Feature Tidbit

Know thine Enemy

Rabbi Yaakov Auerbach z"l refers to the Gemara in Baba
Batra that "Moshe wrote his book, the portion of Bil'am,
and the book of Iyov". Since Parshat Bil'am is part of
"Moshe's Book", R. Auerbach explains that the Gemara is
telling us that G-d gave Moshe a special prophecy concerning Bil'am and Balak, to give him an understanding about "what goes on behind enemy lines". In fact, we do gain tremendous insight into what makes Balak and Bil'am tick. Not only do we learn much from passages about the Patriarchs, Matriarchs, Yosef and his brothers, etc., but we must also learn a great deal about our enemies.

In addition to Parshat Balak (Bil'am), we are offered
glimpses into the thinking processes of Lavan, Eisav,
Par'o, and others who have had designs against us.

Jewish History has been and continues to be filled with
different styles of enemies who have risen against us to do us harm. Each one can be matched against one of the models from the Torah. We must never underestimate our enemies, and the passages in the Torah help us understand them better.

The whole point is that this week's sedra is unusual in
that it is, in essence, an intelligence report on the
alliance of Bil'am and Balak.

These biographical sketches are culled from Talmud,
Midrashim, and Commentaries, mostly from ISHEI HATANACH - 565 Biblical Personalities as seen by the Sages, the Davka database, and HaRav Yaakov Moshe Poupko.

BALAK b. TZIPOR

• When Sichon was killed, Balak ascended the throne.

• Balak was a descendant of Lot and grandfather of Ruth. He merited being an ancestor of Ruth because of the 42
sacrifices he offered to G-d at the command of Bil'am.

• Balak was an accomplished wizard, superior to Bil'am.

• Although vastly superior to Bil'am, Balak lacked the gift
of eloquent speech that was Bil'am's strong point.

BIL'AM b. B'OR

• The Midrash says that Bil'am was the pre eminent
philosopher of the world.

• Bil'am was the last of the prophets among the nations.
His knowledge of the occult surpassed that of Moshe
Rabeinu. Each was superior to the other in certain traits.

• Bil'am spoke with RUACH HAKODESH.

• Bil'am was jealous of Moshe; Bil'am thought that he would be the one to take the People of Israel out of Egypt and give them the Torah.

• Bil'am was lame in 1 leg and blind in 1 eye.

• Some identify Bil'am with Lavan. Targum Yonatan says that they were one and the same. Others see remarkable
similarities in their personalities and actions. G-d
appeared to each of them in a dream and warned them in
similar terms not to harm Yaakov (the person and the
nation). Both were "Torah giants" who misused Torah,
attempting to wield it as a weapon. Consequently, both were doomed to failure. Both contributed to Judaism. Bil'am "gave us" MA TOVU OHALECHA, what it stands for. Lavan gave us the practices of not marrying off a younger daughter before an older one, consulting a girl and receiving her agreement before marrying her off, the concept of not mixing S'machot, and the blessing with which we send all Jewish brides to the Chupa.

• Bil'am was one of the senior advisors to Par'o, together
with Iyov and Yitro. Some of the harshest decrees of Par'o
are attributed to Bil'am.

• G-d was never needed at Israel's side, so to speak, as
when Bil'am was against us.

• In a certain way, the brachot we received from Bil'am
were greater than those of Yaakov and Moshe, since those were accompanied by harsh reproach; Bil'am's were straight, pure blessings.

• G-d did not get angry with the People of Israel during
the time Bil'am was pitted against us. The combination of
G-d's anger and Bil'am's cursing would have been
devastating to us.

• Bil'am taught us to value the quality of modesty that we
demonstrated, and he recognized, concerning the orientation of our tents. He said that it made us worthy of the Divine Presence within our midst.

• Bil'am has no share in the World to Come.

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