. Afterwards, AZA AND AZAEL teach him magic and sorcery, and he stays with them for fifty days. When the time arrives to leave on his way, that LITTLE CREATURE CALLED 'Onimta' and all these snakes walk in front of him, until he leaves the mountain ranges from in between that heavy darkness.
498. When Bilaam reached AZA AND AZAEL, he told them WHAT HE NEEDED FROM THEM, locked himself with them in the mountains and asked to denounce YISRAEL and return them to Egypt. The Holy One, blessed be He, confused and impaired all the wisdoms in the world, and all the magic in the world, so they could not get close TO YISRAEL.
499. Come and see: When Bilaam realized that he was incapable of harming Yisrael, he returned to Balak and gave him advice in order to harm Yisrael, something he did not ask him to do. And his advice was regarding the Midianite women, who were beautiful. If not for the fact that Moses TOLD THIS TO US, we would not have known of it, because it is written: "Behold, these caused the children of Yisrael, through that counsel of Bilaam" (Bemidbar 31:16).
500. When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw his advice, He said, 'You will certainly get snared by your own plot' - BECAUSE HE WAS KILLED IN THE VENGEANCE AGAINST MIDIAN. What did the power controlling magic do, THAT IS MALCHUT, AS MENTIONED ABOVE? It showed him the final end. HE INQUIRES: Does he have permission to see into the distant future? Rabbi Yitzchak said, The eye saw and perceived; however, the actual statements were spoken by the one who is over him, MEANING IT CAME FROM MALCHUT. This was already explained in relation to the verse: "And he took up his discourse, and said..." WHO SPOKE? Whoever should have spoken, MEANING MALCHUT, AS WE MENTIONED THERE. Why is that so? So that disgusting statements BY BILAAM should not come true through the will of the most High, through the high knowledge of the Torah.