Hukas-Balak: Uniting the Nations

I have a much longer title for this week’s parsha post:

The Paradox of Global Opposition: Bilaam, the United Nations, and the Architecture of Divine Protection

Every year, as we read Parashas Balak, which is doubled in chu”l this year as Hukas-Balak, we are introduced to a character who is as structurally complex as he is spiritually corrupt. Bilaam is not a simple villain. He does not approach his task with the blunt force of Pharaoh’s chariots or the raw physical hatred of Amalek. Instead, Bilaam operates in the realm of diplomacy, metaphysics, and international alignment. He seeks to build a global consensus against the Jewish people.
When we look at the contemporary geopolitical landscape, it is impossible not to experience a profound sense of *déjà vu*. We observe international bodies—most notably the United Nations—where diverse countries, often with zero common values, bitter territorial disputes, and opposing ideologies, seamlessly unite for one singular cause: the condemnation and isolation of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. How does a fractured world find such effortless unanimity when targeting Israel?

The blueprint for this bizarre phenomenon is found explicitly in our parsha encoded within an exchange between Bilaam and Hashem regarding the construction of altars. By analyzing a precise linguistic anomaly noted by Rashi, and unpacking its deep metaphysical reality through the Maharal of Prague in his Gur Aryeh, we can uncover a paradigm that explains not only what Bilaam was attempting to accomplish, but precisely why the global forums of today are designed, by Divine Providence, to host this very same struggle.

The Torah describes Bilaam’s preparation for his intended curses by noting his sacrifice:

וַיִּקָּר אֱלֹקִים אֶל בִּלְעָם וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֶת שִׁבְעַת הַmִּזְבְּחֹת עָרַכְתִּי וָאַעַל פָּר וָאַיִל בַּmִּזְבֵּעַ—*“And God met Bilaam, and he said to Him: ‘I have set in order the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar’”* (Bamidbar 23:4).

Rashi, acutely sensitive to the placement of the definitive article, stops us immediately. The text does not say, *Shiva mizbechot arachti* (“I have built seven altars”). It says, *Et shivat ha-mizbechot* (“**The** seven altars”). Rashi explains the psychological and historical argument Bilaam was presenting to the Almighty:
> אָמַר לְפָנָיו אֲבוֹתֵיהֶם שֶׁל אֵלּוּ בָּנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ שִׁבְעָה מִזְבְּחוֹת וַאֲנִי עָרַכְתִּי כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּן
> *“He said to Him: The ancestors of these people together built before Thee seven altars, but I alone have built altars equal to all of them.”*
>
Rashi goes on to itemize them: Abraham built four, Isaac built one, and Jacob built two. Collectively, they built seven.

Bilaam is engaging in a spiritual ledger-balancing act. He is telling Hashem that the cumulative historical merit of the Jewish Patriarchs, which spans three generations and accounts for seven distinct instances of altar-building, has just been matched—and surpassed—by a single, coordinated, monumental act of worship on his part.
But this raises a glaring, logical problem. Surely Bilaam was not so foolish as to believe that Hashem evaluates relationships based on mere volume or physical metrics? If building altars was simply a matter of resource allocation and masonry, anyone with enough wealth could outbid the Avot (Patriarchs) in their devotion. What was the deeper mechanism behind the number seven, and why did Bilaam believe his seven could systematically dismantle the seven of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

To answer this, the Maharal of Prague, in Gur Aryeh, elevates our understanding from a seeming coincidence to a deeper understanding of the project’s meaning. The Maharal explains that the number seven in Jewish thought represents the concept of *ribuy ha-chalakim*—the totality of all disparate parts within the natural order.
The physical world is defined by directions and dimensions: North, South, East, West, Up, Down, and the core center that holds them together. Seven represents the complete spectrum of reality. The Gur Aryeh cites two verses to prove this linguistic and conceptual rule. First, Devarim 28:7: בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶחָד יֵצְאוּ אֵלֶיךָ וּבְשִׁבְעָה דְרָכִים יָנוּסוּ לְפָנֶיךָ—*“By one way they shall come out against you, and by seven ways they shall flee before you,”* meaning they will scatter in every conceivable direction. Second, Mishlei 24:16: כִּי שֶׁבַע יִפּוֹר צַדִּיק וָקָם—*“For a righteous man falls seven times and rises,” meaning the tzaddik withstands every possible category and manifestation of adversity.

The Maharal explains that the Avos did not build seven altars arbitrarily. Rather, each Av tapped into a different aspect of the cosmos to create a total connection (*dveikut*) between the created physical world and the Infinite Divine (*bo yitbarach*). Abraham built four altars, corresponding to the four corners of the earth, elevating the dimension of *Chesed* (lovingkindness) to all directions. Isaac built one, anchoring the singular point of Gevurah (strength and restraint). Jacob built two, representing the synthesis ofTiferet (harmony and truth). Collectively, across time and space, the Avos built seven altars because they were establishing a reality wherein the Jewish people possess an intrinsic connection to Hashem through every possible channel and facet of existence.

Now, look at the brilliant insight of the Gur Aryeh. How does Bilaam counter this?
Bilaam argues that the Jewish people are fundamentally a single, isolated nation:

עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב—*“Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations”* (Bamidbar 23:9). By definition, a single nation should only occupy a single, specific niche—a private, particular domain in the global tapestry. How can one small family claim to possess a holistic connection to all seven dimensions of reality?

