Perfectly Pure
Summary by Channie Koplowitz Stein
The enemies of Israel go back to Biblical times. When they can't defeat Bnei Yisroel militarily, they try other strategies to undermine the physical or moral strength of Bnei Yisroel. Parshat Balak is a prime example of this strategy. Balak, King of Midian, realizing he will not be able to harm Israel by natural means, hires the Prophet Bilaam to curse Bnei Yisroel and defeat them supernaturally. When Bilaam accepts this commission, he informs King Balak that he can only say what Hashem Himself will put into his mouth. This warning was the true prediction of what would ensue.
Bilaam and Balak build seven altars, first at one location and then another, and finally at a third. Each time Bilaam tried to curse Bnei Yisroel, words of praise and blessing came out instead. In the second of these attempts, Bilaam proclaims, "Behold! To bless have I received - He [Hashem] has blessed and I will not contradict Him. Lo hibit aven b'Yaakov velo ra'ah amal b'Yisroel/He perceived no iniquity in Jacob and saw no perversity in Israel. Hashem Elokov imo uetruas melech bo/Hashem His God is with him and the friendship of the King is in him."
Bilaam himself, writes Onkelos, tried to find some sin and iniquity in Israel to form a basis for his curses, but he found none. More puzzling, however, is Rashi's interpretation that Hashem pays no attention to the sins and iniquities of Bnei Yisroel. It is the end of the verse, that Hashem maintains a close friendship with Bnei Yisroel, that explains why Hashem chooses to look away from the sins of Bnei Yisroel.
Yet we know that Hashem is actually quite exacting with Bnei Yisroel. Does this friendship act as a bribe that will blind Hashem to our shortcomings asks Rabbi Weinberg? Before we explore this question, it is important to note, as the Ner Uziel points out, that Bilaam was jealous of this relationship between Hashem and Bnei Yisroel and sought to destroy it. As Rabbi Zaidel Epstein points out in Sefer Harayut, Bnei Yisroel does indeed sin, but the sin remains external and does not become part of our inner essence. Intrinsically we remain pure and unsullied and connected to Hashem. A Jew in the innermost essence if his being wants to fulfill the will of Hashem.
Therefore, writes the Slonimer Rebbe, the Netivot Shalom, a Jew cannot sin of his own accord. Only when the yetzer horo imbues hm with a spirit of foolishness and insanity does he sin. Hashem is always with us, so when we sin it is because the yetzer horo has put stumbling blocks in our path, ki koshalta ba'avonecha. A Jew in his right mind would never give up this relationship for "a bowl of lentils" and instant gratification. When we sin, it is because we are ignorant and don't understand the consequences. The Netivot Shalom then offers an analogy of a simple country bumpkin who enters the palace of a king. There is a magnificent chandelier lighting up the entire room. It is suspended from the ceiling by a strong rope or chain. Using his personal experience, he sees the value of this strong rope but cannot comprehend the value of the chandelier. He wants the rope, cuts it for himself, and the chandelier crashes to the ground, plunging the entire room into darkness. The king enters and sizes up the situation. But the king realizes that this poor man was ignorant of the consequences of this actions, so while the king punishes him for the seemingly inconsequential cutting and pilfering of the rope, he does not punish for the loss of the chandelier and the ensuing darkness.
Similarly, continues the Netivot Shalom, we do not understand the consequences of our actions or we would never consciously sin. It is this foolishness that Hashem considers, and He punishes us for the immediate action and not for the ensuing consequences.
The Torah describes Yaakov as smooth while Esau is described as hairy. Seeing this difference, one can understand why sin "slides off" the head of Yaakov while it gets embedded in the hair of Esau, writes the Shemen Hatov.
While there is certainly an accounting before a sin is committed and punishment is due, we must never get despondent after we sin, encourages us Tiv Hatorah. Our relationship with Hakodosh Boruch Hu is never so broken that it is severed completely. We always remain children of Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Even when we have sinned and personally developed a foul smelling odor, adds Rabbi Brazile, we still remain part of the total community of Bnei Yisroel and, like the foul smelling chelbonah which, when included as one of the required ingredients of the ketoret offering, adds to the full, sweet scent of the ketoret, so does each Jew, even the sinner, become part of the sweet smelling whole of the nation. The sinner can still reconnect, as the acronym for chelbonah alludes to: Chayav [adam] Leimor, "Bishvili Nivra Haolam/[One is] obligated to say, "For me was the world was created." I am still important; I am still part of the community of Bnei Yisroel; Hashem still loves me.
