Balak: Bil'am Ineffective Curse – and Deadly Advice

Adapted from the writings of Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtat, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

This week's Torah portion of Balak (Bamidbar 22,1-25,9) discusses the Gentile prophet Bil'am and his attempt to help the Moavites vanquish Israel via his power of speech. This happened just after the Israelites had defeated the Canaanites, the Emorites and the Bashanites – all of whom had sought to prevent Israel from reaching Eretz Yisrael. 

The situation was such that the Israelites had grown quite confident of their military abilities, after tasting the sweet taste of victory, and had begun to feel that it was their own prowess that had brought them success. "Here we are," they began to feel, "a nation of former slaves that has defeated two regional powers; we're now really on the map! The others will think twice before they start up with us." [This precisely was what Moshe later warned them against: "Do not say 'my own power and strength brought me all this'" (D'varim 8,17).]

The Medrash tells us that Balak, King of Moav, feared that he might be next to be defeated. He therefore convened an urgent meeting of his military officers and intelligence personnel to see how to counteract the looming Israelite threat. In the background was the clear fact that Israel was winning battles super-naturally. Balak himself, an admired astrologist, saw in the stars that he could in fact defeat Israel – but he didn't know what he should do to bring this about. 

Aware that Israel's leader Moshe had grown up in Midian, Balak turned to Midian – his erstwhile enemy with whom he now made peace in order to fight their common potential enemy, Israel – to ascertain the secret of Moshe's leadership and strength. The Midianites told him that Moshe's strength was in his "mouth," his power of speech. Balak now understood that he could not fight a conventional war against Israel, and so he said, "Let's get someone who truly understands and can implement the source of the Israelites' power and he will lead us against them." 

The Moavites therefore reached out to Bil'am, who was known to be able to win battles with the power of his mouth. He would curse Israel, King Balak assumed, and Israel would be defeated. 

However, both Balak and Bil'am made a bitter mistake. They did not know that Moshe's above warning concludes as follows: "Remember that it is Hashem your G-d Who gives you the power to succeed" (D'varim 8,18). Without G-d, Heaven forbid, neither the greatest generals nor the most state-of-the-art weaponry can help Israel win a war – but with G-d, nothing can stop them! It was G-d Who enabled Israel's power of prayer to be effective in their wars against King Sichon of the Emorites and King Og of the Bashan. But if Hashem decides that the power of the mouth is not sufficient in a given case, then even a great prophet such as Bil'am, who was able to determine with pinpoint accuracy the precise second that G-d could be expected to be angered (Rashi to Bamidbar 24,16, based on Sanhedrin 105b), will not be able to succeed. 

It is only Hashem "Who gives you the ability to succeed," whether the war is fought with conventional means or via words and speech; neither type of weapon has any value if G-d does not render it effective. 

Bil'am, after failing to successfully curse Israel, offers to advise Balak as to how he could defeat Israel: "Come and I will advise you" (24,14). The Medrash tells us that he explained to Balak how precisely to entice Israel into sinning with the daughters of Moav. In fact, we soon read, "Yisrael abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moav" (25,1). This was the result of Bil'am's advice, as Moshe later said (31,16). 

In our words: Bil'am was a great enemy of Israel, and tried many times to curse and trip them up. At one point, as recounted in this week's portion, "G-d opened the mouth of [Bil'am's] donkey" (22,28), and it began to speak, scolding Bil'am for hitting it. G-d thus gave Bil'am a message so clear that only someone blinded by his hatred, such as Bil'am, could miss it. The message was that the power of the mouth is dependent solely on G-d; if He wishes and decides, then even a donkey can open its mouth and speak! But Bil'am was unable to receive the message; he may have understood it, but he certainly did not internalize it, and continued to try to curse Israel. 

But it didn't work, and Bil'am ended up blessing Israel instead: "No black magic exists in Jacob, and no occult powers in Israel" (verse 23); the time will yet come when G-d's love for Israel will be revealed to all. "The nation will arise like a great lion, and will lift itself up like a young lion" (verse 24) – when the Israelites awaken in the morning, they jump up to fulfill the mitzvot, to wear tzitzit, to recite Kriat Shma, and to put on tefillin (see Rashi to verses 23-24). Bil'am is here showing that he understands that the power of his speech is limited because of the mitzvot that Israel fulfills, and that this is why G-d is not allowing his curses to be effective against them. Bil'am then drops the bomb, his final piece of ammunition: "If you want to defeat Israel, Moav, then your only hope is to cause them to sin. That's the only scenario in which G-d will remove His protective shield from them." 

