Musar for Taanit 39:8

Now we understand the meaning of Proverbs 27,6: "Wounds inflicted by a loved one are long lasting; the kisses of an enemy are profuse." Taanit 20a explains this verse by saying that the curse that Achiyah Hashiloni cursed Israel with (Kings I 14,15), was better (more beneficial) than all the blessings that Bileam conferred upon it. Achiyah cursed Israel by referring to it as a "reed in water." Just as such a reed can stand in water, its stem can grow back and develop many roots, so that all the winds of the world will not uproot it, but it will bend in the direction the wind blows until the wind has stopped blowing and resume its original posture, so Israel will recover from such storms. Not so the blessings of Bileam the wicked. He compares Israel to the cedar (24,6). A cedar cannot survive in water, its roots are few, its trunk does not grow back once it has been cut. Even though it is strong enough to resist all the storms in the world, a South wind will dislocate it immediately. Comparing Israel to a cedar was not really a blessing. Not only this, but if need be, one can make a quill from the reed to write a ספר תורה, which cannot be done with the remains of a cedar. So far the Talmud on our subject.