27 Jun PARSHAS BALAK: BILAAM LOST HIS SHOCK VALUE

Sages tell us an
astounding fact: that
Bilaam had prophetic
powers on par with
Moshe Rabbeinu. The
verse says, “There
arose not in Israel
another prophet equal to Moshe” [Devarim
34:10]. The Rabbis explain that there did
not arise another such prophet specifically
in Israel — but in the nations of the world
there did arise another such prophet. Who
was he? Bilaam the son of Be’or. [Sifrei]
We are therefore dealing with an individual
who had a relationship with G-d that we can
only dream about. And yet we see that he
had an attitude that is hard to fathom.
When G-d asked Bilaam, “Who are these
people with you?,” Rashi explains that
Bilaam answers G-d arrogantly: “Even
though I am not important in your Eyes, I
am important in the eyes of Kings.”
Later, in one of the most mind-boggling
incidents in the Torah, Bilaam does not
appear to be at all phased by the fact that his
donkey starts talking to him. He just

answers back and begins a dialogue with his
donkey as if it was an everyday occurrence.
How do we explain the paradoxical
personality of Bilaam? Rav Schwab offers
an interesting insight. G-d gave us with
certain senses. Most of us are blessed with
the senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch,
and smell. There is a sixth sense. That is the
sense of being able to be impressed. G-d gave
most human beings the ability to be
impressed by certain phenomenon in this
world.
This sense of being impressed (“nispael”)
is necessary for our service of G-d. The
Ramba”m speaks of a person becoming
impressed and overwhelmed with the awe
of creation, and of the wisdom and beauty
of nature. This is a sense that we need to
develop within ourselves — emotions of
love and reverence towards the Creator.
However, just like the other senses can be
deadened and destroyed if they are abused,
so it is with the sixth sense. If a person
listens to loud music for long enough, he
can lose his sense of hearing. If a person
continuously eats very spicy foods, he can

lose his sense of taste. Likewise, a person
can lose his sense of being impressed. How
does that happen? What costs a person his
sense of being impressed?
Rav Schwab suggests that a person can
lose his sense of being impressed through
gluttonous indulgence in every passion and
lust in the world. If a person is obsessed
with enjoying, taking, eating, consuming,
and all he ever thinks about is indulging in
the most obscene and gluttonous fashion,
then after awhile, nothing impresses him
anymore. He is so consumed with just
enjoying himself that nothing gets him
excited anymore.
If it seems hard to relate to this concept, all
we need to do is to open our eyes and look
at what is happening today in the western
world. Nothing makes an impression
anymore. Movies have become more and
more violent and explicit. Music has
become more and more outrageous. The
way people talk and the words we hear have
become more and more astounding, because
nothing makes an impression anymore. As a
society, we have lost our sense of wonder.

We have become coarsened.
To quote a piece in the Op-Ed page of the
Baltimore Sun, “America has lost its ‘shock
value’. Nothing shocks anymore.”
This is what happened to Bilaam. Nothing
shocked him. His animal spoke to him and
he took it in stride.
Everyone recognizes the seriousness of
losing a sense of sight or hearing, chas
v’shalom (Heaven forbid). We need to
recognize that losing the sense of being
impressed is also very serious. Losing the
sense of being impressed is a by-product of
the gluttonous and indulgent life that
Bilaam lived.