Parasha: Balak · Aliyah: First (Chesed)

וירא בלק בן צפור...ויגר מואב, Balak son of Tzippor saw- ..and Moav was afraid, etc. Why does the Torah describe only Balak as "seeing," whereas his countrymen are only described as being afraid of the Israelites? Secondly, why was only Moav afraid and not Midian? After all, Midian had much more reason to be afraid seeing that their horoscope told them they would be lost whereas there was nothing in the horoscope of the Moabites which foretold them disaster at this time?

We have to remember that according to Bamidbar Rabbah 20,4 Balak used to be one of the princes of Midian, but the Moabites had appointed him as their king out of fear from the Israelites. When the Torah writes that "Balak saw," it reveals that the former prince of Midian who had seen what the Israelites had done a short while previously to the mighty king Sichon of the Emorites was just as much afraid of the Israelites as the Moabites. There was no need for the Torah to spell this out as everybody had taken note of the defeat of the mighty king Sichon. Subsequently, the Torah mentions that even Moav was afraid of Israel. The fact that both Moav and Midian feared Israel brought them closer together and they made peace with one another as is evident from the proposal made by the elders of Moav to the elders of Midian. Our sages also say in that same Midrash that the proof that the Moabites and the Midianites were warring is the verse המכה את מדין בשדה מואב, (Genesis 36,35). There was always hatred between these two peoples. The Midrash describes their relationship as like that of two dogs which always fight each other until threatened by a wolf. The reason that the Moabites humbled themselves and appointed someone from Midian as king over them instead of vice versa was that the Moabites needed the counsel of the Midianites amongst whom Moses had lived for many years.

Another peculiarity in our verse is the use of the word "saw" instead of "heard" for Balak's reaction. What had Balak seen? While it is true that the Mechilta had stated that there are occasions when the Torah uses the word "saw" instead of "heard," such as in Exodus 20,15: "the whole people saw the sounds, etc.," this certainly does not apply here. In fact, we have been told in Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer 41 that the people at the time of the revelation actually saw the sounds with their eyes, [the soundwaves, I presume, Ed,]. Furthermore, why did the Torah find it necessary to tell us who Balak's father was, i.e. צפור? Why did the Torah use two expressions denoting something additional but indeterminate, i.e. את and כל? Why does the Torah describe two distinct reactions by the Moabites, "they were afraid," and "they detested?" Why are the Israelites referred to as "Israel" and simply as "the people," and then again as "the children of Israel?"

We can understand all this in light of the Zohar on our verse where Balak is described as a greater sorcerer than Bileam. He employed a certain bird, צפור to perform his sorcery with. When the Torah mentions that Balak "saw," it means that whatever he "saw" he saw by means of that bird. His biological father may not have been someone by the name of צפור, at all; his reliance on the magic he could perform with the help of that bird, caused the Torah to describe him as a "son of צפור." He was able to use such a צפור in his pursuit of magic. This צפור had informed him about all that Israel had done to the Emorite. He did not depend on outside sources of information.

It is even possible that he used the צפור as an oracle which foretold him things to come. The extraneous word כל may indicate how Balak came by his knowledge, whereas the word את may be an allusion to the visions he had of the future of what would happen to another nation., i.e. that it too would suffer a fate similar to that of the Emorite at the hands of the people of Israel. The nation which Israel would uproot at that time was Midian. The word את may be a reference to the people of Midian who were next on the list of nations whom the Israelites would destroy. It is possible that Balak "saw" that the Moabites were safe against any attack by the Israelites; he was quite right in this as G'd had forbidden the Israelites to even put pressure on Moav. Balak's magic foretold not only disaster but also pleasant news. The Moabites had to place heavy reliance on the person of Balak who alone was able to "see" by means of his צפור. The Torah alludes to all this as an introduction to why Balak and the Moabites turned to Bileam and the sins committed by Israel as a result of Bileam's visit. The "vision" Balak saw was only one factor as I shall explain later. When the Torah adds ויגר מואב, this is not something which was caused by what Balak had "heard" or "seen," but refers to another event which followed and inspired fear in the heart of the Moabites.

