Sidrah
Parashah of the week: Balak
“Now Balaam saw that it pleased God to bless Israel, so he did not, as on previous occasions, go in search of omens, but turned his face toward the wilderness” Numbers 24.1
July 10, 2025 10:28
“Now Balaam saw that it pleased God to bless Israel, so he did not, as on previous occasions, go in search of omens, but turned his face toward the wilderness” Numbers 24.1
July 10, 2025 10:28Balaam, the prophet, goes on more than a physical journey when he ןד asked by Balak, King of Moab, to curse the Jews. His was a journey of self-discovery.
Like a certain president, he couldn’t help posting his messages to the world. However, unlike the president, Balak found it hard to discover his voice. Never mind the fact that his curses never came out right, his difficulty was summoning any kind of inspiration.
For his first attempt at prophecy, he turned to the occult, setting up seven altars and offering sacrifices (Numbers 23:4). But the result is only a fleeting encounter with God and a speech about Israel’s isolation among the nations.
His second attempt involves more action on his part. He climbs a mountain, again builds altars, then leaves Balak to chase a distant vision (Numbers 23:14–15). This time, he speaks of God’s power and Israel’s strength, which is progress, albeit limited.
At his third attempt, something shifts. Now Balaam “sees” that God desires blessing, and as described at the outset, abandons omens and turns toward the wilderness (Numbers 24:1). This marks not just a change in method. This seeing is a prophetic awakening, a realisation that divination, with its illusions of control and fate, cannot reveal the divine. True vision requires openness.
The Midrash teaches: “Anyone who does not render himself like a wilderness, accessible to all, cannot acquire wisdom and Torah” (Midrash Rabbah 1:7). The root of the Hebrew for word, d’b’r, is the same root as midbar, meaning desert. The Torah was given in the wilderness for a reason. Prophecy cannot be constrained.
Once Balaam embraces this openness, the spirit of God rests upon him (Numbers 24:2), and he pours forth poetry. He speaks not curses, but blessings, of palm-groves, cedars at the edge of water, rivers, and gardens (Numbers 24:5–7). While facing the desert, he paradoxically imagines a watery paradise. His words evoke Eden. The desire to curse has given way to a life-affirming energy. No wonder that some rabbis view Balaam as equivalent to Moses (Bamidbar Rabbah 14:20).
To find grace, we too must abandon control and certainty, and embrace the wilderness – the unknown, the open, the divine.
Image: Balaam, statue by Tommaso della Porta, 16th century Italy (photo: Sailko/Wikimedia Commons)
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