Most sorrowfully, Bil'am's plan worked. The Israelites sinned gravely, and a great plague broke out among them. Pinchas ben Elazar saved the day by realizing that the correct Halakhic response was to kill the ringleader of the sinners and thus stop the public desecration of G-d's name. And so, after 24,000 sinners were killed, the plague was stopped, and G-d's protection was restored to Israel. 

The People of Israel thus learned the hard way a critical lesson for all future generations: "The scorpion does not kill; it is sin that kills" (B'rachot 33a). Whatever ammunition or weapons are used, whether they be conventional, nuclear, biological – or a curse – none of them have intrinsic value or strength. They can never penetrate the Divine defenses – unless these are removed. And even then, the weapons may have no value: a plague can break out on its own, as it did in this case. That only strategy then is to restore the spiritual Divine protection to Israel, by sanctifying G-d's name via the mitzvot. This is the critical message of Parashat Balak.

Emuna: What Makes Jerusalem Special

by Rav Moshe Tzuriel, of saintly blessed memory, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

It is really quite remarkable that the name "Jerusalem" does not appear even once in the Five Books of the Torah. This is of course not because the Eternal City is not important; quite the contrary. The Torah calls it "the place that Hashem your G-d will choose to establish His Name" (D'varim 12,21). And in another 19 places, as well, it calls it the place "that G-d will choose." Why is this? 

Because, as we read in the last five words of the Book of Yechezkel, "The name of the city from that day on will be 'G-d is there.'" That is, when a person wants to set a meeting with a friend in Jerusalem, he will say, "Let's meet in the city that G-d chose to place His presence there" – and everyone will know to what he is referring. For this is the place that G-d chose even before the Creation of the World (Medrash Tehillim 76)! As is stated straight out: "For G-d chose Zion, He desired it for His habitation" (Tehillim 132,13). 

Jerusalem and the Holy Land

There is a major difference between the sanctity of Jerusalem and that of the rest of the Land of Israel. The latter is contingent upon the arrival in the Land of most of the Jewish People from around the world (Tr. Nazir 42a). But the sanctity of the Holy Temple and Jerusalem is solely because of the Divine Presence, which is permanent and not transient (see Rambam, Laws of the Holy Temple, 6,16). In short, the sanctity of Jerusalem stems not from Israel's presence there, but because of G-d's perpetual presence there.

Let us note that regarding the Sukkot commandment of taking the Four Species (lulav, etrog, etc.), the Torah states (Vayikra 23,40) that this applies only on the first day of Sukkot – but then immediately says that we must rejoice before G-d for all seven days of the festival! So which is it? The answer is that in Jerusalem, "before G-d," we are to take the Four Species on each of the seven days of the festival, while everywhere else, it is required Biblically only on the first day. 

The Prophet Jeremiah says: "For at that time, they will call Jerusalem the chair of G-d" (3,17). What does this mean? The Rambam (in his Guide 1,9) defines the Heavenly term "chair" as follows: 

"Since [in ancient times] only important people such as kings would sit on chairs [while the others would sit on benches, stools and mats], a chair became a symbol of honor for those for whom it was made. And therefore, the Holy Temple was called "chair" (Jeremiah 14,21). And this is why the heavens are called "chair" (Isaiah 66,1)…" 

The above-cited verse from Jeremiah continues: "All the nations will gather there for G-d's name to Jerusalem, and they will no longer go after the arbitrary stubbornness of their evil heart." The Malbim explains, partially based on the Abarbanel, as follows: 

"The current situation is that G-d dwells in His throne in the heavens, and His leadership and supervision over the world are felt only from far, and only according to natural law. In the future, however, G-d's leadership and dominion will be felt from up close, from Jerusalem, with miracles, beyond the natural. It will then be as if G-d sits above – leading, supervising, and ruling. And this is why "all the nations will gather there" – not for war, and not simply to enjoy its fruits, but only "for G-d's Name" and also "to Jerusalem," because of the city's importance. "And they will no longer go after the arbitrary stubbornness of their evil heart," because they will all recognize G-d's kingdom and His unity, His ways, and His Torah."

Let us conclude with the idea of G-d's protection of our Holy City, the Eternal City (B'rachot 58a). Jerusalem surrounds the Holy Temple, teaching us that "Jerusalem, mountains surrounds it, and Hashem surrounds His Nation, from now and forever" (Tehillim 125,2). That is: Whoever visits Jerusalem sees seven hills around it… and whoever looks deeply into Torah understands that the number seven is quite purposeful. And why did G-d establish this unique topographic structure around Jerusalem? The Prophet Zechariah adds a dimension: "And I will be for [Jerusalem], says G-d, [as] a wall of fire around it, and for its honor I will be in it" (2,9). What we see with our eyes teaches us the inner essence: G-d is watching over us!  

