לזכות רפואה שלימה אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה
Fresh off the heels of the beginning of the conquest of the Biblical Land of Israel, this week’s Parshah, Parshat Balak, begins with the Moabite King Balak [hence the name of the Parshah], taking stock of the Jews divinely ordained military successes. He realizes that the traditional methods of physical warfare would have no impact on the Jewish Nation that was so clearly under G-dly protection, and therefore Balak decides to pursue the services of history’s greatest sorcerer, a man by the name of Bilaam, hoping that his cursing the Jews could achieve what military might could not. The plan fails spectacularly, and Bilaam ends up issuing some of the most inspiring prophetic blessings the Jews would ever receive.
Interestingly, Bilaam himself is killed at the age of 33 [see Sanhedrin 106A] in battle with the Jews; of particular note is the fact that the Talmud [Tractate Gittin, pages 57A-57B] actually records Bilaam’s fortune in the afterlife–suffice it to say, his willingness to attack the Jews did not go unpunished, and the description of his suffering should serve as a deterrent for all who would provoke G-d’s chosen Nation. However, despite the severity of Bilaam’s punishment, the Talmud records that when the Roman General Titus’ nephew, the great Torah commentator Onkelos, was considering converting to Judaism, he raised the specter of the long dead Bilaam to ask his opinion about joining the Jewish nation. Bilaam answered in the negative, and, ironically, echoing the opinions of many under the Iranian umbrella, declared defiantly “Avoid peace with the Jews at all costs.” Torah commentaries explain, that the most severe punishment one can face is living in the despicable reality created by his\her actions, while fully aware of the ultimate truth of G-d and His intent. Hence, Bilaam, who chose to live a life of complete debauchery in the Earthly realm, was forced to maintain his way of existence in the afterlife as well, despite becoming aware of how antithetical that way of life was to G-d and His purpose for creation. Bilaam, because of his utterly evil actions against G-d in the physical world, crafted an afterlife for himself whereby he was forced–by his own choices—to tell Onkelos to stay away from the Jewish people, while being aware of how such advice was actually diametrically opposed to the entire fabric of creation–truly an astoundingly harsh way to suffer [and well deserved].
To conclude, it is worth noting that Bilaam, in one of his prophecies, declares about the Jews [Numbers 23’ 9’]:
“There is a people [the Jews] that dwells apart, Not reckoned among the nations.”
The Jewish people have been, and will always be, alone and apart from the rest of humanity. One need not look much further than the United Nations, whose laserlike focus on placing imbecilic resolutions on the tiny Jewish state, while ignoring atrocities committed around the world, bespeaks of the true meaning of the above quoted prophecy. It is clear, that despite the Prophet Isaiah writing that the Jewish Nation is to be a “Light unto the world [Isaiah 49’ 6’],” that was not meant to imply that we should seek to assimilate with the gentiles—as many of the early reformers of Judaism would discover, assimilation would not protect Jews from the wrath of Hitler and the Nazis [may G-d erase their remembrance]—rather, the Jewish way of life, as described in the Torah and Halachah, is itself to serve as an inspiration for the foreign Nations of the world, even as the Jewish people will always dwell alone.
Rokeach comments, that the Hebrew words for “A Nation that dwells apart [le-vadad yishkon],” numerically result in the value of 420, which is the same value as the Hebrew phrase for “The days of Messiah [bi-yimei Moshiach]–” alluding to the fact, that when the Messiah does ultimately arrive, the Jewish Nation will reign gloriously, apart and above the rest of the world, as we bask in the glory of G-d, a position that we will have well earned by undergoing National exile and suffering for millenia.
: Dedicated in memory of Refael Ben Tirtza, HY”D.
Have a Great Shabbas.