Parashat Balak – 5782
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
Parashat Balak centers on two personalities, one a king and the other a mysterious prophet or magician. The first is Balak, king of Moab, a small kingdom east of the Land of the Israel. The second is Balaam, a complex person with magical powers who believes in G-d yet does not surrender to Him quickly. Balak sees that the Jewish nation is approaching Moab and is concerned about what is about to happen. He knows that the children of Israel left Egypt, an empire that no other group of slaves had ever escaped, and he wonders what the fate of his own country will be when the Jewish nation will wish to cross it, or worse, conquer it.
Balak apparently did not feel he could rely on the military power at his disposal so he searched for an alternative solution. He sent emissaries to Balaam, that distant magician known for his power to curse and bless, and pleaded with him to come to his country and curse the Jewish nation. Balak was convinced that such a curse would at the least weaken the Jewish nation’s power and perhaps even lead to their utter defeat. At first, Balaam refused to come, either because G-d had not granted His permission or because the promised fee was not sufficient. Ultimately, both issues are resolved: Balak raised the promised fee, and G-d grants Balaam permission to go, with the warning that even with great effort, he will not succeed in cursing the Jewish nation. Despite this, Balaam sets out on his way.
After some hardships on the way, Balaam reaches Moab and begins with a series of actions that, in his opinion, would help him overcome G-d’s warning regarding the failure of the curse. He builds altars and sacrifices offerings, performs various magical acts and goes to curse the Jewish nation. As expected, instead of curses, he utters blessings. He repeats the series of magical ceremonies three times resulting in repetitively blessing the Jewish people. On the fourth try, he despairs and blesses them again, this time out of choice.
It is interesting that Jewish tradition takes a very negative view of Balaam. He is described as evil, corrupt, and as an adulterer. But Balak is not portrayed as negatively. Perhaps the reason is that we can understand Balak’s motives as opposed to those of Balaam. Balak acted out of fear. He was genuinely concerned about the fate of his land and its people. Even if his actions were negative, he was not motivated by corruption or evil. However, Balaam was not threatened by the Jewish nation. He lived in Aram, a kingdom north and distant that the Jewish nation was not about to approach. His motivation was greed. For a fair price, he was willing to curse and destroy a nation that had done nothing at all to harm him.
Balaam’s story is further clarified when we read the haftara of this week’s Torah portion – a section from the books of prophets that is read in synagogues following the parasha. The haftara is usually connected to the central theme of the parasha, and such is the case here as well. The section we read in this week’s haftara comes from the book of Micah, a prophet who lived in the 8th century BCE. Micah admonished the Jewish nation while surveying historic events in which G-d defended the Jewish nation, among them the story of Balaam’s curses and blessings:
O My people, what have I done, and how have I wearied you? Testify against Me. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery… My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab planned, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.
Michah goes on to explain G-d’s desired reaction to the acts of kindness He did for the Jewish nation:
With what shall I come before the Lord, bow before the Most High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your God.
(Micah 6, 3 – 8)
Micah asks a rhetorical question: How is it suitable to thank G-d for His acts of loving-kindness – through many sacrifices, or – G-d forbid – through human sacrifices, as was customary in the ancient world? And he answers – no! G-d does not desire sacrifices, but rather moral behavior – to do justice, love loving-kindness, and walk with humility before G-d.
Micah was obviously not opposed to the sacrifices the Torah commanded. But he wanted to shift the focus to the essential things. Sacrifices are appropriate only when the person behaves in accordance with Jewish moral values. Micah thus insinuates to the Jewish nation: Do not adopt Balaam’s method of “bribing” G-d by offering sacrifices. The G-d of Israel does not take bribery of any kind. He is interested in proper human beings who have morals and values. Do not be like Balaam who believed in a G-d devoid of values. Believe only in a G-d who demands we behave morally!