Every Jew must gain strength and faith and trust from this very precious thought. 

Let us conclude with the words of the Book of the Kuzari, which ends with this: "Jerusalem will not be rebuilt before the Children of Israel long for it totally and completely, to the extent that they will love its rocks and dirt [based on Tehillim 102,15]." Let us wake up!!

In fact, the value of the Land of Israel lies in the fact that Jerusalem dwells within it. So wrote the Maharal of Prague (in his Gur Aryeh commentary on Rashi, B'reshit 32,1). And so is written in the Zohar. This explains why the Sages often note the praise of "Jerusalem" whilst citing a verse that refers to the entire Land, as in B'rachot 6a – for the latter is dependent on the former.

Hukat: The Message of the Inexplicable Red Heifer

by Rav Avichai Katzin, Rabbi in Raanana and Head of Beit Medrash Shaarei Mishpat, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

As is well-known, the entire idea of the Red Heifer and its ability to purify us from the impurity of death, while at the same time defiling those who are pure, is an inexplicable Torah statute that we fulfill without understanding. 

Our Sages teach that this is why it is called chukat haTorah, "the statute of the Torah" (Bamidbar 19,2), as if G-d is saying, "It is My decree and you have no permission to second-guess it" (Rashi). 

Given that it is termed a chukah, it would seem that we need not or should not speculate about its justification. Still and all, many have tried to understand and explain the Red Heifer. In the following words, we will not seek to join in these efforts. But we would like to understand one aspect of the message of the Red Heifer: What is its relationship to death?

Death in Jewish tradition is associated with tum'ah, impurity. The gravest level of impurity is a corpse, followed by certain dead animals (sheretz, nevelah, etc.). Even the impurity of niddah, a menstruant woman, is rooted in the missed opportunity to create life. But, what is the message of this tum'ah for us, the living? What does the impurity of death teach us?

And perhaps we may add: What do we feel towards death?

In the Torah's verses of explanation to the commandment of the Red Heifer, we read: "Anyone who touches a corpse, [i.e.,] a soul of the person who has died [lit.: will die], and is not sprinkled upon [by the Red Heifer ashes] – he defiles G-d's tabernacle sanctuary [if he enters it] and will be spiritually cut off from Israel" (Bamidbar 19,13).  

Rav Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, the great 19th century German rabbi and scholar, asked two questions on this verse: Why does the Torah refer to one who touches a soul of the person? Should it not be simply, "One who touches a corpse, a soul of a person who has died"?

And furthermore, why does it say that the person "will die," when in fact the Torah is referring to one has already died?

Rav Hirsch answers both questions at once: "The 'soul of the person who will die' refers to man in general who is destined to die. When a person stands aside a human corpse, he becomes defiled and impure – with the sense of finality, of inevitable cessation, of human mortality. With this sense he loses his vitality and his joy and love of life. What significance can there be to life, he asks, if it is so transient and leads inescapably to "the end"? As in Ecclesiastes, "what point is there to all his work under the sun?" 

This is the sensation of one who stands opposite "the soul of the man who is destined to die."

The purpose of the Red Heifer is to symbolize the fact that we have the ability to purify this sensation that accompanies death, and that we can overcome it.

Similarly, Rav Hirsch explains the connection between the Red Heifer passage and the story of the death of Miriam that follows right afterwards: 

"Our Sages explained (Tr. Moed Katan 28a): 'Why were these two passages placed one after the other? To tell us that just like the Red Heifer atones, so too, the death of righteous people atones.' This tells us another great truth, as well: that just like the Red Heifer tells us that man's soul is eternal and he possesses ethical freedom, so too the death of the righteous teaches us these two things. In fact, only a blind person cannot see that the body of a righteous person is only a garment that he tosses off when he reaches the World of Truth."

We all know that a tzaddik's death does not signify the end of his influence in the world. Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabbeinu, Hillel and Shammai, Abaye and Rav, the Rambam and Rashi continue to live long after their physical deaths.

I was recently thinking how many times a day Jews all over the world mention Rashi's name. I have no doubt that his name is mentioned over a million times each day! After all, Jews the world over learn the Bible and the Talmud with his commentary, and speak of Rashi – a Jew who was born nearly a thousand years ago – countless times without even realizing it! 