But Bilaam's blessing is not the first time a human being blesses Bnei Yisroel. Both Yaakov Avinu and Moshe Rabbenu bless Bnei Yisroel before their deaths. Both of these great leaders of our people include rebukes in their blessings. Why does only Bilaam proclaim that Hashem sees no sin nor iniquity in Bnei Yisroel? Rabbi Wolbe z”l explains this difference by noting the focus of each personality. Both Yaakov and Moshe, as leaders of the nation, were focused on the responsibility of the nation in their service to Hashem. In that arena, there is always room for improvement. Bilaam, on the other hand, was focused on the relationship of Hashem toward the nation. That relationship can never be severed, and the King is always among them. Both of these relationships, continues Rabbi Wolbe, are expressed in consecutive blessings in our morning prayers. First, we say, "Ozer Yisroel bigvurah/Hashem girds us with strength [to be in His service]." That is followed by the blessing, "Oter Yisroel betifarah/He crowns Bnei Yisroel with splendor," despite our faults. Even within the punishment, there is much love.
It is also interesting to note that Parshat Balak is always read in the month of Tammuz, writes Rabbi Schorr. On the seventeenth of Tammuz in the desert we sinned with the golden calf. But the declaration waschag laHashem mochor/tomorrow we will celebrate a holiday. In other words, this day, currently a fast day, will be transformed to a holiday by the teshuvah for that sin (and teshuvah for ongoing sins). According to our tradition, each month is associated with a different one of our tribes. Because Tammuz represents teshuvah, it is the month that represent Reuven who modeled teshuvah with his heartbroken cry, when, after his sin, he cried out, "Ana ani bo/What will now become of me/Where can I now go?" Our inner essence remains the same and free of sin, as did Reuven who retained his status as one of the tribes. Although we may appear dark on the outside, as King Solomon writes in Shir Hashirim, we always retain our inner beauty.
Rav Yerucham Levovitz z”l sheds further light on the verse Bilaam speaks. Rav Levovitz concedes that there is indeed judgment for sin, but Hashem does not search for the sins. There is a heavenly prosecutor who accuses Bnei Yisroel, and this prosecutor must be appeased. Rav Eliyahu Lopian z”l elaborates on this idea. Using the terminology from our liturgy, Rabbi Lopian explains that when we sin accidentally/chatanu, we can hope for forgiveness from our Father/Selach lanu Avinu, but when our sin is deliberate/pashanu, the King must satisfy the laws of the court as well/Mechal lanu Malkeinu.
The Lev Eliyahu, Rabbi Lopian,z”l continues and explains that we ourselves are often the source of the accusatory force every time we speak ill of another. Since I have already brought the oversight or misconduct out in the open, Hashem can no longer turn a blind eye and "make believe" He doesn't see. As proof, Rabbi Lopian z”l notes that the evil King Achav who filled the nation with worship of other gods was successful in battle because the Bnei Yisroel did not tattle on one another. Although many must have known where the Prophet Ovadiah was hiding 100 prophets who were under Achav's death decree, they did not denounce them to Achav and must indeed have fed them. In contrast, the saintly King Saul who ruled over the nation dedicated to serving Hashem failed in battle because the people disclosed the whereabouts of the fleeing David to him. Thus, does negative speech/ loshon horo entrap us as a fish caught in a bad trap, a hook in his mouth, who thinks it's free because the rest of his body is flapping around. The accusatory force can come from outside, from the Satan, or from ourselves. Therefore, we must always stop and think before we speak, lest we put ourselves in a trap of our own making.
