by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler
Fearing an Israelite takeover of Moabite territory should the People of Israel pass through his realm, King Balak of Moab summons the prophet Bil'am and asks him to curse the Jewish people. Try as he
might, Bil'am proves unable to do the king’s bidding, and the Parsha draws to a close with a host of marvelous blessings, perhaps the most beautiful things ever said about the Jewish People.
Bil'am also plays a crucial role in why this Parsha concludes on such a dramatically dismal note. “Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with Moabite women”. Nothing in this verse
could prepare us for the depravity that resulted in the terrible plague that cost the lives of twenty-four thousand Israelites.
The juxtaposition is striking. We have just finished reading about Bil'am’s wonderful blessings, only to discover that the people bfaltered on an epic scale, publicly fornicating with gentile women.
And a short while later, they worship idols of Baal Peor, committing some of the basest forms of idolatry in the ancient world. How did this happen?
Fearing an Israelite takeover of Moabite territory should the People of Israel pass through his realm, King Balak of Moab summons the prophet Bil'am and asks him to curse the Jewish people. Try as he
might, Bil'am proves unable to do the king’s bidding, and the Parsha draws to a close with a host of marvelous blessings, perhaps the most beautiful things ever said about the Jewish People.
Bil'am also plays a crucial role in why this Parsha concludes on such a dramatically dismal note. “Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with Moabite women”. Nothing in this verse
could prepare us for the depravity that resulted in the terrible plague that cost the lives of twenty-four thousand Israelites.
The juxtaposition is striking. We have just finished reading about Bil'am’s wonderful blessings, only to discover that the people bfaltered on an epic scale, publicly fornicating with gentile women.
And a short while later, they worship idols of Baal Peor, committing some of the basest forms of idolatry in the ancient world. How did this happen?