Rabbi Frand on Parshas Balak
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion:
Tape #153, Matrilineal
vs. Patrilineal Descent In Determining Jewish Identity. Good Shabbos!
Was G-d Acting as Bilaam's Agent?
This week's Parsha contains the well known story of Balak the King of Moab
worrying about the imminent approach of the Jewish people. Moab correctly
surmised that, given the fate of the other kings and nations that had
challenged Bnei Yisrael with conventional military tactics, he would not
stand a chance confronting them in traditional battle.
Therefore, Balak devised a "secret weapon" -- the chemical weapon of his
day. "And he sent messengers to Bilaam son of Beor..." [Bamidbar 22:5] who
had the lethal ability to curse someone and have that curse take effect on
its intended victim. Balak requested that Bilaam go out and curse the
"nation that has gone out from Egypt and covered the face of the land."
Bilaam asked the messengers to stay overnight so that he could answer
Balak's request the next morning, based upon what G-d would tell him. G-d
told Bilaam, "Do not go with them; do not curse the people, for they are
Blessed" [22:12]. Bilaam relayed that message to Balak's messengers.
When Balak heard that Bilaam would not come, he assumed that he "tried to
get away too cheap." Balak then sent a more prestigious delegation
promising Bilaam great reward and granting his every request.
Bilaam, not being anyone's fool, casually mentioned to the messengers, "If
Balak will give me his entire treasury filled with silver and gold (the old
'what is four hundred Shekel silver between you and me' [Bereshis 23:15]
trick) my hands are tied -- I can only do what G-d permits me." Again, they
proceeded through the whole process of waiting overnight.
This time, G-d told Bilaam, "If these people are coming for your advantage
(likra lecha), then go with them -- just only speak that which I tell you"
[22:20]. If we can use such terminology, it appears that G-d changed his mind!
When Bilaam first asked permission from the Ribono shel Olam, G-d said,
"No. You can't go!" All of a sudden, He appears to change His mind. What
changed?
Rash"i says, on the words "Im Likra Lecha" -- if these people are coming to
give you payment, go with them. In other words, if you stand to make
profit out of this venture, then I have no objection to your going.
That was the difference! The first time, when they asked Bilaam to come,
they didn't offer him anything -- neither money nor honor, they just said
"Come." In that situation, G-d told Bilaam, "Don't go." The second time,
Balak offered Bilaam wealth and honor. In that situation, G-d told him,
"If you stand to gain from this, then you can go."
What difference does that make? Is G-d worried about Bilaam's livelihood?
Is He acting as Bilaam's agent? Pro bono, you cannot go. If you charge by
the hour -- then you can?
Doing It For 'The Cause' vs. Doing It for the Money
I heard from Rav Schwab a fantastic insight -- a fantastic truth in what
this means. The difference, says Rav Schwab, is that one of the most potent
forces in the universe is the doing of something "Lishma," for it's own
sake. Doing something altruistically, for the sake of what one believes to
be right, is a force beyond belief. However, when people do things not for
the sake of a cause, but because they stand to make a dollar, that is a
much weaker force.
Rav Schwab said this in the context of explaining the rise and fall, during
this century, of the Communist system. Communism was a very successful
movement. Until very recently, there were more than a billion and a half
people who lived under Communist domination - and yet in recent times we
have seen Communism disintegrate.
What made Communism so successful? Rav Schwab argued that what made
Communism so successful was that there were "Lishma-niks." People like
Lenin and Trotsky and Marx and all the other Jews, "nebech," (the Politburo
in the 1930s was mostly Jewish until Stalin purged them) were people who
wanted to give the world a better order. They wanted to give the world a
new system to replace the bankruptcy of capitalism, in which some are
fantastically wealthy and some beg on the street. It was a very noble
movement. These were people who were -- for lack of a better word -- L'shem
Shamayim (for the sake of Heaven)! They did it for the sake of Communism.
They were Lishma!
Rav Schwab relates that he remembers in his city in Germany there was a
parade by the Communists in the 1920s and there was a Jewish kid who had
rebelled against his parents and marched in the front line of this parade.