This message, too, is taught by the Red Heifer, as it is burnt totally, yet is then able to purify us from the defilement of death.

The same lesson is taught by one of the Ten Martyrs, R. Chanina ben Tradyon, as recounted in Tr. Avodah Zarah 18b. When the Romans were burning him to death together with a Torah scroll, his students asked him, "Our teacher, what do you see?" That is, what do you comprehend at this difficult hour? He answered them: "The parchment is burning, but the letters are floating up into the air." He told them that the outer wrapping, the body, can be burnt – but the spirit is eternal, it floats up into the sky, and it cannot be destroyed.

From this Talmudic account the Rambam learns the value of every individual mitzvah. If a person fulfills even just one mitzvah with all its details and with perfect intentions, he will merit the World to Come. For when R. Chanina told R. Yossi ben Kisme about the time he was extra attentive to each detail of the mitzvah of giving charity, R. Yossi told him: "From this I see that you will have a share in the World to Come." The body can be consumed, but the spirit, the letters, the mitzvot that a person amasses in This World fly up into the air and overcome our human mortality and death. 

And this message, too, is taught us by the Red Heifer.

Emuna: The Importance of Fulfilling Vows and Keeping One's Word

by Rav Shmuel Holshtein, Head of Bnei Tzvi Yeshiva High School, Beit El, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

1. Upon hearing a delicate knock at the door, Reb Yaakov arose to welcome his guest. Standing there was a young man with a gentle face whom he did not know, but who handed him a letter. "This is for you," he said, "from the renowned Gaon of Vilna." Reb Yaakov was incredulous: "The Vilna Gaon himself!? He has sent me a letter?! What possible connection could he have with me that he would send me a special correspondence?!" 

With trembling hands, Reb Yaakov tore open the envelope with his name on it and began to read. The Gaon had written [paraphrased]: "Many years ago, I was traveling around on a personal exile [as was customary in those times for those who wished to perfect their character], and one night, you hosted me in your home. There was a wedding in the town that night, and you and your wife participated – but your wife asked me if I could pay attention to your baby daughter sleeping in her crib. After a short while, the baby woke up, and so I started rocking her crib and singing her a popular lullaby. The words were, 'Sleep, little girl, and when you grow up, we will find you a worthy groom.'"

"Now, years later, I have heard that the girl has in fact grown up, and has fine traits – and since I fear that what I sang then was a form of a promise and vow to find her a groom, I hereby recommend to you the bearer of this letter as a son-in-law. I believe he would make a fine husband for your daughter, in the event that he finds favor in her eyes and in the eyes of her parents…"

2. The students of Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer [a great rabbi and scholar in Kletzk and Jerusalem in the early 20th century] were astonished to see him one day giving a particularly large sum of charity to one of the poor men who frequented the yeshiva every week. "Why so much, and why to that particular poor man, and why specifically today, as opposed to other days?" they asked their rabbi. He answered: 

"The man came up to me and asked me for some charity. I knew that I only had a few coins in my pocket, and I didn't want to give him so little, so I apologized and said that I could only give him what I had in my pocket. When I put my hand in to give him what I had, I remembered that I had just received an unusually large sum – but since I had told him that I would give him what I had, I was left with no choice but to stand by my word and give him exactly what I had in my pocket…"

3. This same Rav Isser Zalman once set out on a very snowy day to give his customary weekly Torah lecture. His helper attempted to dissuade him: "It's snowing heavily, how can you go out on such a day? The students won't be expecting you to show up when it's snowing so heavily! They know that you must preserve your health! How can you endanger yourself like this?!" The rabbi thanked the student for his concern, but insisted on going anyway. The student, of course, accompanied him.

And so the two of them trudged along, with difficulty, to Yeshivat Etz Chaim on Jaffa Rd. in Jerusalem. They could not even open their umbrella as protection against the snow, because of the heavy winds. When they arrived, the students were astonished to see their beloved teacher. They immediately went up to him, helped him remove his soaking coat, and sat him next to the heater. When he had settled down, he asked one of his students to bring him the paper he had posted on the bulletin board the day before, containing the sources for the lecture that he was to deliver. He took the paper, showed it to his students, and said: "You see here where it says, The class tomorrow will be on the topic of such-and-such? Unfortunately I didn't write that it would take place "b'ezrat Hashem" – with G-d's help – and therefore I feared that I had made a type of vow to give the lecture. That's why I made such great efforts to come today to deliver the class!"

