16 Jul BALAK: THE FOUNDATIONS OF SPIRITUAL GREATNESS

The Mishna in Pirkeh
Avot (5:19) draws a contrast
between two very different
men – Avraham Avinu, and
Bilam.
Avraham, of course, was the
founder of our nation, one of the most
righteous men who ever lived. Bilam,
meanwhile, was a wicked man, who wanted
to place a curse upon Beneh Yisrael so they
would be annihilated. Even when Hashem
told him that He does not want Beneh
Yisrael to be cursed, Bilam kept trying,
though in the end, he was forced to bless the
people, instead of cursing them.
The Mishna says that Avraham and Bilam
had three opposite attributes. Avraham was
characterized by the qualities of Ayin Tova,
Ruach Nemucha, VeNefesh Shefeila. This
means he looked at people positively, he was
humble, and he was generous and not greedy.
Bilam, on the other hand, was characterized
by the three opposite attributes – Ayin Raah,
Ruach Gevoha, Nefesh Rechava – he looked
upon people negatively, was arrogant, and
was greedy.
We must wonder, are these the only three

differences between these two men? Avraham
was one of the greatest tzadikim who ever
lived, and Bilam was one of the worst people
who ever lived. This is like someone asking
us to find three differences between Hitler
and the Hafetz Haim. Really? Are there only
three differences? These two have nothing at
all to do with each other; they should not
even be mentioned in the same sentence!
The answer is that the Mishna is teaching us
about the foundations that led these two men
to their drastically different paths.
Avraham Avinu’s character was built on the
foundation of the qualities of humility,
kindness and generosity, whereas Bilam’s
character was built upon the qualities of
arrogance, greed and hostility. These
opposite foundations are what led to the
opposite results.
When Avraham journeyed to Jerusalem for
the test of the akedah, to bind his beloved on
the altar and prepare to slaughter him, he
went with his two nearim. Bilam, too, had
two nearim with him when he traveled to
Moav to curse Beneh Yisrael. The
word naar alludes to these three qualities:
Ayin Tova/Raah, Ruach Nemucha/Gevoha,

Nefesh Shefeila/
Rechava. Avraham and
Bilam journeyed through
life with these
opposite middot. And this
is how Avraham became
such a righteous figure,
and Bilam became such a
wicked person.
We might sometimes
wonder how it is that some
people who study Torah
do not act properly. If we
believe that Torah refines
and cleanses a personality,
then why do we
occasionally meet people who learn lots of
Torah but are not particularly nice, friendly,
courteous, honest or well-mannered?
The answer is that the Torah puts on a
journey to greatness – but that journey
depends on our foundations. Bilam was
granted great wisdom and insight; he was a
prophet whose prophecy is, in a sense,
compared to that of Moshe Rabbenu. But his
wisdom led him to evil, because his
“journey” was taken on a foundation of
bad middot. He started with negative

character traits, so he used his spiritual gifts
for evil. Avraham began his journey on the
foundation of hesed and other
positive middot, and so he achieved
greatness.
We absolutely believe that Torah refines
and purifies our characters – but only if we
begin the process with the right foundation,
with the foundation built for us by Avraham
Avinu, the foundation of hesed, of humility,
of graciousness, and love for all people. Once
we’ve established this foundation, the Torah
will truly make us great.