The Torah was careful to describe Moav's reaction as being due to מפני העם, "on account of the people," seeing the people were numerous and tough. The Torah mentions specifically that the people were numerous and by inference that the reason the Moabites detested them was because of their toughness, i.e. that they were בני ישראל, a people with access to a supernatural ally, their G'd in heaven. Had the Jewish people only outnumbered them they could have countered this by hiring armies from surrounding countries to fight together with them against the Israelites. All these factors combined to account for their calling a truce in their fight against the Midianites and appointing the Midianite Balak as their king. They sent for Bileam as a result of which 24.000 Israelites died without the Moabites having to raise a finger.

If even a single one of the causes we have mentioned had not been present, they never would have engaged Bileam and nothing would have happened. If Balak, for instance, had not foreseen with his bird what fate was in store for himself and Midian, the Moabites would never have been willing to make peace with their natural enemies, the Midianites. The idea of sending to Midian for a prophet to curse Israel would not even have been entertained. They most certainly would not have been prepared to let their women sleep with the Israelites. After all, the Midianites had not felt confident about facing Israel in war, only the Moabites were confident because they knew that whatever Israel was going to do to them was in the far distant future (24,14). [You will note that the Moabites did not fear for their lives from verse 4. Ed.] This is why the Moabites could have remained confident about any military encounter with Israel at this time. The Moabites were quite confident about sending their women into the camp of the Israelites, as opposed to the Midianites who allowed only a single woman, Kosbi bat Tzur, to entice the Israelites into immoral behaviour. In fact we have it on the authority of Midrash Hagadol on 25,15 that this Kosbi was a daughter of Balak himself who was also called Tzur. If the Moabites had not been afraid of העם because of their numbers or had detested them because they had divine support they never would have made peace with Midian and accepted a Midianite prince to be king over them. To make all these points clear, the Torah informed us first about Balak seeing, Moav being afraid, and the Moabites detesting Israel. The combined reactions of the Moabites and the Midianite Balak led to the desperate decision to invite a Midianite prophet to curse the Israelites.

ילחכו הקהל את כל סביבותינו, "the multitude will lick up all that is around us, etc." Perhaps the Moabites did not want to reveal to the elders of Midian the extent of their fear of the Israelites and that is why they described the presence of the Israelites in that part of the world as an ecological disaster. They spoke of "our environment" (pl) to include the Midianites as potential victims of such a disaster. The words ובלק בן צפור are what the Torah reports not part of what the Moabites told the Midianites. It is even possible that these words were also spoken by the Moabite messengers to the elders of the Midianites; they wanted to emphasise to the Midianites that inasmuch as they had appointed one of the Midianite princes as their king, the Midianites had a special interest in cooperating with them. Should anything happen to them, this would reflect negatively on Midian because of their king's origin. The Torah emphasises that Balak was king בעת ההיא, "at that time," i.e. not earlier and not subsequently. Once Bileam told the Moabites that they had nothing to fear from the Israelites in the foreseeable future, they dismissed Balak from his position and sent him home. The best proof of that is the fact that when the Torah enumerates the princes who were slain in the punitive expedition the Israelites launched after Pinchas' famous deed (Numbers 31,8), Tzur was amongst the princes listed as having been killed.

וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם, He sent messengers to Bileam, etc. The Torah, or rather Balak, specified the name of Bileam's father and his place of residence in order to expedite the mission. He did not want to leave any doubt as to which Bileam he had in mind; similarly, he stated the location where Bileam was to be found so that his messengers would not lose valuable time tracking down the right person. In the event that there was another place called פתורה, he added that the one he had in mind was situated on a great river,אשר על הנהר. He added further that the land in question was his homeland, ארץ בני עמו, a place where everybody knew who Bileam was and that in the event he was not presently at home, surely the people could tell his messengers where Bileam could be found at this time.

לקרא לו, to call him. Balak was astute enough to tell Bileam immediately that what he wanted was something that would be of benefit to Bileam, i.e. לו. He, Balak, wanted to give Bileam a chance to earn a fat fee. He assumed that this would be sufficient incentive to persuade Bileam to come at once.

