Hashem told Moshe to go to war with Midyan. Why did Moshe send Pinchas instead of going himself? The Chizkuni says that Moshe Rabbeinu had hakaras hatov to Midyan because he had lived there, so he did not want to be the one to fight against them.
The Zohar writes that before Bilam died, he filled a pot with all kinds of kishuf and forces of evil and buried it 1,500 amos underground. His plan was for it to harm the Yidden. Many years later, when Dovid Hamelech dug 1,500 amos to bring water for the Beis Hamikdash, he found the pot and poured special water on it, removing the power of those klippos.
The Divrei Yosef brings a fascinating story. The Arizal was once sitting with his talmidim when two crows landed on a nearby tree. The Arizal told them, “Those two crows are Bilam and Balak. They are about to be sent to an even worse place in Gehinnom and have come to ask me for mercy.” He turned to them and said, “You wicked men! In this world, you wanted to destroy the Jewish people, and now you come to me?” As soon as they heard this, the crows flew away.
In the city of Lomza, there was a great talmid chacham who wanted to learn Torah without interruption. He made a neder that he would never leave the beis hamedrash!
This created many difficulties for him. He could not even go out to eat, and since there was no eruv in Lomza, people had to bring everything he needed before Shabbos.
One day, Reb Akiva Eiger came to town. The local Rav told him about this special Yid and his neder. Reb Akiva Eiger said, “Let us go visit him.”
When they arrived, the man was amazed that the Gadol Hador had come to see him. He apologized for causing Reb Akiva Eiger so much trouble. Reb Akiva Eiger asked him, “If you had known that because of your neder I would have to come visit you, would you have made it?”
“Chas v’shalom!” the man replied. “I would never want the Gadol Hador to trouble himself because of me!” “In that case,” said Reb Akiva Eiger with a smile, “we have found a way out. Since you would not have made the neder had you known this, I can annul it.”
With his great wisdom, Reb Akiva Eiger was able to help this Yid get out of his promise, which was too difficult to keep.
The Haflaah says that the five daughters of Tzelafchad all got married on the same day!
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 89.