This week’s Torah portion, Balak, (Num. 22:2 – 25:9) tells
how King Balak of Moab, fearing that the Israelites have grown too numerous and
are a threat to his people, deals with them.
He hires Balaam, a prophet of Midian, to curse the people Israel. Balaam at first declines the job, having
heard directly from God that this is a blessed people. But when Balak sends delegations of important
Moabites and promises of great rewards, Balaam weakens. God speaks to him once again, saying that he
may go if he chooses, but the only words he will be able to speak are those
which God puts in his mouth.
When Balak and Balaam arrive at the chosen spot, overlooking
the Israelite camp, Balaam opens his mouth to curse Israel, but only words of
blessing come from his mouth. Balak
thinks perhaps there is something wrong with where they are standing and moves
them twice, but still, all Balaam can do is bless Israel.
A note in the Etz Hayim Torah Commentary, attributed to Beit
Ramah, wonders why, if “he whom you [Balaam] bless is blessed indeed, and he
whom you curse is cursed” (Num. 22:7) Balak did not hire Balaam to bless his
own people instead of cursing Israel. Because,
the commentary reasons, he was so consumed by hatred that he forgot about his
people’s needs and could think only about hurting his enemy. Hatred does indeed make us stupid, and works
against our own best interests. Let us
not depend on God to changes curses to blessings, but do it ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment