Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of Balak.
“And Balak and Balaam offered a cow and a ram on the altar.”
This weekly Torah section deals with two wicked people – Balak and Balaam. Our sages say that Balaam was evil and wicked, but Balak was even worse and his hatred for the Israelites led him to think and plan to harm them in every possible way.
Our rabbis explain that the root of Balak’s hatred for the Israelites came from the fact that he knew through impure forces that Ruth the Moabite would be descended from him. His revulsion at having a descendant joining the Israelites brought him to think of every possible way he could annihilate all the Israelites and destroy them.
Balak went and hired Balaam and was ready to pay him any amount and give him everything he wanted on condition that he cursed and destroyed the Israelites. Anything so that a few generations later, Ruth the Moabite wouldn’t join them! Because of his hatred for the Israelites and to prevent King David from being one of his descendants, he was ready to risk everything!
Balak knew that the Israelites would not go to war against his people. The Israelites were only traveling adjacent to their land and if he did not provoke the Israelites, they would not attack him. But because of his abhorrence that he might have a descendant who would convert and join them, he tried to curse and destroy the Israelites and ended up destroying large numbers of his nation.
You see here how great is the wicked’s hatred for the righteous. “For the tribe of the wicked can not bear being near the destiny of the righteous” (Psalms 125:3). A wicked person cannot stand to be near a righteous man and see his Torah study, his holiness, the commandments he keeps and the good things he does. Balak had no reason to be afraid of the Israelites, because God had told them not to go to war against Moab, but Balak was revulsed to think he would have a granddaughter who might join them! He was willing to endanger his whole people and his whole world. The main thing is to annihilate the Israelites so Ruth the Moabite will not join them in a few generations.
Balak and Balaam offered forty-two sacrifices to appease God so He would let them curse the Israelites and harm them. Despite God preventing Balaam from cursing the Israelites, he looked for a loophole so he could do the opposite of what God wanted. He went from one site to another, offered sacrifices and more sacrifices, and tried to find some way to cast an Evil Eye on the Israelites, but in the end failed.
Our rabbis say that even if a person does something not solely to fulfill God’s Will, great things may come out of it. Of course, a person should engage in Torah study and fulfill commandments because God commanded it. One should always aim to have this highest and greatest motivation. Every commandment that a person does should be done only for the sake of fulfilling God’s Will. But even if a person does something without being solely motivated to fulfill God’s Will, after time and over generations, something important and good will come out of it.
There are two motivations in doing commandments – doing them only to fulfill God’s Will and doing them for additional ulterior reasons. A person should know that even if he did something out of ulterior reasons, he may not receive a reward for it today, but after generations it will be rewarded. His sons and grandsons will receive the benefit, reward, and greatness as if the commandment had been done solely for God. The time gap between generations brings this astonishing benefit.
This is what happened with Balaam and Balak. Our holy sages say that specifically because Balak offered forty-two sacrifices, he merited that Ruth the Moabite should be his descendant. These forty-two sacrifices were against God’s Will and for the purpose of cursing the Israelites, but notwithstanding the evil goal in mind, since they were still offered to the Almighty, he merited a descendant like Ruth the Moabite who was the progenitor of King David’s royal line. Our holy sages say that the command “and you shall speak about them” (Deuteronomy 6:7) – “about them” [בם] numerologically equals 42, referring to the forty-two sacrifices Balak offered for his nefarious reasons, but which gave him the merit for Ruth the Moabite to descend from him.
A person should always study Torah and perform commandments and good deeds solely to fulfill God’s Will, because having a pure motivation is a very great merit. But if one fulfilled commandments not solely for God’s sake, he will not be rewarded for them in This World, but a few generations later his descendants will receive a reward as if the commandments had been done with a perfect motivation. Over time, a commandment performed not solely for God, will give a person the same reward as if it was done solely for God.
With all his wickedness and evil intentions to go against God’s Will, Balak still offered sacrifices to God and was rewarded with Ruth the Moabite being his descendant. Although a person should seek God’s closeness and do all his deeds solely for God, but even if he didn’t, in the end his deed will not be lost. His descendants will receive his reward and greatness. “You who cleave to the Lord your God are all alive today” (Deuteronomy 4:4). When a person seeks to be close to God, he achieves sublime and great things.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel