בדרך תמים
רוב המזמורים האישיים בתהילים נושאים חותם "לְדָוִד", ורוב מזמורי "לְדָוִד" הם מזמורים אישיים, אבל אצל איש כמו דוד, המַבַּע האישי נושק לציבורי.
אם נצליח להרחיק מבית המלך ומכל בתי השלטון כל מי שדבק בו רבב כלשהו, וישרתו שם רק "נֶאֶמְנֵי אֶרֶץ", תהיה הממלכה כולה תמימה ושלֵמה, כאידיאל של המזמור – גם חסד וגם משפט – חיבור מופלא ושיר גדול.
אבל אם נקרא את מזמור קא כשירה אידיאלית, כשאיפה העליונה לחיבור תמים בין חסד למשפט, יגדל מאד השבר הגדול של 'אוריה החתי ובת שבע', ונצטרך לשוב אל מזמור נא אחרי קא. אז תגדל השאלה האם הצליחה מלכות דוד ושלמה להתאושש באמת (שמואל ב יט-כ; מלכים א יא)?
ועם כל זה, חייבים להודות שהאומץ והיושר של דוד להודות החטא מול נתן הנביא, נבעה מאותה דבקות קיצונית ביושר של השואפים להשכיל וללכת "בְּדֶרֶךְ תָּמִים".
באדיבות אתר 929
Yerovam ben Yoash - Tanakh Profiles
Yerovam ben Yoash (II Kings 13:13, 14:23-29, Amos 7:9-11)
Thirteenth king of Israel. Yerovam expands Israel's territory thus fulfilling a prophecy of Yonah ben Amittai (a declaration not printed anywhere in the Bible). Yerovam is succeeded by his son Zekharia. Amatzya, a kohen serving in Beit El tries to persuade Yerovam to banish the prophet Amos from the Kingdom of Israel for predicting Yerovam's death and the downfall of the state. No response from the king is noted in the text.
Adapted from Tanakh Profiles - www.tanakhprofiles.org
Balak: Missed Opportunities
What a waste of talent. “No other prophet like Moses has arisen in Israel who knew G-d face to face” (Devarim 34:10). Our Sages, in an astounding comment, assert that in Israel, no prophet arose like Moshe—but that amongst the nations of the world, there did arise an equal to Moshe, namely Bilaam.
Here was a gifted prophet recognized throughout the world for his immense abilities. A man who, greeted by the leaders of Moav, told them to sleep over while he consulted with G-d. Bilaam let it be known that “even if Balak gave me his whole palace full of gold and silver, I would not be able to do anything great or small that would violate the word of G-d, my Lord” (Bamidbar 22:18). And true to his word, he never did violate any of G-d’s commands. He, like the Avot, built altars and offered sacrifices to G-d. His penetrating insights into the strengths (and weaknesses) of the Jewish people were such that his words, “How goodly are your tents, Yaakov, your tabernacles, Israel” (Bamidbar 24:5), serve as the opening to our Siddur. Bilaam “realized that G-d desired to bless Israel” (Bamidbar 24:1) and therefore, he obliged. His obedience to G-d was such that finally “Balak got angry with Bilaam and struck his hands together; ‘I brought you to curse my enemies but you blessed them…now run away to your home’” (Bamidbar 24:10-11).
Yet clearly, despite all his outer appearances of piety, Bilaam was no tzadik. In fact, he is known as Bilaam HaRasha, Bilaam the Evil One. “And Bilaam the son of Beor they killed by the sword” (Bamidbar 31:8). Our Sages in Pirkei Avot contrasted his true character with that of Avraham. Instead of modeling himself after the first Jew, with his good eye, humble spirit and undemanding soul, he used his enormous talents in the opposite way: with an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a demanding soul (Avot 5:22). What happened?
“In the path that a person desires, he is led” (Makkot 10b). So state our Sages with regard to Bilaam. While G-d did not forbid him to go to Balak, it was clear that G-d did not want him to go, either. Not everything that is permissible should be done. The Ramban, in his famous explanation of Kedoshim Tihiyu (Vayikra 19:2), the obligation to “be holy”, explains that one can follow the Torah to the letter and still be a disgusting person, a naval b’reshut haTorah. Bilaam fit this description perfectly.