הנה עם יצא ממצרים, Here there is a people who have come out of Egypt, etc. Why did Balak say הנה "here?" Why did he say that the people "left" Egypt? The whole world knew that the only people who had ever left Egypt were the Israelites. Bileam would certainly have been aware of this. Why did Balak say הנה כסה את עין הארץ, instead of the customary ויכס את עין הארץ?

We may understand this in light of Shemot Rabbah 1,9 that when the Pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites and who wanted to "outsmart" the Israelites was on the throne he had three advisors one of whom was Bileam. At that time Bileam had invoked a magic formula which was designed to permanently prevent slaves from escaping from Egypt. Balak now informed Bileam that his magic had been invalidated, that a whole nation of slaves had fled from Egypt. [this was forty years earlier and at least 126 years after Bileam had invoked this magic. Ed.] By saying הנה, Balak suggested that Bileam owed him something seeing it was Bileam's magic the Israelites had managed to invalidate. Perhaps Bileam had previously assured Balak that the Israelites would never leave Egypt. Balak continued with: הנה כסה את עין הארץ to challenge Bileam whose advice had been based on reducing the numbers of the Israelites. By contrast, Balak pointed out, "look at them now!" They cover as much land as the eye can see. Instead of their males having been killed, their fighting men now number so many one cannot even see all of them.

והוא ישב ממולי, "and it resides across from me." Balak meant that Israel's general behaviour indicated it meant to disinherit the Moabites. According to Bamidbar Rabbah 20,7 it was the posture of the Israelites which frightened Balak. They appeared to be vctorious as soon as the opened their mouths. Balak mentioned all this in order to counter Bileam's expected response that he could curse them from his residence without bothering himself to travel all the way to Moav. Balak was also afraid that Bileam would become aware by means of his sorcery that the Israelites actually had no intention to harm or destroy the territory of Moav and that as a result of such knowledge he would refuse to come to him but simply reassure him that this people would not harm him. This is why he prefaced his invitation by describing how the people were spread out all over the area around Moav and that one could not rely on what Bileam's magic would tell him about that nation's intentions. The fact is that according to Bileam's magic sources, this people should never have left Egypt, nor should they have increased in numbers. This was reason enough for Bileam to come personally and convince himself of the true state of affairs.

ועתה לכה נא, "and now please come, etc." Balak used the word ועתה, "and now," to indicate that he did not want Bileam to delay before he would come as he felt himself in danger every moment. He pleaded by using the word נא, "please," adding that Bileam should curse this people לי, "for me." By this he meant that the effectiveness of Bileam's curse should not be delayed until after the Israelites had a chance to revenge themselves on him and Moav for having called in Bileam to curse them. By using the word לי, Balak also hinted that although -according to the Midrash- Bileam had already blessed Balak personally so that he had no reason to fear the Israelites himself, he wanted the Israelites cursed and was not content with being blessed. In the event Bileam were to say that there was no need for this, Balak added כי עצום הוא ממני, "for it is more mighty than I." Balak had two things in mind when he said these words. 1) Israel's natural strength; 2) the matter of the blessing. He felt that Israel had received more powerful blessings than he had received from Bileam. When he went on אולי נכה בו, "perhaps we can smite it," he meant that even after Bileam would do all that he requested him to do he would still not feel confident to take on the Israelites by himself. At best, he might be able to inflict a defeat on them, certainly not to wipe them out. He might also have drawn a line between the righteous Israelites and the average ones. Of the former he expressed the hope that he could expel them from the region, ואגרשנו מן הארץ, whereas concerning the less pious Israelites he entertained hopes of defeating them, נכה בו.

There is also a moral/ethical message in Balak's words. His words boomeranged upon himself. When he said ארה לי, "curse for me," this turned out to be "curse me." Had he not used these words his daughter Kosbi would not have been killed by Pinchas. Bileam's coming to Moav and failing to curse the Israelites also became the reason that Balak was forced to return to Midian and be killed by the sword during the punitive expedition involving 12.000 Israelites as described in 31,8. If Bileam had not travelled all the way to Moav and assured these people that they were safe from the Israelites until the distant future, Balak would have remained on the throne in Moav, secure from all the wars the Israelites would be involved in. As it was, he became the personification of Psalms 37,15: "their swords shall pierce their own hearts."

