Balak - The World to Come

בס"ד 

In parshat Balak, Balak the king of Moav and Bilaam seek to curse the children of Israel and destroy them. In all cases HaKadosh Baruch Hu forces the wicked prophet Bilaam to utter a blessing. The first time he says, ”How can I damn whom God has not damned, How can I doom when the LORD has not doomed?” He describes Israel as an isolationist nation that is not involved in the affairs of other nations. He praises them saying, “Who can count the dust of Jacob and . . . the matings of Israel”. Bilaam sees Israel from a distance and hopes that his end will be like theirs (see Numbers 23:7-10). Dust is a symbol of humble helpfulness because it is lowly and grows things. Matings here is an expression of beauty in sexuality and of family. 

The second blessing Hashem begins with a barb using saying the word fake (ויכזב) which is really what Bilaam is and wants to do. Hashem continues that He doesn’t see malice or vice in Israel nor do they use trickery, which are things that Bilaam and Balak are guilty of. On the contrary they are like lions with the herald of heaven in them. In the third blessing Bilaam praises the homes and places of study of the nation of Israel (Numbers 24:5). He said this because he saw that the entrances of their tents were not exactly facing each other (Bava Batra 60), therefore they were respecting each other's privacy. Finally Bilaam gives a prophecy that a star with a powerful rod will come out of Israel but it will not happen soon.

The conclusion of the parsha though is seriously different. In it the nations of Moav send prostitutes into the Israelite camp. The intention is that HaKadosh Baruch Hu will be angered at Israel when they become promiscuous. The plan succeeds and 24,000 die in a heavenly declared plague. However it stops when Pinchas, the grandson of the high priest, in a fit of religious fanaticism, impales a royal couple who were blatantly licentious.

The haftarah from the prophet Micah expands on these themes. It starts by saying that a remnant of  Israel will be in the midst of the nations. The idea of a remnant is that there will be a bloody weeding out of Israel until they reach their destiny. They will be like dew and droplets on plants meaning they will help humanity greatly but in a way that is barely noticed. On the other hand they will be like a young lion that nobody dares to provoke. To achieve this they will abandon faith in physical power and trickery. Nature also will be seen as a tool of G-d and not the ultimate independent force. Religious devotion will not be seen as an act of self flagellation. Rather Israel will have highly developed standards of right and wrong, will love to be kind, and be modest in terms of displays of religion.

לע"נ  האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח

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