Mouth Off

Parshas Balak is a little bit of an outlier in the context of the other Parshios in the Torah. throughout almost the entire Sedra, Bnei Yisroel plays almost a supporting role to the likes of Billaam, Balak and their cohort. Not once throughout this portion of the Parsha is Klal Yisroel directly mentioned—they exist only as background players. Added to the fact that there are no Mitzvos that are learned from these Pessukim, as Parshas Balak is the lone Parsha in Sefer Bamidbar that includes no Mitzvos, it appears that we are meant to find messages and meaning in the activities of the Umos HaOlam that take center stage. In trying to do so, it may be useful to focus on the origins of the story, and how Bilaam’s unholy mission came about.

At the beginning of the Parsha we are told that, having seen what Bnei Yisroel did to the Emori, the people of Moav became nervous: “VaYakatz Moav Mipnei Bnei Yisroel”. As a result, we are told that their leader, Balak Ben Tzipor, went to speak with the Ziknei Midyan to seek their counsel. The Torah does not give us much detail about their discussion, except to relate the way that Balak described Bnei Yisroel: “Atah Yilochechu HaKahal Es Kol Sivivosenu Kilchoch HaShor Es Yerek HaSadeh: Now they will devour our surroundings as an ox devours the produce in the field.” Nonetheless, it seems that the conversation was productive, because directly after this encounter Balak appears to have had his plan in place, and he immediately sent a message to Billaam asking him to curse Bnei Yisroel. We are left then to wonder what discussion really took place at that time, and how it affected Balak’s thought process.

As is always the case, however, we needn’t wonder for too long, because of course there are ample Divrei Chazal that can be used to answer our questions.

Rashi, quoting the Medrash Tanchuma, points out that this meeting was in fact an anomaly, as Moav and Midyan were longstanding enemies, and would certainly not usually seek each other’s help. Their mutual fear of Klal Yisroel, however, was the unifying factor that brought them together. The Medrash also explains the impetus for their meeting, the reason Balak consulted the Ziknei Midyan in the first place: he knew that Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of this fearsome nation, had roots in Midyan, where he lived after he fled Mitzrayim, and he thought local insight would be useful. He asked the elders of Midayn: what is it that drives Moshe, what is his key strength? The Ziknei Midyan answered: “Ain Kocho Ela B’Piv”, his strength comes from his mouth. Based on this piece of information Balak decided to engage the services of someone who had Koach in his Peh: Bilaam.

There are a number of questions to be asked on this Medrash.

First, why did Balak specifically ask about Moshe’s strengths? The Passuk earlier tells us that Moav was scared “Mipnei Bnei Yisroel”, not “Mipnei Moshe.” Why was he investigating the origins of Moshe and not trying to determine the where the strengths of Bnei Yisroel lie?

Also, while the intelligence provided by the Ziknei Midyan, “Ain Kocho Ela B’Piv”, seems to have been useful to Balak, it is actually quite cryptic. What did they mean by this? Perhaps they referred to Moshe’s unbelievable Koach of Tefillah—but then why not say that his Koach in his Teffilah—why focus on his mouth specifically? This is especially curious given that we know that Moshe was a Kvad Peh, he had a speech impediment—why would the Ziknei Midyan assert that the source of Moshe’s power was the one area in which he was seemingly handicapped to an extent? And, whatever the meaning of “Ain Kocho Ela B’Piv”, why did the Ziknei Midyan choose this aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, who certainly had any number of Mailos? Perhaps the source of his Koach was his unflagging Anavah—why choose his Peh above all his other Middos?

In addition, it seems that Balak knew about the idea of Kocho B’Piv before speaking to the Ziknei Moav. As we mentioned, in his presentation, Balak speaks about Bnei Yisroel metaphorically: “Atah Yilochechu HaKahal Es Kol Sivivosenu Kilchoch HaShor Es Yerek HaSadeh.” In explaining why Balak compares Klal Yisroel to an ox, the Tanchuma says: “Mah Shor Kocho B’Piv Af Elu Kochav B’Pihem.” We see then, that Balak himself had zeroed in on the aspect of “Kocho B’Piv” and attributed it to all of Klal Yisroel. If so, what additional information did the Ziknei Midyan provide with their assessment of Moshe Rabbeinu such that Balak could now formulate his plan of action?

To properly explain these Medrashim, it would seem that we must have a better understanding of the underlying theme that is apparent: “Kocho B’Piv”, starting with how it relates to Moshe Rabbeinu.

The Medrash in Devarim Rabbah tells us that Moshe Rabbienu was a Kvad Peh only until Mattan Torah, after which he was healed, and became an “Ish Devarim.” The Shem M’Shmuel in Parshas Devarim explains why this was the case. The Maharal teaches us that a person’s power of speech, is where the Neshama and Guf meet, and the Peh represents this fusion. Though this idea touches upon topics we are less familiar with, it can help to think about it in a physiological sense: speech is essentially air, which is intangible, that is affected by the way we move physical parts of our body—our lips, tongue and teeth. Similarly, when a person speaks, his Neshama, which is spiritual and intangible, is affected by his physical manifestation—his Guf.

