22 Jun BALAK: “WHAT’S GOING TO BE???”

Balak, the man for whom
this parashah is named,
was very worried. As
were the people in his
kingdom, Moav.
The Torah tells that Balak
saw Beneh Yisrael’s conquest of the bordering
territories of Sihon and Og. These two
kingdoms attacked Beneh Yisrael, who fought
back and captured their lands. Balak was
scared that Beneh Yisrael would do the same
to him.
The people of Moav were so frightened, the
Torah adds, that they were “disgusted”
by Beneh Yisrael (22:3). Rashi explains:
Katzu B’chayeihem – they were fed up with
their lives because of Beneh Yisrael. The fear
was so overwhelming and so debilitating that
they hated their lives.
The irony is that Beneh Yisrael gave no
indication whatsoever that they intended to
wage war against Moav. They conquered the
territory of Sihon and Og only after these
kingdoms attacked them unprovoked; at no
point did they express their desire to initiate
hostilities.
Moreover – Hashem explicitly
commanded Beneh Yisrael not to wage war
against Moav (Devarim 2:9). They could not

have attacked Moav even if they wanted to!
Moav’s fear, I believe, is an example of the
kind of gloom that afflicts so many of us.
People walk around with this fear of the
unknown, envisioning in their minds all the
things that could go wrong. They see and hear
things going on in the world, and they can’t
help but ask themselves, “What’s going to
be? What’s going to be with the
economy? What’s going to be with our
country? What’s going to be in Israel? What’s
going to be with our youth? What’s going to
be with the spiritual challenges we face in our
era of technology?
In our personal lives, too, we sometimes
can’t help but worry about finances, our
children, and other questions about our future.
Like Moav, people sometimes reach the point
of Katzu B’chayeihem, where they are
“disgusted” with their lives, because they
worry so much about what will happen.
But also like Moav, they are worrying and
ruining their lives unnecessarily.
King Shlomo teaches us in Mishleh
(10:16): Pe’ulas Tzaddik L’Chaim – “The
activity of the righteous person is for
life…” The Malbim explains that the
word Pe’ulah refers to the work a person

does, the process, irrespective of the
outcome. When a tzadik acts, the work itself
is “life,” is valuable and gratifying, regardless
of whether it produces the desired result.
The righteous person understands that
Hashem controls the world, that He and only
He determines the outcome, and so our job is
the Pe’ulah, to live the right way, to do the
right thing, to make our effort. The tzadik does
not ask “What’s going to be?” – because he
trusts that Hashem will take care of
everything. The only thing that tzadik asks
is “What do I need to do? How do I need to
live? What’s the best way for me to achieve
today?”
I once addressed a large group of single
girls. I told them that I was not letting them
out of the room until they promised me that
they would never see a married girl their age
or younger and say to themselves, “She’s
better than me.” I made them promise that
they would never think that there’s anything
wrong with them, that they were not yet
married because they’re not good-looking
enough, not smart enough, not rich enough, or
not from a good enough family. As long as
they’re doing their best, and working hard to
live the right way, there is nothing at all wrong
with them. Hashem decides the outcome; we
just do our best.

This should be our mindset in all areas of life.
We need to live with the confidence that
Hashem is running the world, that the outcome
depends entirely on Him. We do this by
focusing on the Pe’ulah, on the process, on
the things we can control –our behavior and
our decisions – and leaving the results to
Hashem.
The opposite of Katzu B’chayeihem is Pe’ulas
Tzaddik L’Chaim. If we want to feel happy,
confident and upbeat, we need to focus on
the Pe’ulah, on living the right way, and to
stop asking “What’s going to be?”