The greatest miracles might be the ones we never know about.

This week's parsha describes the efforts of Moav and Midian to harm the Jewish people. According to Chazal, these historic enemies made peace just for this purpose (as rival Arab tribes did in modern times, and surely others have done throughout history). The Torah gives us a unique inside look at their plots against us, even their petty internecine squabbles.

Imagine that you were a Jew in the desert. While all this was going on, the Jews were busy gathering their daily man, studying Torah, bickering, and doing whatever else they did on a typical day in the desert. They had absolutely no idea that powerful kings and the greatest of their prophets were conspiring to destroy them, and that they were in serious danger. By the time they found out about it, it was already over. God had thwarted Balak's plans and forced Bilam to utter blessings instead of curses.

A similar thing happened not long before. In Parshas Chukas we learn that Hashem saved the Jews from an Emorite ambush on their way to Israel. The Emorites expected the Jews to pass through a narrow stream in a valley between two mountains. Their soldiers hid inside clefts in the mountains and planned to attack the Jews with projectiles from above while the Jews were sitting ducks down below. Before the Jews even reached the area, Hashem brought the two mountains together and crushed all the Emorites. The Jews only found out about the ambush after the fact, when the well brought them the dismembered body parts of their slain enemies so they could praise Hashem (see Rashi from Medrash 21:15-16).

In both cases the Jews were blissfully unaware that they were in grave danger, while Hashem was busy thwarting the plots of their enemies.

The Medrash teaches us that the nations of the world are constantly scheming against us, day and night. (Unfortunately I cannot recall the exact source, but trust me on this. If you know the Medrash, I would be grateful if you can provide the source. * Update: see below.) How many of these schemes – which we are obviously saved from – do we ever find out about? Even what we do eventually learn is surely only a small fraction.

Jews who believe that anything has changed are fools and playing with heresy. We are constantly under threat in a never-ending proxy war against God, with us as His ambassadors. It is no coincidence that the world is obsessed with Israel, and relatively small events in Israel dominate the international headlines. It is no coincidence that Israel was chosen as the world's laboratory for monstrous medical experiments to be unleashed upon the rest of humanity, regardless of how the professional liars spin it.

The Erev Rav who govern Israel are obsessed with destroying us from within. How many times have they sold us to our enemies, in how many ways? How many attacks have they made on the Torah, on Torah education, on the sanctity of our Land? The little we know is enough to demonstrate how devoted they are, to the exclusion of nearly all else. For all the damage they have wrought, how much has Hashem saved us?

How many thousands would have been murdered in Meron, where the Jews were helplessly crowded and ambushed like with the Emorites, if not for Hashem's incredible mercy?

How can it be that the Jews in America are surrounded by terrorist groups like Black Lives Matter and Antifa, in places where the social fabric is being ripped apart, where police are powerless, under governors who despise them, yet have (so far) escaped widespread coordinated attacks? The stupid galus Jews continue to downplay the grave danger that they are in, while grossly exaggerating the “protection” they can expect from the authorities.

How much has Hashem saved them while they go about their daily lives as if everything is fine? The miracles that must be going on behind the scenes are worthy of Hallel every single day.

We need to recognize the dangers and appreciate the miracles, even if we aren't privy to all the details. This is, I believe, the primary lesson of Balak. By doing this, we will surely merit even greater protection and revelation of God's wonderful ways.

*