Our enemies are doomed to failure

The story of Balak and Bilaam is fascinating because it is indicative of an obsession that hasn’t waned in the history of mankind since the time of Avraham our forefather.

It is what Hitler called the Jewish Question. It is what Haman referred to as “a single nation spread all around your kingdom” (Esther 3:8).

The thought process goes something like this: “There is a nation that is unlike us, whose very existence is troubling us, even if they leave us alone. The fact that they are there, that they exist, is enough to make us sick to our stomachs, until the problem is resolved because they are removed from where we are.”

Even today, the Jewish State – Israel – faces similar sentiments from some of its indigent (or is it indignant?) population, who will not be happy until Israel is Judenrein. Thank G-d, Israel encounters this challenge from a position of strength, and we continue to support that strength, as we hope and pray that Israel will be around as a Jewish State until the end of time.

The Torah tells us that Bilaam told Balak to build seven mizbeachot (altars) on three different hilltops.

The first time he did this was at the beginning of Chapter 23, at which point he brought a bull and a ram as an offering, perhaps one pair of animals for each mizbeach.

Bilaam expresses his confidence that G-d will “Happen upon him” and sure enough, G-d does. In Bilaam’s pride over what has been done, he explains to G-d, “I’ve arranged these seven mizbeachot and I brought the bull and the ram on the mizbeach.” That he leaves Balak out of his depiction of what took place just proves what we’ve known about Bilaam all along. He only thinks of himself and what makes him look good.

But does he really need to explain to G-d what he did — as if G-d, the all-seeing and all-knowing, didn’t see and doesn’t know?

Midrash and commentaries explain that from Bilaam’s view there was tremendous depth to his creation of seven mizbeachot. Compare my seven to the Children of Israel’s one. Seven is far more than one (Midrash Aggadah). Seven people had built a personal mizbeach — Adam, Kayin, Hevel, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov — and Bilaam was coming to outrank them through building seven to counter their seven (Tanchuma).