כי ידעתי את אשר תברך מברך, "for I know that if you bless someone, etc." We may understand this as a reference to another statement in the Midrash we quoted earlier that Bileam had foretold Balak that he would become a king. Balak acknowledged that Bileam's blessing had indeed come true for him. This was something only he was aware of as he had experienced it personally. On the other hand, it was common knowledge that Bileam's curse was effective for when Sichon went to war against Moav he had hired Bileam to curse Moav (compare Tanchuma on this paragraph). As a result, Sichon had captured large parts of Moav. [land which the Israelites had now captured from Sichon. Ed.] We have to mention here that the reason Bileam's curses had seemed effective to people who hired him was 1) he possessed the power of the evil eye; 2) he knew when to exploit the precise moment when G'd was angry and he chose that moment to utter his curse. (compare Berachot 7). He did not have parallel powers to make his blessings effective for any length of time.

As a matter of fact, a blessing by Bileam was about as effective as a blessing by a donkey. Bileam merely pretended to bless after he had observed that the horoscope of the person in question fore-shadowed that he would be successful. All Bileam did was to match his blessing to what he foresaw in that person's horoscope. When the blessing appeared to have been fulfilled, Bileam claimed credit for it as if he had been the cause and not horoscopic forces. This was precisely how he came to bless Balak and predicted that he would become king. He had consulted Balak's horoscope and found that it foretold that Balak would become a king. He had deceived Balak by letting him believe that he, Bileam, had been the cause of his becoming king.

לינו פה, "stay here overnight." Bileam may have meant that the messengers stay overnight in his own home, and that is what he meant by the word פה, "here." He concluded by saying that he would tell them what G'd was going to say, כאשר ידבר, not what G'd had said. He hinted that by staying overnight at his home he could inform them immediately G'd would give him instructions. When he emphasised הלילה, "this night," he might have inadvertently revealed his miserly nature as he was not willing to play host to them for more than one night.

מי חאנשים האלה עמך, "who are these men with you?" Why did G'd bother to ask him? Didn't He know who these men were and why they had come? Also, why did G'd have to say עמך, "with you?" It would have been enough to say האלה "these." We also have to understand Bileam's peculiar reply. To the question who these men are he replies who has sent them. Our sages in Yalkut Shimoni item 765 have noted this oddity and wrote as follows: "Bileam said to G'd: 'I do not know who these people are but Balak the son of Tzippor has sent them to me, etc.'" The Yalkut means that from the way Bileam phrased his answer G'd was supposed to conclude that he was unaware of who precisely these messengers were. He certainly did not say outright: "I do not kow, etc." Why did Bileam have to add that Balak was the king of Moav? Was it not enough that he told G'd the name of the man? I believe that we can best understand G'd's question after remembering what I have written about the words "stay here overnight," that Bileam invited these messengers to sleep with him in the same room. G'd wanted to know what was so special about these people whom Bileam had invited to be present when he expected to be addressed by an angel of G'd. After all, G'd implied, this room is the one you have reserved for when I communicate with you. The word האלה implies that these people are not deserving of such an honour, much as the words מי אנכי, "who am I" in Exodus 3,11 suggest that Moses did not consider himself worthy of the task G'd wanted to entrust to him. From G'd's question it is evident that He was concerned with the honour due to Bileam vis-a-vis the Gentile nations amongst whom he was rated as a prophet. We find a statement in Bamidbar Rabbah 20,14 that G'd killed the she-ass Bileam was riding on as she was belittling him. When we look at the next verse (10) we see that Bileam understood what G'd meant and that is why he said that Balak the king of Moav had sent these men, i.e. they deserve to be honoured as they came on an errand from the king. He gave Balak's full name to indicate that Balak had already been an important prince in Midian even before his elevation to become king over Moav.

By mentioning that Balak was king over Moav he wanted to remind G'd that the Moabites were not one of the nations which would be given to the Israelites to conquer. He was very astute in hinting at this as he wanted G'd's consent to accept the assignment and he did not want G'd to put any obstacle in his way.