The Sifsei Daas, quoting the Sefas Emes, differentiates between the individual Jew and the tzibur/community noting that there is individual Divine providence and national Divine providence. While individuals sometimes sin, the purity of the whole remains uncontaminated. Therefore, Hashem is more likely to punish the individual than the entire nation. Bilaam sees the entire nation as a whole, and on this level, Hashem sees no iniquity within them. The community serves as a protective shield for the individual. It is for this reason that it is important that we each remain connected to the community. As the Sifsei Chaimpoints out, when the Prophet Elisha wanted to reward the Shunamit for her kindness by putting in a good word to the king or some other individual favor, the wise woman refused, asking rather to keep living unobtrusively among her people. She understood that to the extent we are connected to the community, the community extends protection over us and the Divine goodness flows down to the world.
This is the Principle we must keep in mind when we ask and pray for Hashem to help us both as individuals for ourselves and for individuals we know. When we pray for a sick family member, for example, we add that he should be healed along with the other sick members of our nation, writes Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz z”l. Therefore, search out ways you can serve the community and become integral to it. Can you cook for the sick or offer rides? Can you offer Torah shiurim or skills classes to others? Find an area through which you can contribute.
Rebbetzin Smiles notes that becoming part of the community is instilled in a young couple immediately at their marriage. Whereas the couples of the world go off for an extended honeymoon in seclusion immediately after the marriage, the Jewish tradition is for the young couple to go into seclusion for perhaps a half hour at most, then rejoin the other celebrants and engage many of the community in a week's long celebration and interaction.
It is especially important to remember the differences between the individual and the community before Yom Kippur when the atonement for the sin of the golden calf was complete. While we can be assured that Hashem will forgive Bnei Yisroel as a whole, we must enter this time frame with trepidation for our individual judgments, writes Rabbi Yechezkel Levenstein z”l quoting the Saba of Kelm z”l. Try to participate in community religious activities, like reciting Tehillim or going to a shiur. And if you are unavailable for these events, perhaps you can say some Tehillim in your own home or pass along the message via email, for example.
There are three traits characteristic of Jews. We are rachamanim/compassionate, byshanim/bashful and gomlei chasadim/benevolent. When we tap into these elements of our DNA, we will act as Jews throughout our lives, and connect ourselves to be part of Kennesset Yisrael.
That doesn't mean that Jews have all perfect character traits and no negative ones. However, one can take the seemingly negative traits, suppress their negative impact, and elevate them in service to Hashem. For example, writes Rabbi Kofman z”l in Mishchat Shemen, we think of Avraham Avinu as completely compassionate. Yet his first acts cited in our tradition depicts him as an angry man smashing idols and possibly anything that disagrees with him. He had to work on suppressing that aspect of his character and nurturing the compassion. Similarly, pride is a negative trait. But we can redirect pride from its superficial, physical aspects to pride in one's Jewishness, in one's public appearance as a Jew. In contrast, Bilaam never worked on the negative aspects of his persona. He remained avaricious and a Jew hater forever.
Along these lines, Rabbi Kofman z”l continues by writing that if we work on our character when we are young, in the Yaakov stage of our lives, Hashem will not find negativity in us when we are older, in the Yisroel stage of our lives. It is our mission to keep ourselves strong so that the walls of our character surrounding our essence do not get breached, for then our entirety is in danger. On 17 Tammuz, approaching this week, only the walls of Jerusalem were breached. Yet we fast and mourn, for that breach put all Yerushalayim in danger and led to its destruction. When Hashem sees us working to keep ourselves spiritually and morally strong, He will be lenient in His judgment of us. If we are to grow, writes Rebbetzin Feldbrand, we must toil to refine our character with integrity, for man's entire purpose is to grow in his avodath Hashem.
When we accept others without judgment, when we can accept the request for tzedakah without scrutinizing the petitioner, when we can accept Hashem's will with love and faith, Hashem will reciprocate by accepting us also without great scrutiny, writes Mishnas Yosef. The sefer continues this theme by noting that Bilaam's verse continues with Ki Hashem Elokhov imo/ For Hashem his Elokhim is with him, uteruat Melech bo/And the friendship of the King is within him. Even when Hashem is revealed in His aspect of Judgment, we ask Hashem's help to accept the judgment, for we know that all He does for us is because of His love for us.
May we always remain part of our nation, and may Hashem always look upon us with the kind eye of our Father Who loves us.