The Lesson of Bilam

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

Chazal call Bilam a rasha (wicked person), obsessed with honor, greed, and lust. Yet, he was a prophet! The Sifri (Devarim  (34:10) even states that Bilam was a greater prophet than Moshe Rabbeinu. This seems to be an outright contradiction of the laws of prophecy. The Rambam (Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 7:1) writes that prophecy is granted only to a Torah scholar whose intellect guides his behavior, and his evil inclination is incapable of overcoming him. How could Bilam, who breached the world’s standard of morality, have been chosen to speak with Hashem, and be the sole representative of the entire non-Jewish world?

Rav Eliyahu Lopian answers that Bilam received a different sort of prophecy. A Jew’s prophecy is attained only after he reaches an extraordinary level of self-perfection. He is rewarded with a greater intimacy with Hashem, and he grows from it. This is the kind of prophecy that the Rambam describes. However, sometimes Hashem employs prophecy for other reasons. Rashi explains (Bamidbar 22:5) that Bilam received prophecy to disprove a claim that had the gentile nations possessed a prophet, they too would have been righteous. Clearly, prophecy of this sort has no prerequisites, and is granted even to someone as lowly as Bilam.

There is an important point here: revelations from Hashem don’t always require work. Even great spiritual revelations are not proof of one’s spiritual level. The recipient may not be close to Hashem at all! If a Jew knows a lot of Torah, this does not mean that he has reached spiritual greatness. After all, Hashem talked directly to Bilam!

We see that learning Torah is not enough. Without working on our character, the Torah we learn will not bring us close to Hashem. If we want a true relationship, we must perfect our character.

Many people believe that if Hashem would reveal Himself to the world, life would change for the better. Bilam shows us differently. He even had an ongoing dialogue with Hashem, yet he remained the same wicked man that he was before. Rashi says (ibid. 22:9) that Bilam hoped to trick Hashem into letting him carry out his evil plans! Experiences of spiritual phenomena and intimate knowledge of Torah are motivations for becoming better, but the choice remains ours.

Conversely, changing our character does not require encyclopedic knowledge of Torah. We are capable of appreciating the need to change behaviors that are counterproductive to our spiritual development. We already have the tools that we need to change—we just have to get started.

In Pirkei Avos (5:19), the Sages teach the difference between the students of Avraham Avinu and those of Bilam. Followers of Avraham are content, humble, and do not chase their materialistic passions. Those of Bilam are the opposite: they are arrogant and overcome by lust, and they try to become wealthy at the expense of others. Rav Meir Chadash notes that the Mishnah refers to both as talmidim, students, because both groups learn in yeshivah. The only question is, whom are they emulating?

These three traits are what distinguish between one who succeeds in life and one who does not. Torah learning alone can’t save someone from his character flaws. Torah certainly uplifts a person who is striving to be a true man of Torah, but bad character impedes his progress until he resolves to change. This message should be in the mind of every young man who learns in yeshivah. Learning is very important, but perfecting one’s character is critical.

Once, the rav of a small town had a son who was intelligent, but also quite wild. Whenever he got into trouble, his father never hit him. Instead, he reprimanded him verbally. When he completed eighth grade, the boy’s class made a siyum (celebration for completing a section of Torah study). Rabbanim asked the boys questions as their parents looked on. The rav’s son knew the material very well, and he was quick to answer many questions. There was another boy who had a stutter, and he was not as bright as the rav’s son. At one point, this boy tried to answer, but after stuttering out a few words, he realized that he didn’t know the answer. As he turned red from embarrassment, the rav’s son grinned in amusement.

They returned home. The rav’s son was expecting to receive praise for his performance, but instead he got a smack on the face. The boy was shocked; his father had never hit him before. He didn’t even know what he had done wrong!

“The other times, you were just acting wild,” his father explained. “Today, though, when you smiled about that boy you revealed a very ugly character trait. If you have terrible character traits, smarts do not mean anything.”

The boy took the lesson to heart and began to befriend this classmate. They became study partners, learning together for many years. They went on to build homes steeped in Torah and fear of Heaven.

May we be zocheh to be talmidim of Avraham Avinu and perfect our characters!

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