Parshat Balak
Individual Responsibility, Collective Greatness
This week’s parsha tells us of King Balak, his fear of the impending threat of the Jewish people, and his attempts to undercut them by using Bilaam the prophet, to curse them.
Bilaam is an interesting character in the Torah. He is considered on par – in terms of his prophetic level – with Moshe. The Gemara (Brachot 7a) tells us that he was able to discern the exact moment when G-d was upset with the Jewish people (something that even Moshe Rabbeinu was not privy to) and he knew that in that moment, his prayers would be answered.
Despite his lofty abilities, the Midrashim paint him as a greedy and debased man, even taking part in beastiality with his mule. Yet, he is called a “prophet” in the parsha. (See the Ramban who discusses the exact nature of Bilaam’s standing as a prophet.) How can these contradictory attributes coexist in the same person?
Touching upon this, Rashi (23:5), quoting the Midrash Tanchuma, asks a fascinating question:
Why did Hashem rest his Shechina upon such a wicked non-Jew? So that the nations of the world should not have a פתחון פה (an excuse) by saying, “Were we [the Gentiles] to have had prophets we would have repented.” Therefore G-d established prophets for them, yet they breached “the fence of the world,” for originally they were restrained regarding immorality, but this one [Bilaam] advised them to abandon themselves to licentiousness.
From here we see that G-d gave prophecy to Bilaam in order to forestall a פתחון פה from the nations. They could complain that their circumstances were unfair. They may argue, “Of course the Jewish people are exemplary; they were given leaders like Moshe! But we were never given such leaders, therefore it is not our fault that we are not great.”
This Midrash is hard to understand. If Bilaam was such a wicked person, how does G-d, help remove the argument of the nations by setting him up as a prophet ? Their complaint is that they weren't “given a chance” to be good because they weren't given good leaders. Obviously if their leader is a wicked person, wouldn’t he lead them astray? It's explicit in the Midrash that the nations’ devolving morality was due to the influence of Bilaam. If so, how did G-d remove the פתחון פה from the other nations by giving them Bilaam? They could still say that surely, had they been given a righteous leader with the character of Moshe, they would be able to act in the proper way. Doesn't their argument retain its strength?
I would like to suggest the following: Leaders and Heads of State have the potential to act as a “North Star” for their people, able to express a vision and a direction for their populace which will guide them towards great societal accomplishments. Reagan was able to articulate American exceptionalism and inspire national pride. JFK spurred the country towards space discoveries captivating generations. And Lincoln mended a frayed nation after a bitter civil war. Each of these leaders inspired and steered their citizenry towards great feats, shaping their time periods.
Human history is also rife with examples of leaders who were not morally upstanding people and acted in ways detrimental to basic decency. But their actions do not remove the responsibility for the individual citizen to be good. For each person has their own obligation to be an upright and moral member of society. Though we sense that leaders and presidents influence the decency of the populous, this is not an excuse. Moral decency is a personal obligation incumbent upon each individual regardless of the leaders of the time. Following orders, being swept up with the winds of degeneracy, is not an excuse.
Perhaps this was really G-d’s way of removing the nations’ פתחון פה. Hashem was in essence saying: “If you think that the morality of your actions is dependent on the quality of the leader, then I will give you a Rasha for a leader.” The message conveyed here is that each person has a built-in moral compass, and each person has been given a שכל to discern the truth. Having bad leaders is not carte blanche to act immorally. By giving them a prophet like Bilaam, G-d was pointing out the ridiculousness of their argument. The fact that they lacked this attitude of personal responsibility proved that even were they to have had good leaders, they would never have become great. Excusing and exempting one's actions is the antithesis of greatness.
The Gemara in Makkot (9b) (in the context of why Avimelech was punished for taking Sarah away from Avraham) tells us of an interesting idea. The Halacha is that one is not subject to punishment from Beit Din unless he has had התראה (prior warning) regarding the particular sin he is about to transgress and the punishment it carries. However, this only applies to a Jew. For a בן נח (gentile), the law is different. He is subject to punishment even without התראה. In explaining why, the Gemara says: שהיה להם ללמוד ולא למד (They [the Bnei Noach] should have learnt, but they did not learn). Rashi on the Gemara explains that this refers to דרך ארץ (common decency). Common decency (which, in the Gemara’s context is not stealing someone's wife, but also applies to all basic moral guidelines) is so axiomatic to a functioning society that there is no excuse for “not knowing.” It is possible and attainable for everyone to maintain those standards, therefore there is no need to warn the transgressor prior to the act; he should have known it inherently.
This explanation can give us a deeper insight into the nation's perception of the Jewish People's unique character. The Gentiles complain that they would also be like the Jewish people had they had leaders like us. This complaint presumes that the greatness of the Jews is attributed to the fact that we had great leaders. This is not true. The reason we are great is because we are the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov Avinu. (See Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky’s Emes L’Yaakov - Noach 9:25 regarding what we have inherited from them). Avraham Avinu came to the truth of G-d, not through a leader or a teacher, and nor through prophecy. G-d revealed himself to Avraham only once he discovered G-d on his own. His journey to G-d was travelled purely through his own inner moral compass, and his intellect which discerned the truth.*
Our Ancestors bucked the trends and popular beliefs of their time. This is why Avraham was called עברי from the word עבר (crossover, see Yehoshua 24:3), for Avraham crossed over to the other side of the river of popular opinion – from polytheism to Moral Monotheism. Serving as our paradigm, the Avot teach us the invaluable lesson that the Jewish people's national greatness is not due to a leader or a prophet. Leadership and prophecy were given to us much later on. Our first ancestors tapped into their personal connection with the Divine, and set down a path of spiritual discovery and moral uprightness which extends through our spiritual genes till today.**
This idea is not to G-d forbid degrade or demur the need for a personal teacher or leader. On the contrary – we are all potentially fallible, subject to mistakes, and in need of guidance. The point here is that while leaders can guide us, the greatness of our people is not due to a leader. The mistake that the other nations made was in placing the burden of their own moral actions and responsibility upon a leader alone.
This lesson is particularly powerful today, given the political climate, where it feels like every day we are reaching new “lows” in common decency. It is all-too-easy to fall into this alluring trap of moral license, which exempts us from any individual responsibility to fight the tides of the time and act with decency. As Jews, and as members of a society at large, we have the ability – and the responsibility – to behave in the way we know to be true.
Shabbat Shalom
* One could claim that the Jewish people having the Avot as examples is inherently having good leaders. But the example that the Avot set was being resolute in their principles. They discerned the truth and stuck to it despite world opinion. No leader can instill that in the people, that must be decided and inculcated. The complaint of the Gentiles is that they if they had good leaders telling them exactly what to do, they wouldn't be led astray. The point is that being led astray is not an excuse. The Avot teach us: one needs to remain a strong individual in the face of the masses being led astray. The Jewish people have been infused with this message and have lived it time and again throughout the generations in the face of much persecution and pressure to change, following in the footsteps of our ancestors, in line with our spiritual genes.
** This is why Judaism actually places much emphasis of “Loving the Convert”. We cherish their maverick attitude in actively deciding to place their lot with a people so diametrically opposed to the rest of the world. Though they are not literally our genetic family, they are our spiritual brethren. This is why a convert is called up to the Torah as “Ben Avraham” the son of Avraham. For not only has he emulated the very traits of Avraham, but the convert has become the literal spiritual child of Avraham.
