Balak2: for hire

Balak: for hire

The major action in this weeks parsha  revolves around hiring Bilam to denounce the Israelites. 

The tradition is shivim panim laTorah,  the Torah has seventy faces.  presumably there are 70 valid interpretations.  In yeshiva elemenrary school, I was taught that  the curse  Bilam is hired to proclaim is some sort of invocation of the Divine, a entreaty to intervene on the side of Balak and his kingdom of Moab.  It all takes place in a supernal space.  It is beyond understanding.  This explanation assumes a world that is guided by invisible forces that follow rules, but not necessarily what we call logic. It is a religious explanation. I respect it; I call it correct. 

There are also more comprehensible ways to interpret this story. 
In our world we have  industries that praises and execrates for hire: public relations, marketing, journalism, politics, legal litigation...
I can also understand this story in this modern context. 

When Heaven asks Bilam in a dream, "who are these people", as if it were  not known, Bilam answers: “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me this message:

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הִנֵּ֤ה הָעָם֙ הַיֹּצֵ֣א מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם וַיְכַ֖ס אֶת־עֵ֣ין הָאָ֑רֶץ עַתָּ֗ה לְכָ֤ה קָֽבָה־לִּי֙ אֹת֔וֹ אוּלַ֥י אוּכַ֛ל לְהִלָּ֥חֶם בּ֖וֹ וְגֵרַשְׁתִּֽיו׃

Here is a people that came out from Egypt and hides the earth from view. Come now and curse them for me; perhaps I can engage them in battle and drive them off.”

These are invaders from Egypt, hordes that blot out the earth.  Bilam's job is to recast this people as both evil and  vincible.  His words must motivate the armies of Moab to fight ( rather than flee) and entice allies to join in the righteous protection of a land that has already been settled.  The Israelites themselves should be shamed  and discouraged from the unjust war of chauvinistic conquest so that they are dispirited and fight poorly.  This is the temporal power of words.  


The  persistence of both the recruiter and the candidate are impressive.  Balak  sends two, successive, delegations to recruit Bilam.  When the first offer is rejected, the offer is repeated by higher ranking officers.  Bilam, who recognizes the reality  that  his powers devolve from revelation, evokes a second epiphany, after the first  tells him not to go.  Bilam,who will not be delayed by the malfunctions of his most trusted mode of transportation, defies the dissuasion  of the angel brandishing the sword to arrive for his mission of evil. A mission that he is unable to carry out.

There is a lesson in this persistence. Success can require trying again and again.  The enemy wants to succeed as well.  Do no count on them stopping their efforts. 

What is all this for?  Bilam  tells us that gold and silver  are important to him when he says that a palace-full could not alter his Divinely inspired statements  Balak tells us the value of  honor when he says that he would have  rewarded Bilam  with enough honor to satisfy him.  The presentation of these two rewards: money and honor, assume their motivating nature. These are the theoretical drivers  of theoretical people, econs.  In the Torah , these mundane considerations are attributed to foreigners.  Money and honor are what drives our enemies.These are not the motives of the heroic figures. Moshe and Aaron are faithful servants with no mention of compensation.

The vast majority of people work for monetary compensation.  Some are privileged enough to work for honors.Whenever a person works for money ( or fame) there is a question about the consequences of the work itself.  The product is, temporarily,  under the control of the employer, for good or ill.  To what degree should a person care about the repercussions? Even when the work is done for the purest of motives, the aftereffects may be an unpleasant surprise.

Progress is a blessing.  Progress is a curse.  People need to work.