Balak 5784: On the Duality of Man

GOOD MORNING! There is a well-known story involving an Orthodox rabbi who was traveling on a plane with some of his children and grandchildren. Sitting next to him was an irreligious fellow, who was similarly traveling with some of his family. To be sure, all anecdotal stories have to be taken with a grain of salt. In fact, I have learned that they are rarely true as related, and my strict policy regarding these types of stories is an attitude of deep skepticism.

However, this story is different; I actually heard it myself from the rabbi involved. This man – HaRav Yaakov Kaminetsky, of blessed memory – was considered one of the great sages and luminaries of American Jewry in the latter half of the 20th century. As those of us who had the good fortune to grow up in Miami know, the Jewish community of South Florida was blessed with visits from many aging sages as they came to town for weeks – and sometimes months – at a time to escape the bitter winters up north.

Rabbi Kamenetzky spent many of his winter months at our Yeshiva (rabbinical school) in Miami Beach. He prayed with us each morning and often lectured at our school and in different synagogues around South Florida. Aside from being world renowned for his brilliance, Rabbi Kaminetsky was famous for his warm and engaging manner and luminous smile.

Some forty-five years ago I heard him discuss the details of the story of him on the plane. Unfortunately for me, he relayed it in Yiddish and I was not fluent. To be sure, some of the details were fuzzy to me even then, but here is the story as I remember him saying it.

At the end of their flight the man next to him turned and said, “Rabbi I have to tell you, throughout our entire time together on this plane your children and grandchildren have been doting on you; getting you a pillow or a drink, even taking on and off your shoes, and are generally very concerned about your well-being. By contrast, my children and grandchildren have disappeared for the entirety of the trip, I haven’t even seen one of them, never mind them asking if I needed anything. Tell me, please, how did you manage to raise them with such enormous respect and obvious love for you?”

The very affable Rabbi Kaminetsky replied, “From our conversation over the last few hours I gather that you’re either an atheist or an agnostic. Am I correct?” His traveling companion nodded. Rabbi Kaminetsky continued, “So I take it that you believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution and that we are descended from primates?” Again, his companion nodded in the affirmative.

“So, my friend, the answer to your question is rather simple. You see, I have raised my children with the knowledge that the Almighty created man and that He imbued within us a divine soul. In addition, God offered us his Torah at Mount Sinai and we accepted; we thus became bound to the Almighty. Therefore, each succeeding generation is actually one step further away from God’s handiwork of creation and further from the covenant at Sinai.

“By this definition, the preceding generations are closer to the Almighty and the bond that was created at Mount Sinai. Hence, succeeding generations recognize that they are further removed from the Almighty and therefore instinctively have a reverence for earlier generations who are naturally on a higher level.

“By contrast, you believe, and raised your children with the very same belief, that mankind evolved from apes through the process known as evolution. So, in effect, each succeeding generation is actually a step up; they are a further evolution from being a primate and therefore of loftier status. Now, you tell me, according to your worldview who should have reverence for who?”

God created man with a remarkable duality – a lofty soul fused to a physical body, working in concert. Once Adam and Eve sinned, the fusion of soul to body became corrupted and man became less in touch with the soul. He thus prioritized fulfilling his physical desires over his spiritual aspirations. These are competing interests: the spiritual development of a soaring soul versus the fulfillment of physical desires (i.e. those physical activities that often act as “spiritual gravity” – pulling us downward).

The pursuit of perfection seems to be a singularly human quality and is often celebrated as an emblem of success and capability. However, the relentless quest for flawlessness can also induce significant stress, leading to a paradoxical behavior: the deliberate commission of mistakes to alleviate the pressure of maintaining perfection. The story is often told of the host who would deliberately spill a bit of wine on his pristine tablecloth in order to make his guests feel more at ease while eating and drinking.

Ironically, in an effort to cope with the pressure of perfectionism, individuals may deliberately make mistakes. This behavior, although seemingly counterintuitive, serves as a coping mechanism to reclaim control and reduce the anxiety associated with the constant pressure of living to the standards of others. This act of rebellion provides a temporary escape from the pressure they impose on themselves. This may explain a passage in this week’s Torah portion.

In this week’s Torah reading, we find a remarkably effective attack on the Jewish people. Balak, king of Moab, was consumed with the perceived threat of the Israelites waging war upon the Moabites. He spends an enormous of sum of money to engage a prophet/sorcerer named Bilaam to curse the Jewish nation. When that fails miserably, Bilaam advises Balak that the God of the Jews abhors sexual promiscuity and that he should therefore engage the women of Moab in this fight. Thus we find:

“The Israelites settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. [The women] called the people to the worship of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. Israel attached itself to Ba’al Peor, and the wrath of God flared against Israel” (Bamidbar 25:3).

