HaRav Shmuel Eliahuis Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.
In the Torah portion of Balak, Israel faces the last barrier before its Redemption from Egypt and its entry into the Promised Land. In the fortieth and final year of the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness, they undergo a profound transformation. From being a people yearning to return to Egypt, they become a nation fighting against the Canaanite people:
“Whose height is like the height of cedars and who is strong as oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.” (Amos 2:9).
From a fearful, demoralized people afraid of freedom, they transform into a joyful nation that sings to God and thanks Him for all His kindnesses.
In this year, the Children of Israel battle the king of Arad and are victorious. They cross the great and terrible desert on their way to the Land of Israel. They confront the fiery serpents and work to strengthen their own wobbly faith. They defeat Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. They fight and conquer the territory across the eastern Jordan, and afterward, they wage the greatest war of all—against Bilaam son of Beor, the sorcerer.
In this war, they battle Bilaam whose spiritual power in impurity equals the power of Moses in holiness. They battle the temptation posed by the daughters of Moab at a great and painful cost. This final battle concludes the stage of exile in the wilderness and begins the stage of conquering the Promised Land.
It ends the era of Moses and opens the era of Joshua. It opens the gates to the Land of Israel with all its blessings and challenges.
Balak and Bilaam - A Global Struggle
The spiritual impurity (“kelipah”) of Ammon and Moab is a severe one. The Torah warns us about them, stating:
“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever” (Deuteronomy 23).
They represent the kelipah of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is the very opposite of Abraham’s trait of kindness.
As the Torah says:
“Because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt.”
And this ingratitude comes despite the fact that Abraham had fought to save their ancestor Lot.
“And because they hired against you Bilaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Aram-Naharaim to curse you. Nevertheless, the Lord your God would not listen to Bilaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.”
Therefore, the Torah commands:
“You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever” (Deuteronomy 23).
Pinchas - The Covenant of Eternal Priesthood
We learn about the global dimension of the struggle against sexual immorality from Pinchas who fought against this kelipah and merited the covenant of eternal priesthood:
“And it shall be to him and to his descendants after him a covenant of everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Children of Israel.” (Numbers 25).
Similarly, we see that after fourteen years of conquering and dividing the Land, the Israelites wanted to go to war against the tribes of Gad and Reuben, who were across the Jordan for having built an altar:
“And the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go up to battle against them.”
They feared that the sin of Peor was returning:
“Is the iniquity of Peor too small for us, from which we have not been cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord?” (Joshua 22).
Worse Than Egypt and Edom
The Torah treats the abomination of Bilaam as worse than the troubles caused by Egypt and Edom. As it is said:
“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land. The children born to them in the third generation may enter the assembly of the Lord.”
Moab is to be treated differently. As we mentioned, another sin is their ingratitude stemming from an evil eye. Ammon and Moab should have shown kindness to Israel in return for Abraham’s kindness to Lot, whom he rescued from the four kings of the north.
The prophet Zephaniah sees them as a continuation of Sodom and Gomorrah:
“Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Moab shall be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah - a place of nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall inherit them.”
Ammon and Moab could have continued Abraham’s legacy of kindness, which was their very upbringing, but instead, they chose to identify themselves with Sodom and Gomorrah, and thus, their fate is the same.
Moses versus Peor
Whenever Peor raises its head, Moses stands against it and subdues it, preventing it from using Israel’s harlotry with Peor as a prosecutor who condemns a man accused of transgression.
Our sages equate the magnitude of Bilaam’s kelipah of impurity with the magnitude of Moses’ holiness: “No prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses. But among the nations of the world, one did arise.”
And that one was Balaam:
“Filthy among the filth.” (Zohar Chadash Acharei Mot 44; Aderet Eliyahu, Deuteronomy 34).
Therefore, when Moses teaches the Torah, he does so opposite Baal Peor:
“This is the Torah that Moses set before the children of Israel...
across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-Peor…” (Deuteronomy 4, 46-48).
Our Sages asked:
“Why was Moses buried opposite Beth-Peor? To atone for the sin of Peor” (Sotah 14).
To stop it from harming Israel:
“So that he would stand against the sin of Peor and prevent it from lifting its head to prosecute Israel” (Or HaChaim, Deuteronomy 3:29).
“For whenever Peor raises its head, it finds Moses opposite it and is subdued,” (Or HaChaim, Deuteronomy 34).
Worse Than the Sin of the Calf
Our Sages wished to illustrate the magnitude of Bilaam’s corruption, saying:
“‘And they called the people and Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor’ - like bracelets bound together” (i.e. a sin closely clinging to Israel). Rabbi Levi says it was worse than the sin of the Golden Calf, for regarding the calf it is written: “And all the people stripped themselves…” (Exodus 32). But here it is written: “And Israel joined himself,” like bracelets bound together.
In the incident of the calf, about three thousand fell, but here twenty-four thousand died (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 18).
Our Sages emphasize in the Midrash that this was not merely the sin of the mixed multitude, but involved the distinguished among Israel.
As great as the kelipah was, so too was the magnitude of vengeance required:
“Harass the Midianites and smite them” (Numbers 25).
When the warriors did not fully carry out this vengeance, Moses became angry:
“And Moses was wroth with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, who came from the battle” (Numbers 31).
They understood the danger, but did not grasp how crucial a total and final victory was. Balak and Bilaam were willing to sacrifice everything in this struggle, even agreeing to send the daughters of Moab and Midian into prostitution.
“And now, Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to do, that you may live and go in and possess the Land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.”
Look at what happened to those who fell into Bilaam’s kelipah:
“Your eyes have seen what the Lord did to Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you” (Deuteronomy 4:3).
In contrast to those who were destroyed:
“But you who cleave to the Lord your God are all alive today” (Deuteronomy 4:4).
The Battle Continues Today
Even today, this kelipah of licentiousness is exerting all its strength to halt the settlement of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel, Heaven forbid. Israel’s enemies, with brazen and wicked audacity, are trying to bring this kelipah upon us, whether through the Internet or brazenly in our streets and shopping centers with immodest advertisements and unholy fashions. They seek to make us fall into temptations of immorality which spares not even the distinguished among Israel. For this purpose, they employ all sorts of corrupt methods to entice our holy nation, step by step, into the gravest sin of all, just as Bilaam advised.
May Hashem have mercy and lead us to victory in this battle as well.
(Translated by Tzvi Fishman)