Parashat Balak- Knowing and Doing
Parashat Balak tells the famous story of two legendary anti-Semites: Balak, king of Moab, and the Midyanite seer Bilam. The first verse of the Parasha informs us that Balak heard of Beneh Yisrael's resounding triumph against the two mighty Emorite kings, Sihon and Og, and he feared that his nation, Moab, might come under attack. He therefore summoned Bilam and had him place a curse upon Beneh Yisrael.
The commentators ask why only Balak responded this way to the defeat of the Emorite kingdoms. Undoubtedly, news of Beneh Yisrael's extraordinary victory spread to all nations throughout the area. Weren't they all afraid? Didn't they all recognize the threat that Beneh Yisrael posed?
The answer, perhaps, is that the other nations approached the Emorites' defeat as a purely military failure. From their perspective, Beneh Yisrael's superior ammunition and strategy allowed them to penetrate the Emorites' fortresses and overwhelm their forces. The other nations therefore concluded, quite simply, that they need merely to reinforce their fortifications and armies. They were not alarmed by Beneh Yisrael's victory because they assumed that they needed only to bolster their military capabilities in order to defend against a possible Israelite attack.
Balak was unique in that he understood the true source of Beneh Yisrael's power. As Rashi (22:4) writes, Balak determined that "its [Israel's] strength is only through its mouth," meaning, through its prayer. He realized that Beneh Yisrael succeeded against the Emorites through God's intervention, and not as a result of military prowess. Therefore, he responded not by fortifying his nation's cities or manufacturing new ammunition, but rather by attempting to place a curse upon Beneh Yisrael to neutralize their spiritual strength.
It is both interesting and instructive to note that Balak was so right – yet so wrong. He was intelligent enough to see what nobody else could see, namely, that Beneh Yisrael's strength came from God's assistance. Yet, he failed to reach the self-evident conclusion, that he should surrender to Beneh Yisrael and join their ranks. Once he recognized the special protection and assistance that God afforded Beneh Yisrael, the only sensible response would be to embrace their religion, renounce paganism, and join them. Instead, he came up with the foolish idea to attempt to defeat Beneh Yisrael through Bilam's sorcery.
This demonstrates how knowing and understanding the truth does not always suffice in directing a person along the proper path in life. One can know full well in his mind that he must eat only kosher food, but he might still eat in non-kosher restaurants, simply because he wants to. A person can be taught about Shabbat and the severity of its desecration, but still be unprepared to observe it properly. When somebody has a certain ingrained tendency and inclination, he is not always able to implement the logical conclusions of the mind.
The Yeser Ha'ra (evil inclination) is not "scared off" by knowledge. It realizes that knowledge alone does not guarantee compliance. To the contrary, knowledge often works to the Yeser Ha'ra's benefit, in that a transgression committed with knowledge is even more grievous than one committed out of ignorance. The Yeser Ha'ra's skill is in blocking the path from the brain to the heart, preventing one's knowledge from affecting his conduct.
The story of Balak should therefore remind us to act upon our beliefs and convictions, to allow them to dictate our behavior. Let us not fall into the trap of keeping our minds separate from our hearts; let us instead ensure to follow through on our logical conclusions, and act based on what we know, and not based on how we instinctively feel.
