Parshas Balak – Was Balaam Holy?

 Dedication: Please Hashem, guard our nation from strife both internal and external!

Today’s Dvar Torah will be loosely cited and may not lead to a conclusion. It is, in some ways, a thought experiment. Certainly, these thoughts are answered by many great Torah minds in depth, but it seems beneficial to bring them to the forefront.

One of the most frequently spoken about topics in Jewish life, and one of the essential concepts in Jewish life, is bitachon. Trusting in Hashem means trusting that He is constantly and absolutely in charge. It sounds simple; it isn’t.

Those who master bitachon never want. This is the premise of being a baal bitachon. This statement, however, leads to many questions, especially for those of us who are not masters in our own bitachon. We’ve seen impoverished tzadikkim and incredible Torah teachers struck by terrible illnesses, which lead us to the question of – well if that’s never wanting, what will be for me!

It isn’t simple. In the sefer “Becoming a Ba’al Bitachon,” Rabbi Yechezkel Abramov, discuss the different understandings of this idea and spends time examining the opinion that Hashem gives baal bitachon the outcome they seek verses a baal bitachon sees in every outcome that Hashem has provided that which was best. Interestingly, these two ideas are critically important in this week’s parsha.

In parshas Balak, the Torah introduces Balaam. Balaam is considered the equal of Moshe in his ability to recognize Hashem in the world. He is the prophet of the nations, a balance to Moshe’s greatness.

Balaam fully recognized Hashem’s constant hand in this world so much that he received direct responses, which makes him far greater in bitachon than most people. Balak came to him because up until this point, Balaam had a magnificent record of having his requests fulfilled. One could even wonder if Balaam’s absolute faith that what he requested would be given made him a baal bitachon, equal to those whom we revere as tzaddikim.

 

On the other hand, when Balaam actually stood to pronounce curses upon the Nation of Israel, what came out were blessings. Hashem answered Balaam's prayers; He just answered them in the way that was best for the world and therefore best for Balaam. 

 

It is fascinating, when you read the parsha, to notice how calmly Balaam seems to react to each curse turned blessing. And when Balak rages at him, he says: “But I even told the messengers you sent to me, say ‘If Balak gives me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the word of the Lord to do either good or evil on my own; only what the Lord speaks can I speak” (24:12-13).

 

Balaam really does come across as a baal habitachon. And that leads to further questions. What does it mean  thatBalaam is a smarmy person who accepts money to curse a nation and later plots for the moral dissolution of the Israelite men? What does it mean that he is seen as a prophet by other nations and that a wicked king seeks him out in particular.

 

It means that Balaam was not a baal bitachon because while Balaam recognized that Hashem was the Master of the Universe and the One in charge, he felt no need to accept a moral code upon himself. Indeed, from his choices at the end of the parsha when he advices that the Midianite women go out to seduce the men of Israel, one can almost see an underlying defiance of the yoke of shemayim, one can sense a desire to find a work-around to the path Hashem has set for the world.

 

One of the most acknowledged facts about the Torah is that its “heros,” for lack of a better word, are human. They have flaws. So too, the “villains,” for lack of a better word,” have middos that we can emulate. Esav is renowned for kibbud av, Lot understood hachnassas orchim, and Balaam had bitachon. We look at people and too often we judge them only for their weaknesses and deficits rather than that which is good. This week, as we head into the three weeks when we mourn so much tragedy that has happened, let us look for the good in others and remember the importance of bitachon in our everyday lives.

 

Shabbat Shalom