From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 2:43 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Balak,5768
Something Good
By Rabbi Joshua ( underlyingly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
The Talmud ( Sotah 47a) tells us that as a reward the merit of the
forty-two sacrifices that Balak brought to God in his attempt to have Bilaam
curse the Jewish people, he merited that Rus, and,later King Shelomo
emerged from him.What is the meaning behind this Talmudic passage? How could
tzadikkim of this caliber emerge from acts which were intended to destroy the
Jewish people? It is true that the Talmud introduces this statement by saying
that a person should involve himself with Torah and mitzvos even 'shelo
lishmah,' meaning,from ulterior motives, because as a result of
doing so from ulterior motives he will come to do so for their own sake.
However, Tosafos in many places qualifies that statement,and said
that only when the ulterior motive is one of personal gain is such action
recommended, but not when it involves harming others. How,then,does the Talmud
apply this principle to the case of Balak,and how is it possible that such an
intensely hateful act could produce such important figures in the history of
the Jewish people?
Actually,we find a
somewhat similar statement in another Talmudic passage,which tells us that the
descendants of Haman taught Torah in Bnei Brak (Gittin, 57b). While some have
noted that it is not fruitful to delve into what happens in a city like Bnei
Brak, Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky explained that since Haman's attempt to wipe out
the Jewish people resulted in their repentance, and, in turn,the sanctification
of God's name, Haman received a reward for it in the form of descendants who
became Jewish and taught Torah. The Kedushas Levi,however,explains that since
something good came from Haman's machinations,there must have been a spark of
good in his initial action,as well. Perhaps,then,this is also the meaning of
the Talmudic passage about Balak's sacrifices.The fact that Rus and King
Shelomo ultimately emerged from Balak is an indication that there was something
good hidden in his initial actions. It remains for us to try to locate what
that spark of good actually was,and to understand how it relates to the
emergence of these kings oft he Jewish people.
I would like to suggest that the positive aspect of Balak's actions against the
Jewish people was that they reflected a concern that he had for his own people.
He viewed them as a thereat to his people,and felt that he needed to arm them
against this potential harm. Rav Yerucham Livovitz, in his Da'as Torah to
parshas Balak,elaborates on this aspect of Balak's behavior. Although he was
mistaken in this fear,since the Jewish people were forbidden from waging war
with Moav,still,based on his perception, he did what he thought was necessary
for the benefit of his nation. In this way,he was exhibiting the quintessential
quality of a king,which is to care for the needs of his people. Since this was
the hidden good that was at the root of his actions, Rus emerged from him,and
she ultimately became the 'mother of kingship,' among the Jewish people,when
King David and then King Shelomo emerged from her descendants. The Rambam ,in
his Laws of Kings, writes that the king is the heart of the Jewish
people,meaning that he is sensitive to their needs and acts with the good of
the collective in mind. This was,as we have seen,the motivating factor behind
Balak's actions,as well,although he misunderstood what the needs of his nation
really were at that time. Had he truly understood the nature of the Jewish
people,he would have realized that contact with them would actually be
to his nation's benefit. Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook,during his fund-raising
trip to America in 1924,repeatedly told public officials that they should take
care to treat the Jews in their lands properly,because,historically,any
nation that was good to the Jews prospered. These remarks reflected
an elaborate theory of the dynamic relationship between the Jewish people and
the other nations of the world which Rav Kook formulated in many of his
writings ( see ,for example,his work Orot, pps.15-17). Balak failed to
understand this relationship,and,as a result, tried to destroy the Jews as a
means of protecting his own nation.
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