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    BALAK: A “TENSE” EXCHANGE AND THE LIMITATIONS OF BILAAM’S POWER

    A “Tense”
    Exchange Between
    Balak and Bilaam
    Reveals the
    Limitations of
    Bilaam’s Power
    When Balak is trying to entice Bilaam
    to curse Klal Yisrael, he says to Bilaam:
    “…I know that those whom you bless
    are blessed, and those who you curse
    will be cursed.” (Bamidbar 22:6). There
    are two difficulties in this pasuk. First of
    all, would it not make more sense for
    Balak to ask Bilaam to bless Moav so
    that they would be able to defeat Klal
    Yisrael? Why does he ask Bilaam to
    curse Klal Yisrael in order to be able to
    defeat them, rather than taking the more
    positive approach of asking for a
    blessing for his own nation? Second of
    all, and more problematic, there is an
    inconsistency in this pasuk. “I know that
    those whom you bless are blessed” is
    present tense. However, “those who you

    curse, will be cursed” is future tense.
    The Netziv, in his Emek She’eilah,
    asked why the grammar in this pasuk is
    inconsistent. The Netziv suggests a very
    interesting answer. Bilaam, as we all
    know, was an extremely wicked
    individual, a degenerate and terrible
    person. In fact, Bilaam DID NOT HAVE
    the power to bless. He was not a “Rebbe”
    and he could not give brochos. Bilaam
    had one power, and that was that he
    knew the moment at which the Ribono
    shel Olam got angry. That was his entire
    power—the power to curse when he
    knew the Almighty was angry.
    No one knew this secret power of
    Bilaam better than Balak. Balak knew
    exactly who Bilaam was. He knew there
    was no point in asking Bilaam for a
    bracha for Moav, because Balak knew
    that Bilaam’s words were futile. But the
    fact is that people did go to Bilaam for
    brachos. Why was that? The Netziv says
    that the pasuk says that Bilaam was a

    sorcerer (Kosem) (Yehoshua 13:22)—
    he knew the future. Basically, he had
    this great racket going: People would
    come to him and say “Bilaam, I am sick.
    Give me a bracha that I should get
    better.” Bilaam would “consult with his
    sorcerer material” and see if this fellow
    was going to get well or not. He might
    “see” that this fellow was destined to
    recover in two months and bless him
    that he should get better in two months.
    Lo and behold, the fellow got better in
    two months, and Bilaam’s fame spread
    far and wide. On the other hand, when
    he would consult his sorcerer
    paraphernalia and see that the fellow
    was not going to get better, Bilaam
    would say to him “Sorry. I can’t help
    you. You are doomed.” Either way, he
    established his reputation as a person
    who possessed the “Koach HaBracha“.
    But if truth be told, Balak was also a
    sorcerer, and he knew that Bilaam’s
    whole “power” to bless was a mirage,

    using sorcery. Therefore, when Balak
    came to Bilaam, Balak said: “Listen, I
    know that the person you bless IS
    BLESSED (already). I know that is the
    only reason your “blessings” work, so I
    am not going to ask you to give us a
    bracha. But I know that those who you
    curse, they WILL BE CURSED. I can
    ask you to curse because you have the
    power to recognize the auspicious
    moment when the Almighty is Angry,
    and therefore when your curses may be
    effective. For this reason, I ask you to
    curse our enemies –Klal Yisrael.