Parashat Balaq
Numbers 22:2-25:9
Balaq, King of Moav, commissions a prophet from far off Mesopotamia, Bil`am, to place curses upon the people of Israel. In his fear of this new people, Balaq believes that it is only with Bil`am’s special powers that he will be able to vanquish Israel. Bil`am’s reputation has spread far and wide. What is Bil`am known for? As Balaq says to the prophet, “For I know that that which you bless is blessed and whatever you curse shall be cursed.” (Num. 22:6)
As the story unfolds, we witness God placing words of blessing in Bil`am’s unwilling mouth. Although he dearly wishes to curse Israel, he cannot. God treats Bil`am as a puppet and makes him say blessings instead of curses. This happens, as Balaq exclaims in dismay, three times! So this is a story of transformations. Bil`am’s intended words of anathema are transformed, again and again, so as to express blessings in various ways. It is poignant, therefore, to notice one additional aspect of transformation as Bil`am concludes his third set of blessings for Israel. He says: “Those who bless you are blessed and those who curse you are cursed.” (Num. 24:9)
These words recall God’s first communication with Abraham, when God says that anyone who blesses Abraham’s people shall be blessed by God and any who curse Abraham’s people shall be cursed by God. (See Sparks for 2010 and for 2015). But they also surely recall words uttered in a context much closer at hand – for they echo Balaq’s own words to Bil`am, himself.
Thus, the transformation we witness is one that transfers a special power, conceived, perhaps, as magical or divine, out of Bil`am’s possession and onto God and Israel. A reverse symmetry is established. According to Balaq, anyone who is blessed by Bil`am is blessed, and anyone who is cursed by Bil`am is cursed. But according to Bil`am, himself, the power is not his at all. Rather, anyone who blesses Israel is blessed, and anyone who curses Israel is cursed. God is not explicitly mentioned. Instead, Israel is seen as having a kind of reflective, mirror-like power, able to bounce back upon anyone whatever they try to hurl at Israel. If they try to bless Israel, those blessings will rebound back upon them. If they try to curse Israel, the curses will boomerang right back upon them.
It is not Bil`am who is endowed with some special power, but it is Israel. Thus, perhaps Bil`am took comfort in hoping that since it was he who hurled blessings upon Israel, those blessings would be reflected back upon him. In the end, he could hope, it is not Bil`am who is blessing Israel, but it is he who is blessed by them
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein
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Image: “09.WhatSay.Self.SW.WDC.28nov05” by Elvert Barnes is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Thank you to Sarita Eisenberg for suggesting the title and selecting an image for this Torah Sparks – Rabbi Greenstein
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