The B'lame Game

(The Deir-Alla inscription, discovered in modern Jordan, features curses attributed to "Balaam, son of Beor")

Parashat Balak(Numbers 22:2–25:9) begins where the previous Torah portion concluded, with the defeat of Sichon and Og. The latter was one of the Refaim, a race of giants. Og is the very same giant who clung to the tevah and survived the Flood. God tells Moses not to fear Og. In the commentary, MeAm Lo’ez, we are assured that Moses wasn’t afraid of taking on such an ogre. Instead, Moses was concerned that he might not be allowed to defeat the old giant because of the merit he earned from serving the great patriarch Avraham. Also, because Og had been circumcised.

The fact that Og perished at the hands Moses was a fulfillment of a prophecy that a descendant of Avraham’s would kill Og. Though he did serve Avraham, the evil that Og committed in his latter years, outweighed any merit he had accrued.

Another old-timer shows up in Parashat Balak when the Moabite king Balak, send for the infamous prophet-for-hire Balaam, to curse Israel. The king compares Israel to an ox whose mouth completely uproots the grass it consumes so he hires a seer to use his mouth, hoping to uproot God's nation. Though not as old as Og, Balaam was still quite long in the tooth, having served as an advisor in the court of Pharaoh. He was the one who suggested that Israel’s first-born be thrown in the Nile.

Here, years later, God warns Balaam not to do what Balak requested. The seer ignores HaShem, saddles his donkey then strikes out to meet the Balak. Yet, God places an angel in his path, causing the donkey to stop. Balaam beats the animal three times until, a miracle occurs, and the donkey asks his master why he treats her so badly. Chazal teach us that the three instances when Balaam halts the ill treatment of his animals represents Balaam's hope that he can find a loop hole in the merit given to Avraham, Isaac and Jacob by God. He cannot. God's words are never repealed as revealed in the many times His promises are repeated to Israel:

“For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them.” - Deuteronomy 4:31

Even Balaam has to acknowledge when he proclaims:

"God is not a man, that He should lie nor the son of man that He should repent."

Numbers 23:19

Hoping to strengthen his power, Balaam builds seven different altars and offers a total of 42 animals. In Jewish tradition 42 is associated with the Hebrew letters Mem and Bet which form the Hebrew word, mevo meaning “entrance” in that it creates a pathway or portal between the spiritual and physical realms.

In mystical terms, the two letter combination of Mem and Bet is symbolic of the link between the inner world of emotions and the outer world of action. It’s a way of channeling spiritual insights and understanding into practical, tangible action.

The connection to the altars of Baalam also suggest the folly of believing that one can open a pathway to heaven by speaking empty words and oaths in the manner of Balaam. Rather, we should elevate our souls through living according to HaShem’s instruction.