Thought for the Day: Our Relationship with HaShem is Apparent even to Our Enemies

Learning again with my grandson this morning, I wanted to show him something about Bilaam's third attempt to curse Klal Yisroel. As I was looking through a chumash, he grabbed a siddur and said, "Zeidy, you don't need to search in the chumash, it right here in the front of the siddur." Nachas.

But let's take a moment to contemplate that fact. True enough, Bilaam was hired to curse Klal Yisrael, but he failed at every turn. HaShem was having none of that, and each attempt was turned to a blessing. Interestingly, by the way, the Gemara analyses Bilaam's blessings to uncover what his intent actually was. Be that as it may, why should any words uttered by the evil and vicious Bilaam be enshrined in our liturgy?

First, here is that amazing statement:

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹֽהָלֶ֖יךָ יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל/How goodly are your tents, Yaakov; your dwelling places, Yisroel!

Bilaam had no intention, of course, to bless our nation. We see from what came out of his mouth, in fact, that he was trying to attack from any angle -- both from our status as involved with worldly matters, as signified by the name  Yaakov, or from our more spiritual side, as signified by the title Yisroel. But what did Bilaam actually express? He saw a nation protective of human dignity even when camped in the dessert. He saw Shilo and the Beis HaMikdash; may be be rebuilt soon and in our days. Bilaam saw our shuls and בתי מדרשים/study halls.

The back story of this bracha, it seems to me, sheds some light on how it came to be so inspiring as to find its way into the beginning of our prayer books.

On this third and final attempt to curse Klal Yisrael, Bilaam sensed immediately that HaShem was still going to block him. Out of desperation, Bilaam had an idea: he would mention our sins in an attempt to provoke a negative response. In fact (see Targum Onkelos), Bilaam turned to the view where Klal Yisrael had sinned with the golden calf, he turned all of his attention to that egregious sin. Yikes! So what went wrong with his plan?

Imagine you have an employee who is usually pretty good, but steals from time to time. In fact, there was one time that he really took something valuable. You got it back, but you really don't trust him so much. Another employee, looking for a promotion, comes to you and reminds you about all the bad stuff the other guy did -- especially that one time that is still a sore spot. That might work, you know?

Now, though, imagine your child did something pretty despicable. Or your spouse. But you worked through things and you are now closer than ever before. The love that was always there has flourished. Now someone, anyone, comes from outside your family. Someone you know has always been jealous of your relationship. He brings up that very despicable event. First, he causes more pain than anger. Second, it is clear that he doesn't understand your relationship. Just telling him how much love there is will do nothing. Instead, you let him see how much love there is between you. Not just tell him, but show him. As he observes your interactions, it becomes so obvious to this vicious, jealous person -- now an enemy -- that he himself expresses the beauty of the relationship.

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹֽהָלֶ֖יךָ יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל/How goodly are your tents, Yaakov; your dwelling places, Yisroel!