Menachem Mirski
Thoughts on Parashat Balak
Regardless of where we were born and how we were brought up, certain principles of human life and coexistence are instilled in us from childhood. They usually boil down to a certain theory of what is good/right and what is bad/wrong, and consequently what we are allowed to do and what we are not allowed to do. Over time we also learn that there is also a gray area between these two realms, and that certain behaviors and attitudes are morally relative. As we grow and gain more experience, practical life and certain patterns from the human environment cause us to look for solutions beyond the realm of good and bad, teaching us that certain actions are morally indifferent or that “they simply work.”
Our parasha for this week tells a known story about the king of Moab, Balak, hiring a gentile prophet – Balaam – to curse the Israelites encamping on an adjacent territory. Balaam is a very ambiguous character in the Bible itself and the opinions of the rabbis about him only strengthen this ambiguity. Some believed he was among seven great prophets who prophesied in the non-Jewish world (Talmud Bava Batra 15b). Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 65:20) calls him the greatest philosopher in the world whereas Bamidbar Rabbah (14) portrays him as a prophet like Moshe, even exceeding Moshe’s greatness in certain ways. He was able to know the state of God’s feelings and predict the moment of the Divine wrath (Talmud Berachot 7). Ibn Ezra calls him only a stargazer and astrologer, and credits him with no ability to curse or bless. Similarly, many other commentators call him a sorcerer or even charlatan. Zohar portrays him as a man with an Open, but Evil eye: wherever he gazed, he sent forth evil spirits to do the damage and that is what he aimed towards Israel. According to Abravanel Balaam actually wished to harm Israel even more than his ‘employer’, Balak, did yet his evil powers disappeared when he came to deal with Israel.
However, is there anything significant, anything essential that distinguishes Balaam from the Jewish Prophets? Yes, there is a difference like that and there is a consensus about it among our biblical commentators. As Nahmanides observes, Balaam, with regard to sacrifices, did not perform them in order to achieve closer communion with God, as the Israelites and their Prophets did, but to ‘steer the Divine will’ to reach mundane (and nefarious) goals. Similarly regarding uttering the Divine message: while the Prophets of Israel continually emphasized the Divine authorship of their utterances and their own passivity in the process of conveying them to the people, Balaam treated them as a means to certain (also nefarious) ends. In other words, Balaam, by trying to harness God’s will, treated the Divine wisdom and religious rituals instrumentally to manipulate the status quo to his own advantage and achieve certain desired goals.
This characterization of his attitude sheds some additional light on the vast difference of opinions about Balaam I mentioned above. But not only that. It is that kind of instrumentalist and manipulative attitude that can discredit or completely take down brilliant minds, charismatic and cherished leaders as well as other publicly respected figures. An individual who uses that kind of vile tactics, especially against a multitude of people, will ultimately lose even if he or she wins. Therefore, if we want to draw a lesson from this story and Balaam’s actions we shall always remember that there is a fundamental boundary between what is always good and what is morally questionable, and mixing these realms, even for short-term purposes, may not end well, as indeed was ultimately the case of Balaam.
Shabbat shalom!
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