The Sidra of Balak, the king of Moab, contains the unique Biblical story about Bilam, (this is how the name is pronounced in Hebrew), who was hired by Balak to curse the Israelites when they came near to his country’s borders. Our ancient Rabbis regarded Bilam as a gentile Prophet and asserted, quite surprisingly, that he had attained the same supreme level of prophetic powers as Moses. According to some scholars, he was a pagan magician, with similar characteristics as other magicians, who flourished in Assyria and Babylon during the second millennium BCE. This view is supported by the fact that the Hebrew word Kesamim, magical instruments, is used at the beginning of the story. Also, elsewhere in the Bible, Bilam is referred to as a Kosem, magician.
At the beginning of the Sidra we learn that the Moabites were petrified by the Israelite presence near their border. Balak regarded them as a massive threat to the entire region. The Israelites were encamped in the Northern part of the Eastern side of the River Jordan, after their victory in the war against the Amorites, who had fought under the command of their king, Sichon. Obviously, the Moabites did not realise that the Israelites had no intention of attacking them, let alone conquering their country, since God had commanded them to refrain from confronting them, since they were the children of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Lot had been very close to Abraham and accompanied him on his first journey to the Land of Canaan. The Moabites, also, did not realise that the Israelites were heading towards the land of Canaan which was on the western side of the River Jordan.
In order to prevent Israelite attack, Balak decided on an unusual warfare by hiring Bilam to come to Moab, stand on the high mountains overlooking the Israelite nation, and utter a curse against the enemy. To recruit Bilam, he sent messengers to him. Bilam lived far away in the town of P’tor, which was situated on the western bank of the River Euphrates, in the land of Aram Naharayim.
The messengers duly arrived at Bilam’s home. Being a pagan, he did not recognize Hashem as the supreme universal one and only God. But he had heard about the powerful God of Israel and knew that He would protect his people. Consequently, he was very concerned that his curse would be completely ineffective and that the God of Israel would be more powerful than his magical curses. Because he was not prepared to take the chance, he wanted to find out, before he agreed to be hired, that Israel’s God would give his consent to his plan. This answer conformed to ancient pagan beliefs that every nation has its own god or gods, who protected it.
One of the most astonishing scenes in this narrative is what happened during Bilam’s journey to the Israelites, as he was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants. Although God did not object to him going to curse the Israelites, He was still angry with him for having chosen to do so. He, therefore, sent an angel to disrupt Bilam’s journey. Here, for the first time, we find the concept of Satan; which means an opponent or enemy. The angel is described as being Satan. In other parts of the Bible, Satan is described as a prosecuting angel at the service of God. The angel appeared, with his sword in his hand, and confronted the she-ass, preventing her from making progress. He did so three times. The she-ass saw him, but Bilam could not. She avoided the angel, by manoeuvring herself in a way which caused Bilam some discomfort and annoyed him. He could not understand what was going on, so he hit her. Finally, the she-ass opened her mouth and starting speaking to him. She said: “What have I done to you, that you have hit me three times?” He answered: “Because you mocked me; if I had a sword in my hand, I would have killed you!” The she-ass then defended herself, saying that she had always been loyal to him, and he should have understood that she had a good reason for behaving as she did. Bilam was forced to admit that his devoted animal had always behaved well. Without knowing it, Bilam was correct in what he said. She had made a fool of him and mocked him. This story shows how useless and irrational Bilam was. A simple animal was able to see what a world famous magician could not see! He could not see the Angel of God, standing right in front of him, yet he claimed to be able to see divine visions many years into the future. He thought he had powers to curse an entire nation with mere words of mouth, yet, to his poor and loyal animal he said that he needed a weapon to kill her.
Thus we see that it is exceedingly difficult to understand Bilam’s personality and special talents and skills. But, as our rabbis explained, Bilam showed extraordinary vision when he saw the Israelites and pronounced his unintended blessings. They contain most profound thoughts and are beautiful poetry.
In his first utterance towards the Jewish people, Bilam proclaimed that he saw that the Israelites were the most exalted nation; more elevated and stronger than the rocks of the highest mountains. They were unique and alone, separated from all other nations. He, then, went on to praise them for their great numbers. Finally, he declared: I wish that, on my death, I shall have the same fate as Israel; that I shall be granted rest which reserved for the righteous, like the Israelite nation. The Hebrew word which he used for ‘righteous people’ is YESHARIM. This is a clear hint to another name for Israel: YESHURUN. We come across the name YESHURUN several times in the Siddur. Some synagogues also bear this name. The main synagogue in Jerusalem is also called YESHURUN. The name has a similarity to the name ‘Israel’, in that it comprises the same basic letters.