Bilam's prophecies in our time

by Rabbi Lazer Gurkow

 I grew up in the shadow of the Six-Day War. The impossible yardstick of this war measured every subsequent war in Israel. It redefined the term blitzkrieg as Israel rebuffed a three-nation attack and came away with land from each of them.

All this changed when we woke up on Friday, June 13, 2025, to the news that Israel had landed a devastating blow against the Iranian Nuclear plants, missile silos, and military leadership. The campaign lasted 12 days and resulted in the most asymmetrical victory in the history of warfare.

Israel crippled Iran’s military and nuclear ambitions without losing a single soldier or airplane. It absorbed terrible blows from Iranian missiles, brutally and cynically dispatched against civilian areas, but that did not lessen the magnitude of the mission’s success. This will now be the new standard bearer for Israeli military success.

Rising Lion
The name of the campaign, Rising Lion, was drawn from this week’s Torah portion. Speaking of the Jewish people, Ballam and Balak, our sworn enemies, proclaimed: 

“Behold [they are] a people that rises like a fearsome lion, raising itself like a lion. It does not lie down until it consumes prey and drinks the blood of its slain enemies” (Numbers 23:24).

Let’s unpack the biblical commentaries from across the ages, and you will see that this passage reads like a prophecy that foretells the events of this campaign.

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi), eleventh-century biblical commentator from Provence, explained that the Jewish people rise like fearsome lions to snatch as many mitzvot as they can get. They put on tefilin and read the Shema. If you were anywhere in Israel during the last few weeks, you would have seen thousands of people lining up to put on tefillin to thank G-d for His mighty miracles. Even when they suffered tragic losses and also when their homes were demolished with no loss of life.

Rashi continues to comment on the second half of the passage, “It does not lie down until it consumes prey.” As soon as the Jews lie in bed and recite the bedtime Shema, G-d rises and fights their wars to protect them from the enemy. We were all asleep the night the operation began. We were lying in bed, while G-d, working through the IAF, dismantled our sworn and bristling enemy.

Abraham Ibn Ezra, twelfth-century biblical commentator from Spain, along with Rabbi Bachye ben Asher, the great fourteenth-century biblical commentator from Spain, wrote that Ballam was referencing a war in which Jews would rise like lions and decimate their enemies without losing a single soldier. If Divine Providence did not select this passage to herald this war, I don’t know who did. In this operation, not a single Jewish pilot was captured or killed, yet the enemy was vanquished.

Rabbi Levi ben Gershon (Ralbag or Gersonides), thirteenth-century commentator from Spain, wrote that Balam was referring to the attention G-d focuses on the Jews. Due to G-d’s intense focus, they rise like mighty lions with spectacular power to destroy their enemies swiftly. On the first day of battle, the enemy was destroyed. By the time the operation wound down, the nuclear plants that threatened to destroy the Jewish land lay in smoldering ruin. With miraculous Divine assistance, we won our war.

Rabbi Yosef Bekhor Shor, twelfth-century biblical commentator from Orléans, France, wrote that Balam was taunting Balak. You thought you would bring them low, intimidate and punish them, but they will devour you quickly. The clerics and leaders of Iran never ceased to taunt the Jews and threaten them with annihilation. Today, their weapons are demolished, and we are hale and hearty.

Rabbi Obadiah Sforno, fifteenth-century biblical commentator from Italy, wrote that this refers to a war in which Jews rise against an enemy that has yet to make war. Jewish law permits fighting a battle to push back against a belligerent enemy even if the enemy has not yet declared war. Iran has indeed been bellicose with its threats over the years. In addition, it armed proxy terror groups to make war against the Jews. It also lobbed hundreds of missiles against our land and people. However, it had not technically declared war. Israel rose like a lion with a preemptive attack precisely as Balam foretold.

Rabbi Chaim Ibn Atar, seventeenth-century mystic and biblical commentator from Morocco, said Ballam was referring to Jews in their maiden attack. Though they would have no experience with such attacks, though this would be the first time they would try their hand at an operation of such magnitude, they would be as proficient as old hands and ferocious like hungry lions.

He also wrote that the words “He does not lie down” refer to their prowess at nighttime attacks. As night falls, and their enemy retires to bed, they rise like lions and press their attack. The initial nighttime aerial bombings included stunning eliminations of numerous high-ranking military leaders and nuclear scientists in Iran. They were caught in their beds just as Balam had forewarned thirty-three centuries ago.

Finally, Rabbi Atar wrote that this operation would result in restoring Israel’s deterrence. Nations would fear rising against the Jews after Israel displayed its stunning capabilities on the battlefield. Indeed, countries are lining up to sign peace accords with Israel. There are reports of impending agreements with Syria, something deemed impossible just last summer, and other countries will likely follow.

A New Dawn
A little later in the prophecy, Balam foretold that Jews would rest in Israel without fear due to their lion-like might. He concluded with, “Those who bless you will be blessed and those who curse you will be cursed” (Numbers 24:9). Balam did not compose those words; he borrowed them from our patriarch, Isaac, who said them many years earlier. “Those who curse you will be cursed and those who bless you will be blessed” (Genesis 27:29). Note that Ballam used Isaac’s words but reversed the order.

Our sages explained (Midrash Bereshit Rabah, 66:4) that wicked people initially enjoy stability and success, but their fortune turns, and they experience their downfall. They have their blessings first and their curses last. The Jews have the opposite fortune. They are persecuted, tried, and tested first, but eventually G-d reaches out to save them, and they prevail over their enemies. They have their curses first and their blessings last. Hence, Balam reversed Isaac’s order.

For decades now, Iran has enjoyed a free hand to fund proxy terror groups that encircle Israel in a noose while developing missiles and nuclear weapons as a backup. No one stopped them. If anything, nations signed treaties with them. It looked like dawn would smile on Iran for the rest of time while night would reign in Israel forever.

A new reality has dawned, and the tables have turned. The Jews are now free of this terrible albatross. The threats of Hamas and Hezbollah have been crushed, Syria has dropped off the map, and Iran’s missile and nuclear threats have been demolished. Iran’s wicked regime has enjoyed its blessings; it is now welcome to its curses. We have endured our curses; we are now welcome to our blessings.

My dear friends, as we chant the Torah portion this week, it is our privilege and duty to thank G-d for the magnificent miracles we experienced in our lifetimes. They are of the same caliber as biblical miracles, except that we were privileged to witness them. One good turn deserves another. As G-d turned to us in love to protect us, let’s turn to Him in love and demonstrate our profound gratitude. Let us thank Him and recommit ourselves to what He asks of us. May dawn break over a new day and may this day last forever.