Dvar Torah - Balak 5784

This week’s parsha tells us the story of how Balaam was hired to curse the Jews. The people of the time apparently believed that Balaam had amazing powers. Balak, the king of Moav, told Balaam, “For I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.” (Bamidbar 22:6). Indeed, the Rabbis tell us that Balaam was on the level of Moshe Rabbenu. The Torah says about Moshe (Devarim 34:10): “Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe, who Hashem had known face to face.” The Torah specifies that there will never be a prophet like Moshe, but why does it add “in Israel”? This implies that among the Jewish people there will never again be a prophet like Moshe. However, among the non-Jews a prophet will arise like Moshe, and that is Balaam. (See Bamidbar Rabbah 14:20).

Yet, if Balaam was a prophet on the level of Moshe Rabbenu, why did Balaam disobey an express Divine command (Bamidbar 22:12): “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people for it is blessed?” Balaam accepted money to curse the Jewish people and was so excited about the possibility that he got up early and saddled his donkey himself.” (Rashi on Bamidbar 22:21). He then proceeded to attempt to curse the Jewish people multiple times, and only because of Divine intervention did his curses transform into blessings. Moreover, the Rabbis tell us that Balaam’s evil nature and his hatred of the Jews influenced Pharoah to institute his horrible decrees. Balaam at one time was an advisor to Pharoah and was the one who suggested that Pharoah kill all Jewish baby boys. (Sotah 11a). What caused Balaam to become so evil and to fall to such a low level?

Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz, ZT"L explains that most people need to work hard and to struggle to succeed spiritually (and psychologically). A person does not simply become a good person. It is the nature of a human being to deal with personal challenges and to struggle to cleanse oneself from bad character traits. A person faces many challenges and needs to grow throughout life from each level to a higher level. It is comparable to a messy field full of obstacles and junk. As a person walks through the field, he removes each obstacle one by one until his path is clear and clean and the field is cleaned up. However, if the person is somehow lifted up and moved from the beginning of the field to the end of the field, the field will remain a mess.

Balaam was given tremendous power and abilities by Hashem. Bilaam never struggled or worked for these gifts. Therefore, Bilaam never developed his character and morality. He never grew as a person and remained where he started. Consequently, when tempted with great money and power, he could commit the most vile and evil acts. In contrast, Moshe went through many tests that enabled him to perfect his character.

We learn from Balaam’s story that people are not naturally good. Each person needs to struggle and to deal with challenges in life to grow spiritually. The worst thing for a person would be to be freed from such struggles and simply given advantages without having to work to achieve them. When parents hover over children to shield them from difficulties, they may actually be preventing them from building resilience and the moral character necessary to overcome future challenges. True greatness stems from struggling and gradually growing and becoming a better person. Through we may not want the stress and strain inherent in dealing with challenges, we need to recognize that Hashem sends them to us to elevate our neshamas so we can grow spiritually and become better people.