Subj: Netvort : parshas Balak 5761
Date: 07/06/2001 2:03:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Netvort
To: JoshHoff
BCC: UncleYitz



Not In My Lifetime

By Rabbi Joshua (temporally known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


In our parshah, Balak, king of Moav, hires the soothsayer / prophet Bilaam to curse the Israelite nation. Instead, through divine intervention, he delivers a series of blessings. In his first series of blessings, he says, in the midst of his praise, "Who has counted the dust of Yaakov or counted a quarter of Yisroel? May my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his" (Bamidbar 23 : 10). Rabbi Naphtoli Zevi Yehudah Berlin, the Netziv, both in his commentary Ha'amek Davar to this verse, and, in a somewhat different way, in the introduction to his commentary on Bereishis, offers a very illuminating explanation of Bilaam's prayer, which, I believe, carries an important message for us, as well.

The Netziv writes that the righteous - the yesharim - who Bilaam refers to, are the forefathers of the Jewish nation, Avrohom Yitzchok and Yaakov. As he elaborates in the introduction to his commentary to Bereishis, our forefathers were given that name because they acted in exemplary fashion even towards people who totally were opposed to their basic beliefs. For example, when Yaakov came to the field of Lavan, he immediately asked the shepherds how they were doing, even though they were idolators. He cared for them as human beings, and wished them well. This was the way of all our forefathers. The midrash, as cited by Rashi, says that the 'dust of Yaakov' that Bilaam mentions refers to the mitzvos that the Jews do through the use of dust, such as the prohibition of mixing diverse species of seeds. The Netziv extends this to refer to mitzvos of chesed, of kindness, which even relatively non -observant Jews often perform in abundance. Bilaam felt that he could never reach their level in this area. He felt that he had no connection to the mitzvos of the Torah, which were part of the unique covenant between God and His people, and were beyond his level of attainment. However, he did feel that he should strive to be as ethical as their forefathers, treating others with basic human consideration, instead of seeking, as he now was, to destroy an entire nation, cursing their men, women and children. God had converted Bilaam's attempted curse into a blessing, and Bilaam now prayed that his own actions should leave a legacy of blessing, just as did the acts of Avrohom Yitzchok and Yaakov.

I believe that the Netziv's explanation of Bilaam's prayer takes on added significance in light of the teachings of the Netziv's great student, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Ha-Kohen Kook. Rav Kook taught that there are two levels of ethics - mussar enoshi, or basic human decency, that every person, Jew or non - Jew, knows and feels instinctively to be correct and necessary, and mussar Eloki, or religion, which develops man's relationship top God. Mussar Eloki, Rav Kook insists, must enhance mussar enoshi, adding a level to the ethical system already built into the human psyche. Any contradiction between mussar Eloki and mussar enoshi, he says, is an indication that the mussar Eloki is not authentic. Thus, following up on the Netziv's explanation of Bilaam's praise of Israel and subsequent prayer for himself, it seems that he saw exactly this phenomenon among the Jews. The mitzvos that they performed, helping the poor, visiting the sick, and in general the entire range of mitzvos that involve chesed, or kindness, expanded the basic human feeling of compassion for others. Bilaam could not imagine that he would ever reach the level of the Jewish people in terms of performing acts of chesed to the degree mandated by the Torah. However he could envision himself striving to emulate Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov in their caring attitude for all human beings, no matter what their belief system. This was what Bilaam prayed for after delivering his praise of the Jewish people.

Bilaam, then, was inspired by the Jewish people because he saw that the mitzvos they performed, their mussar Eloki, built upon the basic human value system that he knew inherently to be right. I believe that this carries a very important message for us. God has bidden us to be a light to the nations, to be an example to humanity of a life lived with the consciousness of God always present. If we wish to have any hope of influencing the world to live in a Godly way, we must first make sure that our actions conform to the basic principles of human compassion, that we care about people as people, no matter what they happen to believe in. This message is especially important during the three-week period of mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that we are about to enter. The destruction of the second Temple, the rabbis tell us, was due to causeless hatred. The Netziv, as we have noted in the past, writes that it was precisely the lack of yashrus, righteousness, following in the ways of our forefathers, that was the problem. Because of the existence of heretical sects at that time, religious people saw ghosts everywhere, and suspected their fellow Jews who thought or acted a bit differently from them of being members of those sects. Instead of treating their fellow Jews with compassion, as our forefathers acted even towards idolaters, they treated them with contempt. Mussar Eloki thus contradicted mussar enoshi, and led to the destruction that we still mourn over. If we would like to see the moral values of society improve, and our own mourning end as well, we need to mend our own fences, and put an end to this contradiction.



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) at the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.