הנה העם היוצא ממצרים, "Here are the people who have come out of Egypt, etc." Why did Bileam not repeat to G'd Balak's message to him verbatim? Balak had spoken about עם, "a people," whereas Bileam speaks about העם, "the people." Balak had described the Israelites' impact on the surrounding areas with the words: הנה כסה את עין הארץ, whereas Bileam changed the words הנה כסה to ויכס. Balak had asked Bileam to curse the people using the expression ארה, whereas Bileam tells G'd that Balak had said קבה. Whereas Balak had said אולי נכה בו, "perhaps we can smite it," Bileam changes Balak's words to read אולי אוכל להלחם בו, "perhaps I will be able to make war against them." We can explain all these changes Bileam made with the help of Bamidbar Rabbah 20,9 that Bileam made the mistake of believing that there are things which are concealed from G'd. He arrived at this conclusion because G'd asked him who these people were. Although we have already explained G'd's question in a different manner, there are 70 ways to interpret the written Torah. As soon as Bileam had been deceived into thinking that G'd' did not know everything, he felt at liberty to meddle with the exact wording of Balak's request. On the one hand, Bileam had always hated the Israelites, on the other hand he knew full well -as did every other nation- that this people was beloved by G'd. The Exodus and the subsequent drowning of the Egyptian army had been proof enough of that. Bileam commenced by saying: "here is the people who came out of Egypt," a rhetorical remark, referring to a well known historical fact. Such a wording did not reveal the hostility implied in the formula הנה עם יצא ממצרים which had been implicit in Balak's remark. The difference between הנה כסה and ויכס is similar in that the latter formulation does not reveal any implied animosity towards the people who cover the earth. Bileam also omitted the word הנה because it too suggests the contrast with other nations who do not provocatively "cover" the whole earth surrounding Moav. On the other hand, the word ויכס does reflect the fear in the heart of someone who commences the sentence with these words.

When Bileam quoted Balak as saying ועתה לכה קבה לי אותו, "and now curse it for me," he implied that Balak was entitled to ask this as the people in question threatened his existence. He implied that although G'd had destined Ammon and Moav for Israel, the time for handing these nations over to Israel had not come as yet. At this point in time it was permissible to curse and make war against this people in order to expel them from Balak's area. A curse called קבה is quite different from a curse called ארה, the latter being of a general nature, i.e. a nation that has been cursed by ארה is accursed world-wide, whereas the curse called קבה is effective only vis-a-vis the one who did the cursing, i.e. Balak only cursed in self-defence. The words להלחם בו are also much milder than נכה בו, "to smite it." Whereas Balak had demanded that the Israelites be driven from the earth, מן הארץ, Bileam portrayed him as only having asked וגרשתיו, "so that I can drive them away" (locally). Perhaps Balak wanted the Israelites driven away from the lands G'd had promised them. He may have felt that if these people had once been humbled, they would desist from their attempt to invade the land of Canaan. Be that as it may, Bileam rephrased Balak's request in order to enhance the chances that G'd would permit him to go on this errand. He gave G'd to understand that Balak's concern was simply self-preservation, not hostility against Israel per se.

ויאמר אלוקים אל בלעם, "G'd said to Bileam, etc." Why did the Torah have to write אל בלעם? Why was it not sufficient for the Torah to write: ויאמר לו, or ויאמר אליו "He said to him?" Why did G'd have to say "do not go and do not curse?" Moreover, why did G"d have to give as the reason כי ברוך הוא, that Israel is already blessed? Our sages in the above-quoted Midrash write as follows: "In the event Bileam would say I will curse them from here, G'd added 'do not curse!' If Bileam were to say that in that event he would bless the Israelites, G'd told him not to bother as they were blessed already."

