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If you read the pshat, or simple meaning, of the story of Bilaam, he seems to be a slow learner, but redeemable as a person. He accepts the request of Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the Jewish people while providing the caveat that he can only say what God tells him to. He tries twice to curse the nation, each time providing a blessing instead, and by the third time he understands God’s intention and willingly blesses the people.
Yet if you read the descriptions of Bilaam in Sanhedrin 106, a very different picture emerges. He had the potential to be a prophet but lost that due to his behavior. He is described as a bloody and deceitful man who is subsequently executed by the Jews using all four permitted methods of capital punishment simultaneously. The brazen seduction of the Midianite princess at the end of this parsha, which ultimately leads to a plague among the Israelites, is thought to be Bilaam’s idea when his curses failed to achieve their aims.
So what was Bilaam’s grave sin? Is it merely that he attempted to curse our ancestors? To attempt to find an answer, we have to go back to the point when he is first approached by the ministers of Moav.
Bilaam approaches God with the request that Moab has made of him and receives an unequivocal response:
לא תלך עמהם לא תאר את העם כי ברוך הוא
Don’t go with them, don’t curse the nation because it is blessed.
Indeed, after this denial, Bilaam sends the ministers away, but when a second delegation arrives with greater prestige and greater gifts, he decides to bring the renewed request to God. When God gives him permission to go with them the second time, he says
אם לקרוא לך באו האנשים קום לך אתם, ואך את הדבר אשר אדבר אליך אתו תעשה
If these men have come in order to invite you, get up and go with them, however the words that I speak to you, that is what you should do.
In other words, Bilaam accepts Balak’s charge knowing that his speech is restricted to what God commands him, and that God has already told him that the Jewish nation is blessed. Ramban (Nachmanides, 13 cent. Spain) notes that while Bilaam turned Balak’s messengers away the morning after his communication with God the first time, when he wakes up in the morning this second time, he simply goes without saying anything. This silence is meant to indicate assent, and Ramban holds Bilaam to account for failing to inform the Moabite leaders of the limitations that have been put on him. From their perspective, he has simply “changed his mind” and he will go along with whatever they ask. He misled them through a lie of omission to believe that he was going to curse the nation.
Moreover, even when Bilaam turns the messengers away, as well as at every subsequent time that he does address the limitations of his powers with Balak, he only shares that God has said no or that he must say whatever God tells him to. Bilaam knows from his conversation with God “לא תאר את העם—you may not curse the nation.” He is fully aware that God will not permit him to curse Bnei Yisrael, but never once mentions that fact to his human interlocutors despite numerous opportunities. While he warns them that he can only say what God allows him to, he does not share with them that he knows full well that God seeks only blessing. This act of disingenuously playing dumb is the major moral failing of Bilaam.
Leading someone on when you know full well that you won’t follow through is a form of אונאה —deception. The classic case brought in Tractate Bava Metsia is someone who enters a store and signals a genuine interest in making a purchase, for example by trying on clothes or asking detailed questions about merchandise, without an intention of doing so. By creating the hope of a sale in the eyes of the merchant when you know you are not going to go through with it, you have in a sense “stolen” something from that person. The sages use the term אונאה which is also applied to charging above market value, suggesting that giving false hope is a form of cheating a person. We are meant to be candid in all of our interactions, and not to mislead anyone along the way.
Even in our closest relationships, are we always straightforward? When my children ask me for something and I know that my answer is no, do I give them a clear no or do I say something like “We’ll see,” in order to avoid being the bearer of bad news? It is often easier to push off a negative confrontation, but it harms the relationship in the long term.
Bilaam chose a path of deception—even with his allies. He deceived them in the hope of being able to appear to help, but as a result created only deepened their disappointment in him. By being honest with ourselves and others we can avoid this pitfall and build our ability to communicate even hard truths to those around us.
Daf of the Day