Bilaam declares: “I am the prophet, the intellectual, and the spiritual head of the Seventy Nations of the world.” In ancient geography and Torah cosmology, humanity is divided into seventy root nations. The Gur Aryeh notes that seventy is merely the macro-expansion of seven (mispar ha-shiv’im hem k’mo sheva). Just as seven contains all individual parts, the seventy nations represent the absolute fullness of human diversity, culture, political power, and worldly strength.
Bilaam’s strategy was to construct seven altars to harness the raw, collective energy of all seventy nations. He wanted to build an international coalition—a literal United Nations of his era. His thesis was simple: A diverse, global consensus of seventy nations carries more objective cosmic weight than the insular, singular unity of Israel. He believed that by gathering all the disparate parts of humanity under a single umbrella of opposition, he could break Israel’s monopoly on the number seven. He attempted to use the platform of global diversity to crush Jewish singularity.

This structural paradigm from the Gur Aryeh provides an unsettlingly accurate description of the United Nations today. Think about the geopolitical theater of General Assembly or Human Rights Council resolutions. You can have nations that are diametrically opposed to one another—countries with active border wars, fundamentally incompatible religious systems, and violently contrasting views on human rights—yet, when a vote is brought to condemn the Jewish state, they vote as a monolithic block.

Like Bilaam’s altars, the UN functions as a mechanism to collect the fractured, scattered strength of the seventy nations and channel it into a singular focus. The underlying philosophical argument remains completely unchanged from the time of Bilaam: *How can one small nation be right, while the collective consensus of the entire world is wrong? How can the singular unity of Israel withstand the overwhelming numerical and cultural weight of global diversity?*

The international community uses its multi-lateral platform to strip away Israel’s legitimacy, arguing that the global consensus must override the specific, historical, and Divine rights of the Jewish people. They attempt to turn the “seven” of the world against the “seven” of the Avos.

If this global opposition is so predictable and structurally baked into history, we must ask a fundamental question: Why does Hashem allow it? Why did Hashem permit Bilaam to build his altars in the first place, and why does He continue to allow the nations of the world to use international forums as a megaphone for anti-Israel animus?

The answer lies in the ultimate outcome of Bilaam’s grand experiment. Bilaam meticulously constructed his global platform. He brought Balak, the king of Moab, along with the princes of Midian, representing the elite political alignment of his time. He built the altars, offered the sacrifices, and prepared to unleash a curse that would retroactively dissolve the election of Israel.

But what happened when he opened his mouth?
וַיָּשֶׂם ה’ דָּבָר בְּפִי בִלְעָם… וַיִּשָּׂא מְשָׁלוֹ וַיֹּאמַר… מָה אֶקֹּב לֹא קַבֹּה אֵל וּמָה אֶזְעֹם לֹא זָעַם ה’—*“And Hashem put a word in Bilaam’s mouth… and he took up his parable and said… ‘How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? … For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations’”* (Bamidbar 23:5-9).

Hashem did not strike Bilaam down silently in his tent. He deliberately allowed Bilaam to assemble his grand stage, to invite the dignitaries, and to build the infrastructure of international consensus. Why? Because the most undeniable manifestation of Hashem’s love and protection over Israel occurs precisely when the global platform is fully utilized to destroy them, yet utterly fails.

If Israel’s survival were only tested in quiet corners, against minor, isolated adversaries, the world could attribute Jewish continuity to mere luck, geopolitical strategy, or historical coincidence. But when the entire world aligns—when the “seventy nations” pool their collective diplomatic, intellectual, and narrative resources to isolate the Jewish people—and despite everything, the curses are dramatically transformed into blessings, the hand of God becomes impossible to ignore.

The very platform that the nations build to broadcast their hatred becomes the amphitheater for their own education. It is precisely through the global lens of the United Nations that the miraculous nature of Jewish survival is magnified. When the world gathers to condemn Israel, and yet Israel continues to thrive, to innovate, to defend itself against impossible odds, and to outlive its detractors, the nations are forced to witness a reality that defies natural political science.

They are brought to the realization that Israel is not just another player on the chessboard; it is a nation uniquely sustained by an Infinite Power. As Bilaam himself was forced to conclude in Bamidbar 23:23: כָּעֵת יֵאָמֵר לְיַעֲקֹב וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל מַה פָּעַל אֵל—*“Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel: ‘What has God wrought!’”*

As we construct our own contemporary responses to the challenges facing our people, we must not look at international hostility with despair or panic. We can see it through the lens of the Maharal:

The seventy nations will continue to build their altars. They will continue to leverage their global numbers against our singular identity. But their platforms are ultimately subject to Divine Sovereignty. The very mechanisms designed to obscure the Jewish story are transformed by Hashem into the ultimate stage for *Kiddush Hashem*—the sanctification of His Name.

Our task is to remain anchored in the “seven altars” of our Patriarchs—to maintain our complete, holistic devotion to Torah, to ethical excellence, and to our internal unity. When we stand strong in our unique relationship with the Creator, we can confidently watch the grand stages of the world, knowing that just as it was in the days of Bilaam, every weapon formed against us will ultimately serve to reveal the eternal truth: מְבָרֲכֶיךָ בָרוּךְ וְאֹרְרֶיךָ אָרוּר—*“Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee”* (Bamidbar 24:9).