I believe we have to explain the verse in accordance with what I have written about G'd asking why Bileam had honoured these people to let them sleep in the same room with him. Bileam had explained that these people were emissaries of a very exalted personage, Balak, etc. G'd now answered Bileam in the order in which Bileam had answered G'd's first question. As far as Bileam having explained the nature of these emissaries, G'd said: "do not go with them," i.e. they are not of the calibre that you should go with them. G'd informed Bileam that Balak had insulted him by sending such low-ranking emissaries. Bileam had failed to understand at the time when G'd asked him "who are these men?" G'd had meant: "are these people sufficiently high-ranking to bring you on such an errand?" Now Bileam understood G'd's meaning and he told the emissaries that G'd had refused to allow him to go with them, i.e. it was up to Balak to send higher ranking emissaries.

The reason that G'd related with so much concern for Bileam's dignity may not only have had to do with his standing as a prophet amongst the Gentiles, but may have reflected G'd's desire to reward him for telling the emissaries at the outset that his decision would hinge on whether G'd would permit him to go with them. We know that G'd does not withhold the reward due to any individual, even the reward due to Gentiles. It is illuminating to read how Sanhedrin 96 describes G'd rewarding Nebuchadnezzar who was a scribe of king Merodach of the Babylonians at the time for recalling a letter addressed to King Chiskiyah in which the king Merodach had blessed king Chiskiyah before blessing G'd. When Nebuchadnezzar found out about this error he chased after the courier and recalled the latter to have it changed. Nebuchadnezzar, a servant with no claim to the throne, later on became king. In this instance too, G'd repaid Bileam for honouring Him in the eyes of Balak's emissaries when He said to Bileam: "do not go with them." When we keep this in mind we can also understand why the Torah wrote "G'd said to Bileam," instead of "to him." The Torah meant that G'd honoured Bileam by advising him not to go with such low ranking emissaries. Bileam deserved to be addressed by name. Even if the mission itself would have been approved by G'd, it was below Bileam's dignity to respond to the pleas of such emissaries.

When G'd told Bileam לא תאור "do not curse," using the term for curse used by Balak instead of that which Bileam had pretended to quote, He made it plain to Bileam that He could not be fooled, that He was well aware of exactly what Balak's message to Bileam had been.

When G'd added: "for it is blessed," He wanted Bileam to understand that the reason for telling him "do not go," and "do not curse," were not the same, i.e. that they were both on account of Bileam's dignity. Bileam was not to assume that if only Balak would send higher ranking emissaries he would be allowed to go with them and curse the Jewish people. G'd added that the Jewish people were blessed, i.e. that even if Balak had sent emissaries of much higher rank Bileam would never be allowed to curse this people.

There is another way of explaining our verse; based on the fact that after all G'd knew that Bileam wanted to do evil and that eventually he would accompany Balak's emissaries. Inasmuch as G'd does not prevent man from exercising his choice, He eventually agreed for Bileam to go, allowing him to travel. I will explain the reason for this in due course. To this end G'd first told Bileam לא תלך עמהם, "you must not go with them," i.e. He forbade Bileam to travel. Had G'd only said "you must not go," He would not have left Himself an opportunity to say later on that Bileam could go, albeit subject to certain restrictions.

G'd was careful to add the words אל בלעם, "to Bileam," to hint to him why He forbade him to go. This was because Bileam wanted to do "his own thing," i.e. he wanted to go in order to curse the people. The next time, when G'd allowed Bileam to go, He did so in order for Bileam to do "G'd's thing", i.e. for Bileam to bless the people. The word עמהם suggests that he would make common cause with the emissaries. This is what G'd forbade.

When G'd said לא תאור ..כי ברוך הוא, "do not curse..for it is blessed," He wanted to counter Bileam's argument that inasmuch as the time had not come for Israel to occupy the lands of Ammon and Moav there was no harm in cursing the people at this time. G'd told Bileam not to curse the Jewish people at any time. As to Bileam's argument that the Jewish people were not yet on a spiritual level allowing them to occupy the lands of Ammon and Moav, G'd said that nonetheless ברוך הוא, they are blessed and must not be cursed. The term ברוך is only applied to the righteous seeing that righteousness is at the root of all blessing. G'd warned Bileam not to suspect that the reason why the Israelites had not yet been given the lands of Ammon and Moav was that they were guilty of wickedness. G'd chose to equate a righteous person or nation with a blessed person or nation, respectively.