The Man With Great Power and No Responsibility
He sent messengers to Balaam son of Be’or, to Petor, which is situated on the river, the land of his people, to call for him, saying, “A people have come out of Egypt, and behold, they have covered the ‘eye’ of the land. And they are stationed opposite me. [Numbers 22:5]
In 1936, the famous Soviet writer Maxim Gorky died, and the Kremlin ordered a massive funeral in Red Square. Some 250,000 Russians arrived to pay tribute, led by Josef Stalin, the most feared man in the world and who carried Gorky’s ashes. Watching Stalin a few meters away was six-year-old Israel Singer, later Zamir, who had recently arrived in Moscow with his mother from Poland.
“Look how short he is, Stalin the great,” the precocious Israel shouted to his mother, a fervent communist and the estranged wife of a writer who would become Nobel laureate Issac Bashevis Singer.
Immediately, two Soviet undercover agents smacked Israel on his behind and cursed the little boy. One of the purported NKVD agents told Israel’s mother,” You’d better prepare two valises because today in Siberia is very cold.”
Balaam, the protagonist of our weekly Torah portion Balak, would have probably appreciated this story. He was regarded as one of the most powerful men in the world, selected by G-d to be the prophet of the gentiles. Balaam was the adviser of great kings, including Pharoah. In wartime, he was retained to curse an entire nation and ensure its defeat. His mission was to bring G-d’s word to the gentiles. Instead, Balaam was a carpetbagger who would do anything for the highest bidder. He justified his astronomical price by saying that his curses were foolproof while building an army might not lead to victory.
The prophet’s latest assignment was to curse Israel and keep them away from Canaan. This time, he was hired by Balak, the interim king of Moab, frightened by the approach of Moses and Israelites. The king needn’t have been scared. G-d had already told Israel not to attack Moab. But Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, in his tract Kedushat Levi, says Balak had reason for concern. Balak was a descendant of Jethro, whose family had joined the Jews and would soon settle outside Jericho. The king also saw the hordes of Egyptians who left their native land to be with the Israelites in the desert. Now, Balak envisioned that his own nation might be drawn to the Chosen People as well as convert to Judaism.
As obnoxious as he was, Balaam was seen as Balak’s nuclear weapon. The one-eyed holy man would spend hours praising himself, his rhetoric mesmerizing his audiences. Balaam would boast of his riches, his horses and insist that he was the greatest prophet ever. He claimed to be on a first-name basis with G-d, able to predict His anger toward the Jews. Balaam needed to fear no man, even his nemesis Moses, because he could fly.
Who could hear his talk and not become afraid in his mind and say that there was no one like him? However, that wicked one used to acclaim himself in a vague manner and speak truthful words, except that he used to deceive the minds of the people because he used to speak about levels of defilement. And the ones who listened thought that he was speaking about the highest sanctity. [Zohar. Balak. No. 12]
Balaam knew that his sales pitch to Balak was hokum. From the start, G-d had told Balaam not to curse or even bless Israel, simply leave them alone. But there was too much money at stake and the gentile prophet loved gold and silver more than anything else. Balaam tried 10 times to curse Israel and instead heaped praises on his mortal enemy. Balak was furious and his ministers abandoned the king. With each failure came a calm and disingenuous explanation by Balaam: He was only a messenger and could do nothing without divine approval.
See the difference between the prophets of Israel and those of the idolaters. The prophets of Israel warn Israel not to sin…but the prophet of the nations causes a breach to annihilate the humans from the world. [Midrash Rabbah. Balak. Chapter 2]
Unable to use his divine powers, Balaam finally provides the most apt solution: Bring the Jews down to the level of the idolaters. Hire the prettiest harlots of Midian to seduce the Jews until they, too, serve the most disgusting of idols, Baal Peor. Baal Peor was worshipped by defecating to the idol. That, Balaam said confidently, would surely incur G-d’s anger and Jewish blood will flow.
Balaam was on the money. Some 24,000 Israelites died, almost all of them from the tribe of Simon. The rest of the nation was saved by Aaron’s grandson Phineas, who tracked down and killed Balaam. Phineas, with divine powers of his own, managed to ground the high-flying fugitive, on his way to collect his fee from Balak.
The Midrash says Balaam was the last of the Mohicans. The entire Torah portion was meant to explain why G-d removed the divine spirit from idolaters. Witness what Balaam did with his powers. Despite knowing better, he used them solely for evil. Throughout Jewish history, the idolaters would employ their might to wreak destruction on Israel. They demolished the First and Second Temples, outlawed Torah study and carried out genocide in the name of false gods and divine retribution. But never again could they — whether Rome, Stalin, Hitler or Khamenei, claim to speak for the Almighty.