He was despised amongst the Jews, the outcast of the entire community; but
this did not faze him, because he did it Lishma. He believed in what he was
doing, like so many of our Jewish brethren who believed in it.
When we have people who are willing to give up their lives and souls for
the sake of a cause, that is a very potent force. We look back now, 70
years later and try to discover what happened to the movement to cause it
to collapse. We can say that to a large extent it is due to the fact that
it lost this 'Lishma' element. When we see how all the leaders of the
various "Iron Curtain" countries had stashed away Swiss bank accounts and
we discover all the corruption and the graft we quickly recognize that the
Lishma had been abandoned. And once they lost that, the potency of the
force was gone.
This is what G-d said to Bilaam: When Balak comes and says "Curse the Jews"
without offering honor or money, then the reason why Bilaam is going is
because he hates Jews. "We have to curse Jews!" I want to eradicate Jews.
This is a philosophy. It is a cause. In that case, "Watch Out! Don't go."
G-d knows that a sincere cause is a lethal and potent force.
However, when Balak says, "I'll give you Honor. I'll give you Money..." then
G-d tells Bilaam: If this is for your own benefit, if you are doing it for
the money, then go. This is a different story. If you are in it for the
money, for the honor, and not Lishma -- this is nothing to worry about, it
is not the same force.
Speech Is A Miracle, Regardless of Who Does the Talking
Inasmuch as this week will be the Rosh Yeshiva's Yahrzeit, I will
offer a comment from the Sforno that Rav Ruderman, zt"l, always used
to mention.
The Sforno says something that sounds very strange on the verse, "And
G-d opened the mouth of the donkey" [22:28]. Regarding this amazing
miracle, when G-d gave the power of speech to the donkey, the Sforno
says, "G-d allowed the donkey to speak, just like 'Hashem, Open my
Lips and my mouth will speak your praises'" [Tehillim 51:17].
The Sforno says that the act of G-d opening up the mouth of the
donkey is just like G-d's gift of the power of speech to people. In
other words, human speech is a miracle. The ability to communicate,
to express, is an amazing miracle. Man is the only creature on
earth which has this amazing capability. It is truly a miraculous
capacity.
Before we begin Shmoneh Esrei, which represents our communication with
G-d, we must testify to Him that without this great Kindness on His
part, we would be no different than a bird.
Unfortunately, we take this for granted, not realizing that our very
existence, the gift of speech, the gift of intelligence, the gift of
life, are all just that, Gifts. There is no difference at all
between a donkey talking and a human talking... except that G-d
performs one miracle constantly and He rarely performs the other
miracle.
The Talmud says that the One who tells oil to ignite, will tell
vinegar to ignite [Taanis 25a]. G-d places into nature the power
that causes oil to burn. It is no more or less of a miracle for G-d
to cause the vinegar of one of the Talmudic Sages to burn. There is
no difference.
So too, the Sforno reminds us, our own ability to speak is no less
miraculous than the phenomenon mentioned in this week's Parsha in
which Bilaam's donkey speaks.
Personalities & Sources:
Rash"i -- Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105) of Worms, Troyes, France.
Rav Shimon Schwab -- (1908-1995) Frankfurt; Baltimore, Washington
Heights Kehilla in New York City.
Kotzker Rebbe -- Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859), Poland.
Rav Yaakov Ruderman -- (1900-1987) Founding Rosh Yeshiva of Ner
Israel Rabbinical College, Baltimore.
Sforno -- Rav Ovadiah Sfrono of Rome and Bolgna Italy (1470-1550)
Glossary
Lishma -- for no ulterior motives
Ribono shel Olam -- Master of the World
nebech -- (Yiddish) unfortunately
Yahrtzeit -- (Yiddish) anniversary of death
Tanna(im) -- Rabbi(s) in the time of the Mishnah
This week's write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion (#153). The corresponding halachic portion for this tape is:
Matrilineal
vs. Patrilineal Descent In Determining Jewish Identity.The other halachic
portions for Parshas Balak from the Commuter Chavrusah Series
are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
