Parsha of the Week:

Balak (Numbers Chapters 22:2 - 25:9)

July 12, 2008 9 Tammuz 5768 Haftorah: Micah 5-6

Synopsis: Balak appointed the temporary king of Moab; Balak hired the prophet, Bilam to curse the Israelites; G-d warned Bilam twice not to curse the Israelites, but he did so anyway; G-d's angel stood in the way of Bilam, so his donkey laid down and refused to walk; Bilam hit the donkey three times; the donkey opened her mouth and rebuked Bilam; Bilam saw that an angel of G-d blocked the way of the she-donkey with a sword; even though Bilam tried to curse the Israelites, against his will he blessed them; Bilam left disgraced after having blessed rather than curse the Israelites three times; Bilam suggested to Balak that the daughters of Moab seduce the Israelites; the Moabite women seduced the Israelites and caused them to worship Moabite idols; a terrible plague struck the Israelites; the zealot, Pinchas, committed an audacious action, thereby stopping the plague..

Q: What is the background in the story in Parshat Balak?

A: When the Children of Israel first went down to Egypt in the time of Jacob, they were a small group of seventy souls. After more than 212 years of slavery in Egypt, G-d had Moses lead them out of Egypt and out of slavery. By the time they left Egypt, the seventy had grown to over six hundred thousand despite the hardships of slavery. But slavery had taken its toll: the people were weak, dispirited, tired, and worn out from all the hard years. As slaves they were forced to be obedient to their masters. It was difficult for them to exercise adult judgment and free will. Despite their weakened condition, the Children of Israel managed to defeat the very strong kings of three countries (Canaan, Emor, and Bashan).

Q: Who was Balak?

A: Balak was king of Moab, the fourth most powerful country in the area. Our sages explained that Balak, who was an ordinary person, incited his people against the Israelites in order to become king. He frightened the people with his demagoguery. Many people followed him, and consequently he was made king of Moab.

Balak saw that the weakened Children of Israel had defeated much stronger adversaries on three different occasions. He carefully analyzed the situation and realized that the Israelites had won these wars not by brute military strength, but by something else. He understood that the "something else" was the power of G-d. This power was exerted through Moses and accounted for the victories of the Israelites. He learned by careful observation that the big difference was that the Israelites depended on spiritual power rather than the power of the sword. This was evident in Moses' leadership style, in that he spoke to the people, transmitting to them the word of G-d.

Q: Who wa Bilam?

A: Bilam was a master magician and sorcerer who practiced black magic. He was also a prophet, because G-d did speak to him on occasion, but there is a Talmudic discussion as to whether or not he was a true prophet (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 106b; Bava Batra 15a). Bilam had no love for the Israelites, and was receptive when Balak offered to pay him handsomely to curse the Israelites, and thereby cause their defeat in battle.

Q: What does the Torah teach us in this parsha?

A: We learn the importance of the "power of the mouth". Blak saw how the Israelites won their wars, and he tried to mimic it. Since the Israelites were led to victory by a man connected to G-d, Balak reasoned that if he could get the services of a man connected to G-d, he would defeat the Israelites. He hoped to thereby cause the Israelites to lose in battle, as their enemies had lost to them.

G-d told Bilam not to do the bidding of Balak, no matter how high the price. Bilam could not resist the enticements offered to him, and he went to help Balak. On the way, G-d gave Bilam one last chance to refrain from this folly. An angel of G-d appeared in front of Bilam's donkey with a sword, to stop her from moving. Bilam hit the donkey three times. The donkey refused to move, and then the Almighty empowered Bilam's donkey with the power of speech. We see from this incident the enormous impact that speech has on our lives.

Note: This is the second instance in the Torah that an animal is empowered with speech. The first instance was the confrontation of the snake with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Q: Why could Bilam not curse the Israelites?

A: The simple answer is that the Almighty refused to allow Bilam to use his powers. His curses came out as blessingd. A further understanding is that man cannot force the supernatural to alter the natural order! Consequently Balak failed in his scheme. The parsha teaches us over and over again about the enormity of the power of speech. We must always remember that there is no limit to the amount of damage one can do through thoughtless speech. Words cannot be recaptured or undone. The lesson to learn is that one must carefully choose the words one speaks.

Q: What happened to Bilam?

A: Bilam returned to Midyan in disgrace over the failure to curse the Israelites. As a last resort to reclaim some pride Bilam suggested to Balak that as the Israelites journey through Moab, he should use the women of his nation to seduce the Israelite men to commit forbidden acts and to get them to commit idolatry. This did happen, and as a result, the Almighty sent a plague upon the Israelites causing the death of many thousands. Bilam was killed by the sword as the Israelites conquered Midyan (Numbers 31:8).

