NUMBERS XXII:2-XXV:9
STRENGTH LIES IN UNITY
Balak, king of Moav, gives his name to these chapters; however, the dominant character of the account is Bil’am, the Gentile prophet of spiritual stature comparable to that of Moshe Rabbenu (Moses). The presence of this prophet prevents other peoples from justifying their mistakes and claiming that, if they had had a spiritual leader comparable to that of the Hebrew people, they would have reached higher levels.
Our text tells us that Bil’am was invited by Balak to curse the Hebrew people, after he had concluded that the traditional way of facing an adversary could not be applied in the Hebrew case. In this sense, other peoples had failed to battle with weapons. Balak concluded that the energy of the Hebrews had a spiritual quality, therefore, it was in this field that the confrontation should be conducted. Balak was disillusioned with Bil’am, who, instead of cursing, blessed the Hebrew people. Observing the people from the top of a mountain, Bil’am could not help his admiration for the Hebrew camp and was forced to exclaim: “Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov, Mishkenotecha Israel“, “How good are your tents, Yaakov, your habitations, Israel“, a phrase used to begin daily morning prayers.
Bil’am’s intention was to curse the people, to use his powers to hurt the Hebrews. Why did he bless them? Perhaps because as a man inspired by God, he could not change what he saw and had to applaud the peaceful and harmonious life that reigned in the Hebrew camp.
According to the Midrash, Ohalecha and Mishkenotecha refer to synagogues and houses of study. Bil’am had to recognize that he was in the presence of a human group that had broken the schemes of idolatry and was climbing levels of spirituality hitherto unknown. Parents passed on to their children the values that Moshe had instilled.
The Rebbe of Slonim, author of Netivot Shalom, suggests that the nefarious power of Bil’am could only influence an individual, but was ineffective against the collective. When Bil’am visualized the Hebrew community in its entirety and observed the spirit of harmony and understanding among the people, his cursing powers were nullified. The obvious moral is that in the face of unity and coincidence in values, there is no enemy or adversity that is invincible.
For this reason, Bil’am advised the Moavites to send their maidens to sexually seduce the people, to lead them through adultery to idolatry. The idea was to divide the Hebrew people into those who succumbed to temptation and those who resisted it. The biblical text states that 24,000 Hebrews could not resist the advances of the Moavite women. With this behavior they separated themselves from the people and weakened them.
Jewish history bears witness to this. The solidarity and unity that reigned within the people allowed them to survive all the attacks against them. If we consider the diversity, the result of the dispersion of the Jewish people to the ends of the earth, we can conclude that the coincidence and harmony that reigns within the people have a philosophical or spiritual root. The biblical text is probably the cement that turns a scattered group into a unit.
This is how Bialik expressed it in his famous poem Im yesh et nafshecha lada’at. According to Bialik, the house of study is the “source” of the Jewish people’s exceptional energy. The mystic Arizal maintains that the souls of those who were caught by the seduction of the Moavite women transmigrated to the 24,000 students who perished in the time of Rabbi Akiva and in whose memory the period of mourning of the Omer is observed. According to tradition, his death was due to the lack of respect for others. Disunity was their sin. And when the union fractures, the Jewish people become vulnerable.
