(Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein , more on www.naaleh.com)
When King Balak hired the prophet Balaam to curse Bnei Yisroel, Balaam advised Balak to bring sacrifices to God to facilitate God’s acceding to his wishes. Concerning these forty-two sacrifices, the Gemmorah states, “From (doing a mitzvah) without the proper intention, one will (eventually) arrive at doing it with the proper intention. As reward for the forty-two sacrifices Balak King of Moab brought, Ruth, from whom Shlomo descended, descended from him.”
We can’t help but be troubled by the observation that Balak was being rewarded for bringing these sacrifices even though their purpose was to subvert the will of God. Yet not only was he rewarded with such illustrious descendents, but even a parsha in the Torah is called by his name. If we examine Balak’s action more closely, we may gain some insight into the dynamics at work here.
Rav Chaim HaKohen in Ohr Pnei Chaim points out that these sacrifices were in fact spiritual in nature, for Balaam knew that physical force would be ineffectual as a weapon against the Jews. Although Balak’s goal was subversive, his action and the immediate purpose was spiritual, to get close to the Lord so He would grant him his wish. This tiny point of positive intention, even if it was for a personal agenda that ran counter to Hashem’s wishes, was enough to merit these rewards.
The focus is on the action. As Rabbi Wolbe notes in Alei Shor, Hashem installed a system at creation in which the proper actions through mitzvoth would bring down God’s presence to the world. The action itself, irrespective of the thought process, creates a spiritual reality and energy that reverberates through the ages, as throwing pebbles into the water creates concentric ripples. Therefore, Balak’s action of offering the sacrifices, regardless of his motivation, impacted future generations so much so that Ruth descended from him.
The importance of action in contradistinction to passive thought is no more obvious that with Avraham Avinu himself. According to the Medrash, Hashem was visiting with Avraham when the three men/angels appeared at his tent. Avraham asks leave from the Divine Presence to tend to his supposedly human guests, upon which the super-commentator Rashi comments, “Greater is hospitality than receiving the Divine Presence;”
in other words, the positive action is greater than the passive reception, even of the Divine Presence itself. It has been suggested that Abraham learned this specifically from Hashem Himself Who performed loving kindness by visiting the “sick” Abraham who was then recovering from his circumcision. Abraham here internalized Hashem’s message of the importance of positive action.
On a related note, Rav Schorr in Halekach Vehalebuv cites the maxim that when a Tzadik departs from a place, he leaves an impression. Rav Schorr explains that while the righteous person is in a specific location, his actions change the dynamics of the area. When he leaves, the impact of his presence remains, and those remaining build on the memory of what he left behind, perpetuating his legacy. Although he is no longer physically present, his presence is still felt.
In a similar way, lehavdil, the kedushah of Hashem’s presence continues to be felt in this world. Before time, nothing existed except Hashem. But Hashem wanted to create the world. In order to do so, He had to contract Himself to create space for the world. But the space He vacated in which the universe now exists retains the “kedushah footprint” He left behind.
Similarly, when we use our hands to give tzedakah or our lips to pray, these organs retain some of the holiness we invested in them in the performance of the mitzvah. We have the ability to harness that energy for continuing acts of holiness. Where we begin greatly impacts our continued direction.
In a similar way, when we make the havdalah at the close of Shabbat, continues Halekach Vehalebuv, we have the ability to harness the kedushah of Shabbat and build on it so that our week begins with kedushah that extends and influences our actions the rest of the week.
In Worldmask, Rabbi Tatz clarifies the connection between our actions and kedushah. He points out that almost all mitzvoth involve a physical action, and he explains that that physical action, if performed with the proper intention, has the ability to bridge the gap between the physical, earthly world and the spiritual, heavenly realm. However, continues Rabbi Tatz, if the proper intention is lacking, the effects of that action remain in the physical world, never really rising heavenward. In that circumstance, the reward will also be based in this world and not be reserved for the world to come.