There is, however, much more. Reaching great heights takes hard work, discipline and the ability to control and sublimate our base desires. Personal wishes and wants cannot always be fulfilled. This has nothing to do with talent–which Bilaam had in great abundance–and everything to do with desire. What type of life do you truly want for yourself? A life of fulfilling a divine mission, or one of satisfying your own desires? Serving G-d is not always easy, but if you want to badly enough, no obstacle will or can stand in your way. Avraham, Moshe, and all our great leaders struggled mightily at times with their desires. They learned to channel them for the service of G-d, something Bilaam was not willing to do. The Tiferet Yisroel (Kiddushin 4:14) quotes an amazing story, the (very basic) outline of which runs as follows: Experts, analyzing the facial features of Moshe Rabbeinu, came to the conclusion that he was an evil person, full of arrogance, prone to excessive love of money, “and all other faults”. The King, who knew of Moshe, could not understand this and traveled to the desert to meet Moshe himself. Moshe told him that the experts were right, as by nature he, Moshe, was “no good”, even worse than had been described. Yet through hard work, he explained, he was able to conquer his evil traits, channeling his energies to developing positive ones.
Bilaam could have been a Moshe for the nations of the world; instead he was just Bilaam, meaning a man b’lo am (Sanhedrin 105b)–without a nation, without a following. We can use whatever G-d-given talents we may have to follow in the path of Moshe, or in that of Bilaam. “In the path that a person desires, he is led”.
Balak - a King Suppressing Revolt?
The opening verses of Parashat Balak describe the panic that gripped the nation of Moav upon observing Benei Yisrael’s conquest of the neighboring Emorite kingdoms. The fear of the prospect of Benei Yisrael dominating the region led Balak, the king of Moav, to invite the seer Bilam to place a curse upon the threatening nation.
A careful look at these opening verses, however, gives rise to some confusion. The parasha’s first verse describes Balak observing Benei Yisrael’s triumph over the Emorites. Then, in the second and third verses, the Torah tells that “Moav” – without specifying the king or any other particular figure – feared the Israelites and expressed their concerns to the leaders of Midyan. It is only in the fourth verse that we read of Balak sending an invitation to Bilam.
It thus appears that Moav’s response to the perceived Israelite threat occurred in two stages: consultation with Midyan, and the solicitation of Bilam’s services.
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch explained that these two responses were the reactions of, respectively, the general populace and Balak. The people, on their own, consulted with Midyan, and then, in response, Balak sent for Bilam. Rav Hirsch writes that the people initially acted independently because Benei Yisrael’s triumph over the mighty kingdoms of Sichon and Og shattered their trust and confidence in their governments’ ability to protect them:
As Sichon and Og, the most powerful kings of the time, had proved themselves utterly powerless against Israel, the power of kings as defenders of the independence of their people had received a severe shock to the confidence with which their people could rely on them.
As a result, the people of Moav decided to circumvent their leadership in devising a strategy to deal with what they perceived as a mortal threat. Rather than turn to their leader and demand action, the citizenry took their own initiative and consulted with the wise men of Midyan in search of a solution.
It was this circumventing of authority that led Balak to act – and to undertake such extreme and unorthodox measures. He understood that in order to maintain the people’s loyalty, he would have to take a bold initiative that would acknowledge the populace’s loss of faith in government. Balak therefore resorted to the realm of magic and witchcraft. This approach essentially conceded to the people that the standard political and military systems were ineffective and unreliable, while at the same time regained their confidence in offering an innovative, “supernatural” means of protection. Rav Hirsch even suggests that Balak did not necessarily believe in Bilam’s powers himself, but nevertheless summoned him in order to calm his people’s fear and win back their trust. Balak’s decision was motivated less by actual fear of Benei Yisrael than by the need to present a revolutionary new tactic that would inspire the people with confidence.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il