Balak- The School of Life- Avraham’s Beit Midrash
By Rav Yehoshua Weitzman
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot reads as follows: “Whoever has the following three traits is of the students of Avraham Avinu; and whoever has three different traits is among the disciples of Bilam the wicked. Those who have a good eye, a humble spirit, and a meek soul are among the students of Avraham Avinu. Those who have an evil eye, an arrogant spirit, and a greedy soul are among the students of Bilam the wicked. How are the students of Avraham different from the students of Bilam? The students of Avraham enjoy the fruits of their good deeds in this world, and inherit the World to Come…and the students of Bilam inherit Gehenom and descend into the well of destruction.”
An important point to pay attention to is that the above mishnah
does not speak about the differences between Avraham and Bilam, but rather between their students; differences between two Batei Midrash, Houses of Study, differences between those that carry their names. What drew students to the Beit Midrash of Bilam?
The gemara accounts that Mar the son of Ravina told his son that every place that he is able to, he must explain p'sukim regarding Bilam in a negative way. This is a phenomenon that is not seen amongst any of the other kings or rivals of Bnei Yisrael. Why must such a thing be done? Outwardly, one could be mistaken and think that Bilam was actually a very righteous person. Only after learning the p'sukim in a comprehensive and in depth manner would one realize that Bilam was actually such an evil person. Of course the question remains- why would such an assumption be made?
The Midrash Gadol helps to explain why exactly Balak went to seek Bilam's help, as opposed to waging war against Bnei Yisrael. After Balak saw how Bnei Yisrael defeated Og and Sichon, he realized that he did not stand a chance to militarily overcome the mighty power of Bnei Yisrael. Rather he went to seek out Bilam, the great prophet and sorcerer. Balak figured to himself that all of Bnei Yisrael's strength was in their prayers, in words; therefore he would be able to defeat them with the curses, words, of Bilam. The Midrash continues to explain that Bilam found himself worthy to take Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt and to give them the Torah, yet because he was not chosen to do so, he plotted against them. Therefore when Balak appealed to him for assistance in cursing Bnei Yisrael, Bilam was more then ready to help.
Why did Bilam find himself worthy of taking Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt? The answer lies within how Bilam viewed reality and the world around him. There are two wavelengths through which reality is lived. The first is the simple level of what is actually happening in the world around us. These are the sort of things that can be seen on the news or heard about on the radio. The second level of reality is much deeper. Rather than just seeing events that are occurring around us, this level consists of understanding the events as part of a Heavenly process; being able to see why Hashem makes things to happen. Outwardly, Bilam seemed to be a righteous and pious person, a prophet like no other. He had great spiritual abilities, powerful "energies", and because of these, he felt that he was worthy of taking Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt. Yet when looking at Bilam on a deeper wavelength, penetrating below the surface and beyond what meets the eye, one is able to see that at Bilam's core is an "evil eye, a arrogant spirit, and greedy soul." Because of this enormous gap between the Bilam that meets the eye and the Bilam that is at the core, we must explain the p'sukim regarding Bilam in a negative way; we must make his true essence known to the world. Otherwise, one might be mistaken and think that what meets the eye is everything, and join the Beit Midrash of Bilam.
The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot contrasts Avraham and Bilam. Why did the Mishnah choose Avraham for comparison's sake, wouldn't it have made more sense to choose someone like Moshe, who lived in the same generation? The reason that lies behind this is that Avraham did not receive the Torah; we don't learn laws from Avraham, rather we learn derech eretz. Anyone, even a non-Jew can be a student of Avraham. The lessons that he taught- hospitality, justice, kindness- are lessons that are applicable to all of mankind. Yet only those who are students of Avraham are able to receive the Torah, and receive all the blessings that are showered upon those who learn it. Only a person who perfects their character traits and their behavior are worthy of receiving the word of Hashem. The same is true of the opposite. Those who learn, or even teach, Torah, yet do not work to perfect themselves as human beings can easily find themselves in the Beit Midrash of Bilam.
Bilam did not understand that the foundation of Torah is proper character traits, midot. It was not enough to have spiritual powers of special energies in order to take Bnei Yisrael out of slavery, yet he did not understand this and therefore when he was not chosen to lead Bnei Yisrael, he became jealous. Bilam's main goal was that Torah should be given through him, and not that Hashem's word should have a place in this world. Therefore, when rejected because of a lack of moral makeup, he went to curse Bnei Yisrael.
We too must internalize the difference between the students of Avraham and the students of Bilam. As individuals we must uproot Bilam's approach from our hearts, and know that only by building our personalities, character traits, and improving our behavior as human beings can we become worthy of receiving Torah and being students of Avraham.