Balak: Manipulating G-d
A Strategy of The Spirit
The Moabite king Balak was afraid of the Jews. Its newly formed military recorded incredible successes against overwhelming odds and Balak feared for his country.
Recognizing that Israel’s strength was it’s spiritual potency rather then military might Balak turned to the only spiritual source available to him, the Gentile prophet Bilaam. Balak requested that Bilaam denounce the Jewish nation and sap their spiritual strength.
Bilaam accepted the challenge and proclaimed that G-d had erred in supporting the Jews. Thinking that he could manipulate G-d into distrust of the Jews, he argued that Jews were not worthy of Divine love and attention. But to his chagrin, G-d refused to be manipulated.
The Last Laugh Belongs to G-d
In the end it was Bilaam who was manipulated by G-d. Every time he opened his mouth to criticize the Jews, words of praise involuntarily slipped out. In fact, Bilaam’s words, immortalized in the Torah, have become a prominent source of praise for Jewish spirit and Identity.
We often ignore the Torah’s instructions and make our own choices in life. Expecting G-d to approve our decisions, we invoke concepts such as “freedom of Choice” and “G-d loves all people”. Without realizing we attempt to manipulate G-d into accepting our rejection of His commandments.
Today’s Parsha teaches us that G-d is not subject to human manipulation; He does not depend on us for approval and is not affected by our rational. He determines for us but is not determined by us. It remains to us as Jews to fully accept His word and subject ourselves to His desire and will.
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