Q: Why is the name of Moses not mentioned until the conclusion of this parsha?

A: Moses played no active role in any of the events that occur prior to the conclusion of this parsha. The Torah wants to make it clear that those events were directly controlled by G-d, and were external to Moses and Israel. The Talmud states (Bava Batra 14a) that Moses wrote the Torah, but intentionally excluded himself from this parsha because he did not want his name to be associated with a person such as Bilam.

Q: G-d appeared to Bilam and asked, "Who are the people who came to you?" (Numbers 22:9). Did G-d not know who these people were?

A: God asked this question for other reasons than merely to hear an answer. Certainly G-d knew who these people were and He did not have to ask Bilam to find out. The question was a test for Bilam, to see how he would answer. This is similar to G-d asking Cain, "Where is your brother, Abel?" Certainly the Almighty knew exactly where Abel was. We can discern from these questions that G-d was looking for the individual to admit wrongdoing and to repent.

Q: What did we learn from the story of the donkey speaking?

A: G-d gave the donkey the ability to speak in order to humiliate Bilam (Ohr Hachayim) and to reveal to the world Bilam's true character (Rabbeinu Bachayei).

Only the Creator has the ability to give any creature the capacity to speak. Bilam accused the donkey of mockery, but she did exactly what G-d had ordered her to do (Ramban).

The Almighty gave the donkey the power of speech in this instance for the sake of the Israelites. It also pointed out that Bilam's abilities were granted by G-d to bring him to the moment in which he would bless Israel and not curse them (Kli Yakar).

This was a vision that did not occur in reality, it was only a way to illustrate a vision of prophecies (Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim). One should note that many commentators disagree on this point.

The purpose of the donkey speaking was to give Bilam one last chance to repent to the Almighty (Sforno).

Q: How many oxen did Bilam offer in sacrifice, and how many times?

A: Bilam offered seven oxen in sacrifice, three times. It's interesting to note that seven is a symbolically important number in the Torah. Bilam was trying to copy the forefathers of the Israelites who sacrifice seven sheep to the Almighty (Ramav).

Q: How do we see the concept of freedom of choice in this parsha?

A: Balak chose to fight the Israelites. He also chose to hire Bilam to curse them.

It would appear from the way the Torah recounts the episode that Bilam was prevented from exercising free will. On the contrary, he made the choice to ignore G-d's warning and follow his own evil inclination. Bilam's own choices brought G-d's punishment on him. By changing the curses to blessings in Bilam's mouth, the Almighty brought about Bilam's demise.

Rambam explains that G-d gave mankind freedom of thought and the ability to make decisions. However, the Almighty did not give him total freedom of action. Man does not have the right to indiscriminately use this freedom to hurt others.

Furthermore, the Almighty could not allow Bilam the pleasure of using supernatural means (i.e. having the evil words he spoke be fulfilled) in order to curse the Israelites. G-d did not want it to seem as though Bilam had the power to entreat Heaven to cause damage to his personal enemies. Bilam was forced to bless the Children of Israel instead of cursing them. He realized from this incident that he was not as powerful as he imagined himself to be. The powerful faculty of speech is given to man by G-d. It is to be used carefully and with the utmost discretion (Ohr Hachayim).

Q: Bilam delivered the following blessing to the Israelites: "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel" (Numbers 24:5). What does this mean, and why is it incorporated into our morning prayers?

A: Bilam was referring to the unique way the Israelites erected their tents. The entrances to these tents were positioned in such a way as to obstruct the view of the neighboring tent. This shows the Israelites' desire to be modest. Modesty is seen as a beautiful and elevated trait. According to Jewish law, when one buys a home or builds one, he should make sure that his home exemplifies modesty. We recite this phrase on a daily basis as a constant reminder to ourselves of who we are and how we present ourselves to others (Rashi; Ramav).

Q: What advice did Bilam give Balak before he left, and why?

A: When Bilam failed to curse the Children of Israel, he advised Balak, "If you really want to make the G-d of the Israelites angry with them, have the Moabite women seduce the men. Have the women make cohabitation conditional upon the men bowing to Moabite idols." Unfortunately, Bilam was successful with this advice (Rashi, Numbers 25:2).

Q: What was the result of the Israelites bowing to the Moabite idols?

A: Bowing to these idols was a great sin. G-d sent a plague, and 24,000 people died. It might have continued, were it not for the zealous actions of Pinchas.

Shabbat Schedule for July 11-12, 2008/8-9 Tammuz 5768

Candle lighting 8:15PM

Kabbalat Shabbos 6:30PM

Shacharit Shabbos 9:00AM

Shabbos Mincha After kiddush

Shabbos ends 9:19PM

Parsha of the Week:

Balak (Numbers Chapters 22:2 - 25:9)

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