page_title: Balak (parsha)
section_title: Numbers chapter 24
hierarchical_section_title: Balak (parsha) / In classical rabbinic interpretation / Numbers chapter 24
caption_attribution_description: English: Moab leads Israel into sin, as in Numbers 25:1-8, illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648-1733) and others, and published by P. de Hondt in The Hague
context_page_description: Balak is the 40th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the Book of Numbers. In the parashah, Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, tries to hire Balaam to curse Israel, Balaam's donkey speaks to Balaam, and Balaam blesses Israel instead. The parashah constitutes Numbers 22:2–25:9. The parashah is made up of 5,357 Hebrew letters, 1,455 Hebrew words, 104 verses, and 178 lines in a Torah Scroll.
  Jews generally read it in late June or July. In most years, parashah Balak is read separately. In some years when the second day of Shavuot falls on a Sabbath in the Diaspora, parashah Balak is combined with the previous parashah, Chukat, in the Diaspora to synchronize readings thereafter with those in Israel.
  The name "Balak" means "devastator", "empty", or "wasting". The name apparently derives from the sparsely used Hebrew verb, "waste or lay waste." There are no derivations of this verb besides this name.
context_section_description: Rabbi Joḥanan interpreted Numbers 24:2 to support the rule of Mishnah Bava Batra 3:7 that a person should not construct a house so that its doorway opens directly opposite another doorway across a courtyard.  Rabbi Joḥanan taught that the words of Numbers 24:2, "And Balaam lifted up his eyes and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes," indicate that Balaam saw that the doors of their tents did not exactly face each other (and that the Israelites thus respected each other's privacy).  So Balaam concluded that the Israelites were worthy to have the Divine Presence rest upon them (and he spoke his blessing in Numbers 24:5 of the tents of Jacob).
  The Gemara deduced from the words "the man whose eye is open" in Numbers 24:3, which refer to only a single open eye, that Balaam was blind in one eye.
  Rabbi Abbahu explained how Balaam became blind in one eye.  Rabbi Abbahu interpreted the words of Balaam's blessing in Numbers 23:10, "Who has counted the dust of Jacob, or numbered the stock of Israel?" to teach that God counts the cohabitations of Israel, awaiting the appearance of the drop from which a righteous person might grow. Balaam questioned how God Who is pure and holy and Whose ministers are pure and holy could look upon such a thing.  Immediately, Balaam's eye became blind, as attested in Numbers 24:3 (with its reference to a single open eye).
  Rabbi Joḥanan taught that one may learn Balaam's intentions from the blessings of Numbers 24:5–6, for God reversed every intended curse into a blessing. Thus Balaam wished to curse the Israelites to have no synagogues or school-houses, for Numbers 24:5, "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob," refers to synagogues and school-houses. Balaam wished that the Shechinah should not rest upon the Israelites, for in Numbers 24:5, "and your tabernacles, O Israel," the Tabernacle symbolizes the Divine Presence. Balaam wished that the Israelites' kingdom should not endure, for Numbers 24:6, "As the valleys are they spread forth," symbolizes the passing of time. Balaam wished that the Israelites might have no olive trees and vineyards, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "as gardens by the river's side." Balaam wished that the Israelites' smell might not be fragrant, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "as aloes planted of the Lord." Balaam wished that the Israelites' kings might not be tall, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "and as cedar trees beside the waters." Balaam wished that the Israelites might not have a king who was the son of a king (and thus that they would have unrest and civil war), for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "He shall pour the water out of his buckets," signifying that one king would descend from another. Balaam wished that the Israelites' kingdom might not rule over other nations, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "and his seed shall be in many waters." Balaam wished that the Israelites' kingdom might not be strong, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "and his king shall be higher than Agag. Balaam wished that the Israelites’ kingdom might not be awe-inspiring, for in Numbers 24:6, he said, "and his kingdom shall be exalted. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said that all of Balaam's curses, which God turned into blessings, reverted to curses (and Balaam's intention was eventually fulfilled), except the synagogues and schoolhouses, for Deuteronomy 23:6 says, "But the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you," using the singular "curse," and not the plural "curses" (so that God turned only the first intended curse permanently into a blessing, namely that concerning synagogues and school-houses, which are destined never to disappear from Israel).
  A Midrash told that when the Israelites asked Balaam when salvation would come, Balaam replied in the words of Numbers 24:17, "I see him (the Messiah), but not now; I behold him, but not near." God asked the Israelites whether they had lost their sense, for they should have known that Balaam would eventually descend to Gehinnom, and therefore did not wish God's salvation to come.  God counseled the Israelites to 
caption: Moab Leads Israel into Sin (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible)
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