Balak

(with Balaam’s arrival) the reader might now expect a replay of the duel between Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh’s magicians –with victory going to the one whose power comes from God…what happens, however is quite different, for Balaam turns out to be a rather ambiguous character. On the one hand, he is a prophet for hire, a professional who demands and gets a fortune for his services. But, the simple truth is, that he knows in his heart that the Israelites are already blessed by God.

Joseph Rosenstein (Contemporary)

What was Balaam’s error? Mishna Avot counsels us against making inappropriate use of the “crown.” One who pursues a spiritual discipline, one who desires such immediacy with the Divine, must make certain of his or her motivation. Such knowledge is not intended for worldly gain. It is such worldly gain that Balaam hoped to achieve when he prophesied over the tents of Israel.

Moshe Katan (Contemporary)

Balaam’s words are powerfully evocative, and what makes it even more significant is that he starts out being hired by the enemy. After all, when people who hate you start; raising you, we give such views greater credence, dispelling lingering self-doubts. In a sense, Balaam’s words proved the first dispassionate, non partisan, totally objective view of the Jewish people as a nation.

Shlomo Risking (contemporary)

From the Bible, all we know is that Balaam, swept away in rapt admiration of the Israelite encampment, could not utter the curse. The Talmud adds: it was upon perceiving their tents so pitched that no one might see what was going on in the homes of the others that compelled him to burst into praise of Israel. Since the theme of modesty has little to do with what follow commentators have been drawn to the talmudic view which understands the tents as schools and synagogues.

Reuven Kimmelman (Contemporary)

Ironically, Balaam doesn’t need to curse the Israelites. Let them, he suggests, bring a curse upon themselves. He praises the physical structures the Jewish people have erected while, at the same time, plotting their destruction by undermining the spiritual values that underlie their peoplehood. Today tents of study and tabernacles of prayer have evolved into synagogues, which are designed to be place of both study and prayer. Some, despite their magnificent appearances, are neither.

Marsha Cohen (contemporary)

The importance of the blessing is even clearer when one considers how Bilaam actually announces in the latter part of his prophecy, “There is no sorcery in Jacob, nor any divination in Israel…” Thus says the man whose eye is opened.

Joseph Ozarowski (Contemporary)