Korach: Moshe Rabbeinu's Fight Against Corrupt Leadership

by Rav Shimon Cohen, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

In this week's Torah portion of Korach (Bamidbar 16-18), we read of the rebellion against Moshe and Aharon by Korach and his gang. What is the root of this dispute against the humble, loyal teacher and leader of Israel?

A simple reading of the verses reveals that Korach did not like the distribution of leadership roles within the Levite family. Moshe and Korach were cousins, and while G-d gave Moshe the role of king and ultimate leader, and Aharon became the High Priest, Korach received only the duties and privileges of a Levite. Korach therefore said to Moshe and Aharon: "The entire congregation is holy and G-d is in their midst; why should you rise above the community of G-d?" (16,3)

When Moshe heard this complaint against G-d's assignments, he "fell on his face" (16,3) in sadness. The question is: Why was Moshe's reaction here so acute?

As Rashi explains, this was already the fourth time the Israelites, or some of them, railed against G-d. The first one was the Sin of the Golden Calf, resulting in Moshe's prayer on their behalf. The second was when they complained of a lack of food, and the third was the Sin of the Spies – after each of which Moshe again spoke up on their behalf. What is it about this particular sin of Korach and his gang that caused Moshe to react so seemingly pathetically?

Rashi explains that it was simply that Moshe felt that as this was their fourth sin, G-d would no longer hear his prayers on their behalf. But perhaps there is a deeper message to this story.

When Moshe heard the complaint, he attempted to negotiate a solution. He called upon Datan and Aviram, among the ringleaders of Korach's gang, to come to discuss the issues, in an attempt to resolve them. Rashi says that this shows us how important it is not to sustain discord and to try to end disputes - "for Moshe pursued them in order to make peace."

But it didn't work. The response of Datan and Aviram was quite hostile: "We will not come up! Isn't it enough that you brought us out of [Egypt,] a land of milk and honey, just to kill us in the desert - and now you set yourself above us?!" (verse 12)

According to the Ramban, their point was that Israel's financial situation was in the dumps – no home, no food – while Moshe takes advantage of his position to set himself above them and summon them to him.

What does Moshe answer to this point? Something that appears to be not to the point: "Moshe became very angry, and said to G-d, 'Do not accept their offering; I did not take a single donkey from them, and I caused no harm to any of them!'" (verse 15)

Why does Moshe say he took nothing from them, when no one had accused him of doing so?

From Moshe's seemingly irrelevant response, we learn the "secret fundamental" that stands behind the rebellion of Korach and his gang. Moshe knew what he was saying, and he knew that the basic objective of his antagonists was simply to gain leadership and take advantage of it. Their goal was to increase their own power and influence!

Moshe was able to realize that for Korach and his cohorts, leadership is simply a means by which they can have their own personal "business," in the form of a country; the national ledgers can become their own personal accounts, there is no difference between the public coffers and the leaders' private ones, and the public can be squeezed for whatever they are worth.

It is exactly this realization of their motives that shocks Moshe to the point that he falls on his face. It is exactly this point that makes him say, "I did not take even a single donkey from them!" That is, normally a person who works for an entity, whether it be the community or even a sacred trust, is permitted to be paid for his expenses – "but when I came from Midian to Egypt, I didn't even ask them to supply me with a donkey!" (Medrash Bamidbar Rabba 18)

Leadership is not a way to dominate over others, but rather a form of subservience to them. It is the leader who must serve the people, and not vice versa. The Talmud states this clearly: "Do you think I give you [public leaders] domination? It is subjugation that I give you!" [It also cites this idea from Kings I 12,7.] Moshe himself was very happy with this arrangement, as we say in our prayers, "Moshe was happy with the gift of his share; You called him a 'faithful servant'" – a servant of G-d and of the Holy Nation.

The type of leadership that we see in the Hamas terrorist organization, for instance, and in other societies as well, is corrupt and distorted. The leaders feel that the positions they have attained are for the purpose of serving their own personal interests, and they even make communal decisions based on what will benefit them the most. This is of course a totally unacceptable kind of leadership, and must be driven out of the world.

The proper form of leadership is as Moshe and the Prophet Shmuel executed it. As the above Medrash continues: "Shmuel the tzaddik said [that] even the bull I would offer as a sacrifice for them and pray for them, and to anoint a king for them – was my own… I traveled around the country, on my own donkey, to make peace between them, instead of summoning them to come to me, as other judges do…"

May it be G-d's will that we merit leadership that follows the path and example of Moshe and Shmuel.