Bilaam's rather ingenious suggestion was to have the daughters of Moab entice the Israelite men; to offer sexual favors if the men would agree to worship their idol, Ba’al Peor. This double sin – the coupling of idol worship with sexual promiscuity – was particularly purposeful, for the Torah often associates idolatry with infidelity to the Almighty. Thus, this would be a devastating blow to the relationship between the Almighty and His nation and would effectively make them vulnerable to defeat.

It is instructive to understand what this idol worship entailed and it is safe to say that perhaps the most disgusting form of idolatry mentioned in all of the scriptures has to be the worship of the idol known as Ba’al Peor. The method of Ba’al Peor’s worship is described in the Talmud as turning to the idol and defecating toward it; “One who defecates to Ba’al Peor is liable, for this is how it is customarily worshiped” (Sanhedrin 60b). The Talmud goes on to describe how some idolators even tried to outdo others in seriously disgusting ways of worshipping this idol (ibid 64a).

This sort of idol worship is hard to comprehend. It’s not like mankind has ever had an overwhelming fondness for human bodily excretions. According to archaeologists, even Neolithic man was disgusted with feces and built designated areas outside of their encampments to relieve themselves. A religion based on bowel movements seems beyond absurd. How did relieving oneself get elevated to a level of devotion?

Yet this religion had many adherents and seemingly survived well into Talmudic times. What was the appeal of Ba’al Peor?

The prophet Hoshea recounts the incident that occurred in this week’s Torah portion and describes Ba’al Peor as a god of shamelessness: “when they came to Ba’al Peor, they bound themselves to that shame; and they became abominable like the thing which they desired” (Hoshea 9:10).

The Israelites in the desert were a generation on a very high spiritual level; they saw the miracles in Egypt and the Torah revelation on Mount Sinai. They are commonly referred to as the “dor de’ah – the connected generation.” So it is particularly difficult to understand their attraction to this disgustingly base form of idol worship.

The worship of Ba’al Peor is an illustration of the type of relief that comes with solely self-identifying as merely an animal with reason. Ultimately, this is what Darwinism provides; man’s descent to his animal self relieves him by the abandonment of his spiritual soul and its accompanying responsibilities. Man thus revels in the freedom provided by regarding himself as merely a physical being, with responsibility to nothing other than a fulfillment of his physical desires.

This can be most alluring because the more spiritually developed a person is, the more challenging it is to maintain that high level. All relationships come with responsibilities and our relationship with the Almighty is no different. The physical form constantly yearns to express itself in the basest of ways, with intense physical emotions as well. I believe this is the root cause of using foul language, which is inherently obvious when we examine the types of words that are used when cursing. But that is a conversation for another time.

In truth, we must accept ourselves with our flaws even as we constantly try to overcome them. After all, the Almighty knows our flaws better than we, for He created us with them. In this world, spiritual achievement isn’t measured by where we get to – rather it’s found in the process of consistently improving who we are.

Balak, Numbers 22:2 - 25:9

This week's portion is one of the most fascinating psychologically-revealing portions in the whole Torah! Bilaam, a non-Jewish prophet, was granted a level of prophecy close to Moses’ level of prophecy. The Almighty gave Bilaam these powers so that the nations of the world could not say at some point in the future, “If we had a prophet like Moses, we too would have accepted the Torah and would have lived according to it.” Bilaam is an intriguing character — honor-driven, arrogant, and self-serving. Unfortunately, not too unique amongst mankind.

Balak, the king of Moav, wanted to hire Bilaam to curse the Jewish people for a fortune of money. It is interesting that Balak believed in God and the power of invoking a curse from God, yet thought that God would change His mind about His Chosen People (God is not One to change His mind). Bilaam was very desirous of the assignment to curse the Jews — more for the profit motive than the prophet motive.

The Almighty allowed Bilaam to go to Balak (cautioning him to only say what God told him). The Almighty gives every person free-will and allows us to go in the direction that we choose. Three times Bilaam tried to curse us and three times the Almighty placed blessings in his mouth. Balak was furious! So, Bilaam gave him the following advice with hopes of collecting his fee; “If you want to destroy the Jewish people, entice the men with Moabite women and tell the women not to submit until the men bow down to an idol.” Balak followed the advice and consequently the Almighty brought a plague against the Jewish people because the men fell for Bilaam’s plot. We see from this that the Almighty hates licentiousness and idol worship.