A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat

Shabbat Balak 5757

14 Tammuz, 5757

Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale

Could it be that Bilaam, the gentile prophet, saddled his own animal when he set forth to curse the Jews? (Numbers 22:21) Isn't this beneath his dignity?

Ibn Ezra, the arch literalist, here offers a non-literal interpretation. "Va-yahavosh et ahtano" does not mean that Bilaam saddled his ass, rather he instructed his servants to do so.

It was left to Rashi to insist that Bilaam did it on his own. Quoting the Midrash, Rashi writes: "From here we learn that hatred defies the rule (sinah mekalkelet ha-shurah), for he (Bilaam) saddled it by himself." In other words, the emotion of hate is so powerful it can cause one to do things that would otherwise be out of the purview of one's normal behavior.

Events during the Holocaust proved this point. When Germany was attacked by the allies from the West and the Russians from the East, it would have made sense that the Third Reich use every means at its disposal, every military weapon, every soldier, to resist. But it was not so. Hitler's hatred of the Jews was so great, that he insisted the extermination of Jews continue, thereby using precious manpower and resources that could have helped defend "the motherland."

But, the Midrash notes, that just as hatred defies the rule, so, too, does love defy the rule (ahavah mekalkelet ha-shurah).

As a matter of fact, the Midrash states, the hatred of the wicked is counterbalanced by the love of the righteous.

Hence, when complying with God's command to sacrifice his son Yitzhak (Isaac), the Torah states, that Avraham (Abraham) "saddled his ass, ve-yahavosh et hamoro." (Genesis 22:3)

In the words of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai: "Let the saddling done by Avraham counteract the saddling done by Bilaam." (Genesis Rabbah 55:8)

Shimon Bar Yohai who lived during the reign of the Roman Empire knew of its hatred toward Jews. But he understood through his own life of commitment to God that his love and the love of others would counteract their hatred.

Thank God for the good people. Their passion to do the right thing neutralizes and ultimately overpowers even the passion of the wicked.

SHABBAT SHALOM

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