Now we can understand how Balak was rewarded with a descendent like Ruth. While Ruth and her descendents brought spirituality down to earth and merited their rewards in the spiritual realm, Balak’s reward was limited to this world, to being the ancestor of Ruth.
Our Sages praise Balak for his sacrificial offerings but criticize Koresh, the Persian Emperor who not only permitted the Temple to be rebuilt but even funded it. To understand the difference in judgment between the two, one must go back and examine each aspect of intention. Balak, who was an evil person, nevertheless used the sacrifices hoping to create a closer relationship with Hashem, albeit with ulterior motives.
Koresh, on the other hand, was a righteous person. Yet his motivation in rebuilding the Temple was self aggrandizement, an ego trip, to be the envy of others and to have many prayers said on his behalf. God judges the whole person, says Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. Balak was judged according to who Balak was, and according to those criteria, that momentary wish for closeness with Hashem was laudatory. But Koresh should have known better. He had the opportunity to forge a very strong bond with Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and he blew it.
It was this point in Balak, according to Yalkut Lekach Tov, that was amplified in Ruth. When Ruth’s mother in law Naomi urged her and Orpah to return to their father’s house, Orpah did as she was told, bur Ruth understood that Naomi’s urging was a test of her commitment to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, and Ruth passed with flying colors. An individual’s minimum intention such as Balak’s was, that moment oflishmah, can thus be transformative either in his own life or in future generations.
But for us the challenge is to reach the point where all our actions approach lishmah, all with the proper intention. Starting out with one point, elucidates Rav Dessler, does not automatically guarantee that you will reach the point of regularly doing the mitzvoth with the proper intention. One must begin with an inner desire to reach the spiritual connection with Hakodosh Boruch Hu that is the purpose of observing Torah and mitzvoth.
Rav Dessler continues by giving us a road map to help us reach our destination. His model is Yaakov Avinu‘s approach to his battle with the guardian angel of Esau, the paradigm of the yetzer hara. Yaakov used a three pronged approach which Rav Dessler suggests we adapt to our own battles with our yetzer hara.
First we are to offer the yetzer hara gifts that would imply we have ulterior motives for doing mitzvoth. Tell the yetzer hara how much honor we would get by performing this mitzvah, or how much pleasure we would experience. Then follow up by praying to Hashem to allow us to reach our goal. Finally join the battle by nullifying the ego to the will of our Creator.
We can only work on these externals. When Hashem sees our earnest endeavors, we pray he will give us the gift of elevating our souls to feel His presence within ourselves so that we become victors in the struggle forlishmah. We can only give our hearts; then Hashem will give us His (so to speak).
Even in the battle Rav Dessler offers us suggestions. First, don’t go it alone. Separate yourselves from those who would be negative influences, and surround yourselves with friends and a community that fosters this growth.
Rabbi Pincus in Sefer Hachinuch presents that our next major weapon is action itself. Don’t wait until you have the proper intention; just do the mitzvah. If the will is there, the proper intention will come in time and you will have raised your spiritual level. We can paraphrase the business mentor’s advice of Dress for Success to the Jewish neshama’s mentor of Act for Success. If you act the part, even if you do not yet feel it, eventually, the feeling will become part of you.
And this, Balaam himself has witnessed and shown us how. “They are a nation that arises like a young lion”- from the moment we get up we are involved in mitzvoth, and the beginning of our nation is strong, “For I have seen their beginning (meirosh tzurim) as strong boulders (For from atop boulders I see them)” – our patriarchs were strong in their commitment and instilled this love for Hashem into the souls of their descendents.
Rabbi Frand points out that just as our national relationship with Hashem took place far from the eyes of the nations, at Sinai, so must each of us forge our personal relationship with our Creator in private. What does Hashem want from us asks the prophet Micah rhetorically, and he answers, “Only to act justly, love chessed, and walk modestly with your Lord.”
To be truly lishmah, for His glory, we must remove our actions from being sources of public display; they are for His glory, not for our own. Hashem’s opinion is the only one that should matter to us. We can reach that goal only if we desire it, even if we often fail. But we must keep doing the work.
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