In this week’s parsha, Parshas Balak, the Torah tells us of Balak, the king of Moav, who feared the approaching nation of Israel.  Afraid for his nation and his land, he hired the famous seer, Bilaam, to come and curse the Jews.  King Balak was certain that the power of Bilaam’s curses would be stronger than the power of Balak’s swords, and through these curses, he and his nation would be able to bring ruination, and defeat, upon the nation of Israel.  It took a number of delegations, and many persuasions, to convince Bilaam to go with the officers of Moav to King Balak, but after much deliberations, Bilaam finally accepted the job.  

Bilaam was self-centered and greedy, and desired only the most honorable and important, high-level government representatives to come hire him and accompany him back to Moav (Bamidbar 22:13 with Rashi), as well as vast amounts of gold and silver (ibid, v.18) as payment for the job.  

Though he tried repeatedly to curse the Jews, ultimately, all of his curses turned to blessings, as G-d puts words into his mouth, for he was a mere spokesman for the Almighty (ironically, he was no different than his donkey, a lowly animal, that spoke to him on his journey, who was also simply a messenger of G-d - ibid, v.28-30).  

The Sages tell us: 

כָּל מִי שֶׁיֶּשׁ בּוֹ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים הַלָּלוּ, הוּא מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִֽינוּ, וּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים אֲחֵרִים, הוּא מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל בִּלְעָם הָרָשָׁע. תַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִֽינוּ: עַֽיִן טוֹבָה, וְרֽוּחַ נְמוּכָה, וְנֶֽפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה. תַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל בִּלְעָם הָרָשָׁע: עַֽיִן רָעָה, וְרֽוּחַ גְּבוֹהָה, וְנֶֽפֶשׁ רְחָבָה.

Whoever possesses the following three traits is of the students of our father Avraham; and whoever possesses the opposite three traits is of the students of the wicked Balaam. The students of our father Avraham have a good eye, a meek spirit and a humble soul. The disciples of the wicked Balaam have an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a broad soul (Pirkei Avos 5:22).

Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch, in his commentary to Pirkei Avos, teaches, “The life of Avraham was characterized by these virtues: ayin tovah, he truly loved his fellow-men and therefore he could rejoice without envy or reserve in their every good fortune; he was modest (רֽוּחַ נְמוּכָה), and he was undemanding (נֶֽפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה).  These qualities immediately came to the fore, when Avraham left his father’s house, and gave up all the pleasures, riches, comforts, and honors of home to go out into the strange and inhospitable unknown; all in order to advance the welfare of his fellow-men… The picture of his long and trial-laden life shows no trace whatever of conduct at variance with these noble traits.  

“In striking contrast to this, we behold the arrogance, the insatiable ambition and the greed of the malicious Bilaam who was ready to pronounce a curse over an entire people.  We cannot find in Bilaam’s character sketch even one stroke that might mitigate this unsavory picture in the gallery of history.  

“The disciples of Avraham love their fellow-men, they are modest, humble, and utterly untainted by envy.  These sterling qualities not only open for them to portals of bliss in the world to come, but give them serenity and happiness even here on earth, regardless of the lack of material wealth and pleasures, and the burden of trials and privation that life may bring.  Their measure of calamities seems small in their eyes, and the happiness of others which they create, promote, and observe affords them a source of joy which the disciples of Bilaam cannot possibly surmise.  As for the disciples of Bilaam, their malice, arrogance, and insatiable greed and ambition not only make it impossible for them to walk upon the road to salvation in the world to come, but also keep them from finding one moment’s true contentment, even in the midst of their abundant riches and pleasures.   Any joy, honor or prosperity that comes to others is a bitter drop in their cup of joy and whatever they may already have achieved loses all value in their eyes when they contemplate those of their desires that are still unfulfilled… The world to come is closed to them and the happiness possible in this world is truly lost to them as well” (Chapters of the Fathers, Commentary by R’ Samson Rafael Hirsch, Feldheim, p.92-93).  

We - Am Yisrael - are the children of Avraham Avinu.  To be, not only the children of Avraham, but of the students of Avraham, is to learn from his ways, go in his path, and emulate his actions.  To be a Jew is to embody the middos of a generous and kind eye towards others, to be able to ‘fagin’, and rejoice with them, in their success.  To be a Jew is to be modest and and think about the well-being of others in life; not only what are my needs, but what are the needs of another Jew?  And to be a Jew is to have a undemanding spirit, and be content with what Hashem sends our way in life.  “Who is a wealthy person?  One who is satisfied and happy with his portion” (Avos 4:1). 

Those with a negative, evil and stingy eye, a haughty spirit, and a broad soul, are of the students of Bilaam.  

We live in a world that abounds with the students of Bilaam.  An even cursory glance at world events, at societies, and at the enemies that arise to destroy us, may their names be blotted out, reminds us that we are living in a world of the Bilaam’s of the modern age.  The evil eye of destruction abounds, may G-d save us: the haughty spirit of each man wanting what is best for himself, even at the expense of his fellow man is ravaging our world; and the broad and greedy soul of governments and many world leaders, and their followers, brings destruction upon many innocents.

Every Jew is a child of Avraham.  Every day we must - each of us - make a personal choice anew to be of the students of Avraham - to learn from his ways and to walk in his path.  We must see each other - every other Jew who is part of Am Yisrael - with a kind and loving ayin tova (good eye); we must strive to work for the benefit and welfare of our families, communities, nation and Land; and we must be content with what G-d sends our way, and appreciate all the bounty in our personal - and national - lives. 

Perhaps then, the curses of our enemies today - the Bilaam’s of the modern time - will be turned into blessings, as happened with the Bilaam of old.

And then we will truly merit to see the fruition of the blessing of “mah tova o’halecha Yaakov, mish’ke’nosecha Yisrael”I (Bamidbar 24:5) - the beauty and goodness in the Jewish home, in our batei kenesiyot and batei midrashos, and in our every dwelling place where the Shechina longs to reside. 

בברכת בשורות טובות ושבת שלום