The Blogs: Choosing to curse when a blessing would be so much more effective (Balak)

וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר

I will bless those who bless you and will curse those who curse you

Bereishit /Genesis12:3

כִּ֣י יָדַ֗עְתִּי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־תְּבָרֵךְ֙ מְבֹרָ֔ךְ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּאֹ֖ר יוּאָֽר׃

For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse will be cursed

Bamidbar/Numbers 22:6

Balaam, a mercenary but potent prophet, is hired by Balak the King of Moab to curse the Israelites. Paradoxically, despite history considering him the incarnation of evil, Balaam’s eventual paean of poetry to the people of Israel is part and parcel of our daily morning liturgy. I have dealt with this astonishing fact previously (http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/parshat-balak-the-evil-poet-whose-verse-we-pray/ )

The Moabites are, understandably, terrified of being overrun by the Israelite hordes.

וַיַּ֥רְא בָּלָ֖ק בֶּן־צִפּ֑וֹר אֵ֛ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לָֽאֱמֹרִֽי׃

Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.

וַיָּ֨גׇר מוֹאָ֜ב מִפְּנֵ֥י הָעָ֛ם מְאֹ֖ד כִּ֣י רַב־ה֑וּא וַיָּ֣קׇץ מוֹאָ֔ב מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Moab was alarmed because that people was so numerous, and Moab dreaded the Israelites

Bamidbar/Number 22:2-3

Balak’s fears seem legitimate. And his quest for potent outside help is, under the circumstances, understandable. As for Balaam’s readiness to provide services to Balak and the Moabites, for this he would hardly deserve a medal. Nevertheless, Balaam would be no more wicked than, say, a mafia hitman who is dispassionate and merely doing the job for which he is hired. Hence, he was no saint, but also no Hitler.

And yet, the Moabites and Balaam are not only thwarted in their efforts but they, Balaam especially, are subsequently deemed the incarnation of evil. They are eventually decimated in a war led by Aharon’s grandson, the zealous Pinhas. Balaam is killed and all the Moabite men are put to the sword.

So, what exactly did they do to deserve such revulsion and retribution? Specifically, what precisely was Balaam guilty of that, to this day, he is considered the prototype of the arch antisemite?

Let us begin with a simple question. When Balak first approaches Balaam he says:

כִּ֣י יָדַ֗עְתִּי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־תְּבָרֵךְ֙ מְבֹרָ֔ךְ וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּאֹ֖ר יוּאָֽר׃ …

…for I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse will be cursed

Bamidbar 22:6

Why does Balak mention the potency of Balaam’s blessings when it is not a blessing he seeks, but a curse? Why does he not simply say: כִּ֣י יָדַ֗עְתִּי אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּאֹ֖ר יוּאָֽר׃ … for I have known that whoever you curse will be cursed? The blessing part seems totally superfluous. No less significant is the fact that Balaam totally ignores the blessing aspect of his curriculum vitae and responds exclusively to Balak’s request for a curse.

I would like to suggest that the phrasing of Balak’s request and the willingness – nay the desire – of Balaam to comply demonstrate that these people were acutely aware of God’s promise to Avraham in Bereishit/Genesis 12:3

וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר

I will bless those who bless you and curse the one who curses you

The textual parallels are too obvious to be mere coincidence. Indeed, both Balak (whose nation was descended from Avraham’s beloved nephew Lot) and certainly Balaam KNEW that there was a better way to protect the Moabites.

Balak understands that he dare not curse the Israelites lest he be cursed instead. This is why he seeks outside help from a hired prophetic gun. A curse by proxy might be effective without triggering a boomerang of God’s wrath on the Moabite nation. Indeed, if the one who curses is then cursed that would be Balaam’s problem, for which he is being paid plenty.

But if, in fact, Balak is aware of God’s promise in Bereishit/Genesis he surely knows that there was a preferable prophylactic against decimation by the Israelites. Indeed, all he has to do is BLESS the Children of Israel. By doing so he would save his People and save a ton of treasure. After all, a professional like Balaam doesn’t come cheap.

Hence, we can now begin to appreciate the core evil of Balak and his advisors. They are motivated by a desire to see the Israelites harmed that is stronger than their desire to avoid harm to themselves. Indeed, had they blessed the Israelites not only would they have been safe, they would have been rewarded.

And yet they choose the option of cursing God’s chosen people.

And now we come to Balaam. If the Moabites were aware of the promise in Genesis 12, Balaam’s awareness is a fortiori greater.

So, the question now is why doesn’t Balaam suggest to the Moabites that rather than curse the Children of Israel he, Balaam, would instead bless them on the Moabites’ behalf? After all, Balak already made it clear that he knew the efficacy of Balaam’s blessings. Hence all Balaam has to do is suggest a blessing instead of a curse. This way he would guaranty the safety of Moab plus the bounty of God’s blessings.

And yet, Balaam does no such thing. He is ready to risk God’s wrath and contend with the entire fiasco of being made a fool of by his donkey as he struggles to fulfill the mandate to curse.

This is why Balaam has gone down in infamy. Because CLEARLY he, too, preferred to curse the Israelites rather than bless them. He KNEW that a blessing would yield better results … unless, of course, the ONLY result he desired was the decimation of the Children of Israel.

When Jew hatred takes precedence over self-interest, this is the definition of antisemitism. It is literally a perverted idealism which Balaam and Balak practically invented, and which has inspired and characterized all their ideological progeny down through Haman, the Inquisition, the pogroms, the Nazis, Hamas and just about everyone else today who traffics in hating the Children of Israel.

We are living this now in real time. At this very moment even our American ally is manifesting a preference for the absolutely certain devastation that will result from its sudden embrace of the Balaam-Balaks of our time – an Islamist regime in Iran which has already proven time and again that the death of Israel is a vastly greater priority than a peaceful and prosperous existence for themselves and their proxies.

We can hardly be surprised by the pusillanimous passivity of Europe. But the active initiative of the United States? The rot is indeed bone deep. Israel will survive. The consequences for those others will be a different story.

PS. You may be interested in a previous blog which discusses … It is a nation that will dwell alone. Bamidbar 23:9 https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-paradox-of-a-nation-alone-through-which-the-world-is-blessed-lekh-lekha