לזכות רפואה שלימה אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה

In this week’s Parshah, [Parshas Balak], the King of Moav, [whose name is] Balak, seeks to employ the services of a sorcerer and prophet named Bilaam in order to curse the Jews. Though given several opportunities, each time Bilaam attempts to hurl his annihilistic phrases at the Jewish nation, Hashem intercedes and transforms his potentially harmful rhetoric into the most awesome of blessings. Interestingly, the Possuk states, as Bilaam is about to attempt to unleash his curses at the Jews [Bamidbar 23’ 7’]:

“And he [Bilaam] raised his declaration, and said, Balak the king of Mo᾽av has brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Ya῾akov, and come, denounce Yisra᾽el”...

The introductory phrase that tells us that Bilaam “Raised his declaration” appears to be unnecessary, as well as a somewhat mystifying description of what occurred, and is noticed by the commentaries.

Ramban writes [Bamdibar 24’ 4’] that Bilaam was the correlative prophet given to non-Jews, so that they should not be able to claim that had they had a prophet of the stature of Moshe, they would also have accepted the Torah [Bilaam likely was the only non- Jewish prophet to ever exist; there is great debate what level of prophecy Bilaam actually possessed-see Ramban ad. Loc. who understands that Bilaam’s visions were not of the highest quality, while others understand that Bilaam communicated on the same threshold of prophecy as Moshe . Hence, Bilaam was communicating to the world the proper perspective that the nations of the world should have on the Jews.

Ba’al HaTurim [Bamidbar 23’ 7’] explains, that this is what the Torah is clarifying when it states that Bilaam “Raised his declaration”. As the prophetic representative of the entire non-Jewish population, Bilaam’s prophecy needed to be heard by nations of the world. Thus, despite his efforts to harm the Jews, Hashem turned his intent to harm into showers of blessings, with those blessings being heard around the world; this is what the Torah means when it says that Bilaam’s declaration was uplifted-through divine providence, his voice was magnified, to be heard, felt, and absorbed by all individuals.

Much thought has been put into what is anti-Semitism, and where it stems from. The answer for the believing Jew is, of course, that hatred of Jews is part of the divine blueprint, thrust upon the Jews when they became the only nation willing to accept the Torah. Ba’al HaTurim notes, the Possuk in Mishlei [ 27’ 14’] states that one should not praise another in front of too many, for that will inspire jealousy and dislike on the part of the listeners. In this aspect, Bilaam did succeed, for by having his voice heard across the globe, Bilaam accomplished the fanning of the flames of jealousy against the nation of Hashem, thus exacerbating the anti-Jewish sentiment that had come into the world upon the Jew’s accepting the Torah. May we merit to continue to bring the light of Torah into this turbulent world, and witness the true and final redemption.

Dedicated in memory of all those who have perished and sacrificed for Am Yisrael.

Have a Great Shabbas.