To Have Eyes and Yet Not See – the Curse of Bilaam?

For those who are interesting in helping those who are in need at this time, please be aware that The Shul of Bal Harbour, under the leadership of Rabbi Shalom Lipskar, has created a central fund to be dispersed as needed directly to the victims and their families at thechesedfund.com/shulofbalharbour/miamitragedy. In the merit of our Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah, May we merit to see no more tragedies. 

Parshat Balak 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Another terrible tragedy has befallen members of our greater Jewish community, as well as many of our Florida brothers and sisters in Surfside and beyond. What message is Hashem trying to tell us? Why so costly a message? What did all these people do to have this be their fate? 

There is no way to answer these questions. We mourn, we pray, we assist where we can, and we hope for all who are injured to recover, and for all the mourners to find a path forward. 

Historically these kinds of events were meant to inspire introspection in those who survive or who are untouched. Why did this happen to them? Why not me? Again, unanswerable questions. 

However, we are also enjoined to heed the fact that God is talking to us. In some way He is telling us to remember Who is really in charge. 

The Talmud suggests that Bilaam was blind in one eye. There are subtle hints to this in the text, such as when Bilaam says “'This is the word of Beor's son Balaam, the word of the man with the enlightened eye.” This translation is from Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s “Living Torah” and on the words “enlightened eye,” Rabbi Kaplan includes the following note, first attributing his translation to the view of Ramban and Midrash Aggadah. 

“Shethum in Hebrew. Or, 'future seeing eye' (Lekach Tov), 'seeing eye' (Targum; Saadia); 'open eye' (Rashbam; Radak, Sherashim; Rashi); 'true-sighted eye' (Septuagint); 'sleepless' (Ibn Janach), 'evil eye' (Zohar 1:68b); 'dislocated' (Rashi); 'blinded' (Sanhedrin 105a; Niddah 31a). 

The question can be asked in either direction – if he was blind in one eye, how could the other commentaries refer to him as one with great vision? If he is referred to in the text as this great visionary, why would the Talmud go to any length to suggest he is blind? Perhaps three Chassidic teachings can “enlighten” us as to what may be taken from this information. 

1. A person can not truly achieve prophesy without having dedicated oneself to holiness, without having sanctified oneself to serve God fully and completely, and without being dedicated to purity. Bilaam, who dedicated everything about himself to impurity, was thus challenged from achieving his potential as a prophet for the nations of the world. God therefore blinded him in one eye to prevent him from sinning with that eye, to allow him to focus his energies for his remaining eye in the proper direction. Because it was all that remained, it became the source of ALL of his vision – thereby making the lone eye enlightened (told over in the name of the Baal Shem Tov). 
2. Every person needs to have two eyes – one for seeing how great, and mighty is the Master of the World, and the other is for seeing one’s own lowliness and need for humility. Bilaam understood God’s greatness, as evidenced by what he told Balak’s emissaries. But he was unable to see his own need for humility. Thus, whether he was truly blind or not, he was as if he only had one eye. (Harav HaZaken MiNeshchiz) 
3. The Midrash has God asking Bilaam – “If your intent is to destroy the nation of Israel, who will keep My Torah?” and Bilaam answered, “I will.” God thus had Bilaam’s donkey stray from the path 3 times (שלש רגלים) (22:33) including the one time when Bilaam’s leg (רגל) was smashed against a wall, and also had Bilaam strike the donkey 3 times (שלש רגלים) (22:28,32) so Bilaam could receive a subtle hint of the mitzvah to go to the Mishkan/Mikdash for the שלש רגלים – Three Festivals. Bilaam was being told, a person who is blind in one eye, and crippled in one leg, who is such a Baal Mum (blemished individual) is exempt from the mitzvah, and unable to fulfill his intent of replacing the Bnei Yisrael as Torah observers. (Peninim Yekarim) 

Along similar lines, the Chozeh of Lublin noted in last week’s parsha, on the verse describing the red heifer that it needs to be one “that does not have a blemish and never had a yoke on it,” that this is also a note to human beings. A person who views himself or herself as having reached the pinnacle of achievement in this life, who has no flaws and no need for improvement has identified as a person who does not carry the burden of the yoke of Heaven – עול מלכות שמים. The Chozeh would say, if the person had even the smallest burden of the yoke of Heaven, the person would see a person who has far too many flaws, far too many spiritual מומים (blemishes) and would know there is still much to achieve and much to accomplish. 

 Bilaam was a man possessed with talents and blessed with gifts. As humble as he thought he was, and as special a relationship he believed he had with God, he couldn’t get over his own ego that drove him to want to curse the Bnei Yisrael, even as he knew God would not let him. God’s instruction to him didn’t produce a verse such as we’ve seen regarding Moshe’s humility. We never hear “And Bilaam was exceedingly humble” because he wasn’t! 

Whether he was literally blind in one eye, or whether he was simply blind to his own flaws, we can learn from Bilaam a simple litmus test for ourselves as individuals and ourselves as a people. 

We are once again facing 17 Tammuz, the 3 Weeks, and unless the Messiah comes, the prospect of another Tisha B’Av. The redemption, though we are to wait for it and anticipate it daily, is not yet here. 

We have one life to live – do we view ourselves as people who have arrived and therefore don’t need to take steps to shake the heavens to change the status quo? Or do we aim, in our lives, to challenge God to redeem us and bring us back to the way they were/are supposed to be? Do we do so through taking increased steps towards serving Him better? A greater commitment to Torah and Mitzvot? 

With an ever increasing amount of suffering in the world, we like to think we’re so close to the end. But we are not going to get there resting on any laurels alone. If we had the laurels, we’d have arrived already. The challenge is for all of Am Yisrael to step up our game (so to speak) and our commitments. We must feel the yoke of Heaven as a burden we carry always, so we will always be proceeding forward and upward in our relationship with Hashem. 

May suffering come to an end, and may we merit to see the salvation and comfort that was promised to us so long ago.