Moshe Rabbeinu, explains the Maharal, was a Kvad Peh because his Nefesh was on such a high level that it could no join with his Guf, precluding the synthesis necessary for clear speech. It is for this reason that the fact that Moshe was a Kvad Peh was in no way considered a Chiasron: it was the result of his elevated status. One Moshe received the Torah however, explains the Shem M’Shmuel, his physical existence was elevated to the point that his Neshama could now interact with his Guf and he became an Ish Devarim.

The Shem M’Shmuel discusses this idea in several places, and it becomes clear that Peh always represents the fusion of the Guf and the Neshama, the meeting of Ruchani and Gashmi. Accordingly, any being which does not have both a Neshama and a Guf cannot take advantage of the Koach Hadibur. Babies, for example, do not have even a basic use of their Neshama, and so they cannot speak, and the same is true for animals. On the other hand, Malachim or Neshamos cannot speak either, for they do not have a physical Guf. The Shem M’Shmuel notes, however, that throughout the Torah and Divrei Chazal we find instances of Malachim speaking to each other or to humans, and he explains that these beings can communicate with others on their own level, those who also lack the Neshama or Guf as the case may be, but not with anyone else.

With this in mind, let us turn to the discussion between Balak and the Ziknei Midyan.

As we saw, the people of Moav were afraid as Klal Yisroel approached, and the Torah tells us why: “Vayagar Moav Mipnei HaAM Meod Ki Rav Hu,” which literally means that they were afraid of Bnei Yisroel because they were great in number. The Sforno explains that Moav did not fear the military prowess of Bnei Yisroel, only this aspect of “Ki Rav Hu.” This is a bit difficult to understand: if not for the military strength that comes with the size of their ranks, what was Moav afraid of?

The Medrash HaGadol explains that the word “Rav” always refers to Malachim. Moav saw Bnei Yisroel approaching and noticed that they were protected by a ring of Malachim, and it was this sight that made them afraid.

Perhaps then Balak’s question to the Ziknei Midyan was as follows: “We see that Bnei Yisroel is accompanied by Malachim as they approach. It therefore stands to reason that they are doing the Ratzon Hashem, as embodied by their leader, Moshe Rabbeinu. If we understand from where his strength emanates, we can understand the strengths of his people, and seek to exploit them.” It was important for Balak to speak to the Ziknei Midyan who knew about Moshe Rabbeinu, because Balak assumed that Klal Yisroel’s spiritual successes, indicated by the protective ring of the Malachim, mirrored those of Moshe.

The Ziknei Midyan responded to Balak’s question by asserting that Moshe’s strength came from his Peh, as we saw, but they were working off old information. When Moshe Rabbeinu was in Midyan he was still a Kvad Peh, his speech was affected by his lofty spiritual existence. Thus, the Ziknei Midyan would have assumed that his key strength was the ability to live outside the world of Gashmi, suppressing his physical existence in favor of Ruchnias.

With this information, Balak was able to formulate a plan. To Balak’s mind, Klal Yisroel’s protective ring of Malachim was an indication of their success in following the path of Moshe, and so they too must be living an essentially spiritual existence. Only if they were successful in emulating their leader, relegating their Guf virtually nonexistence, could they have been considered successful. Balak therefore enlisted the help of Billam, who we know was one of the Nivei Umos Haolam. Balak assumed that as he had a measure of spiritual success, Bilaam could also described as Kocho B’Piv and thus serve as a worthy foil for Klal Yisroel.

The fallacy of this assumption, however, is revealed later on in the Parsha. As he travelled to curse Bnei Yisroel, we know that Billam’s donkey began to speak, and as we read the Pessukim it is clear that Billam himself had no problem understanding everything the animal said. As we mentioned earlier, though animals cannot generally speak to humans because they have only a Guf and no Neshama, ut they can be understood by others who share the same qualities. The message to Billam was thus clear: despite your standing as a Navi, when compared to Bnei Yisroel you have attained no spiritual heights at all, and can you can therefore understand the donkey who has no Neshama. Balak and Bilaam thought that their plan would be successful as Billam could harness “Kocho B’Piv” but they were indeed mistaken.

They were mistaken about the idea of Kocho B’Piv as well. They thought Moshe’s strength was personified by an inability speak clearly that resulted from his purely spiritual existence. What Balak, along with the Ziknei Midyan and Billam himself, did not understand is that Moshe Rabbienu was no longer a Kvad Peh, because he had reached a new level: after Matan Torah his Guf was elevated to a point that it could interact even with his lofty Neshama. In this sense Moshe truly typified one who was Kocho B’Piv because he knew how to merge the Guf and Neshama properly.

Indeed, this is the standard we are held to: rather than living an austere lifestyle, having as little contact with the physical world as possible, we are charged with elevating our physical existence. On our own levels we can accomplish the same feat as Moshe Rabbeinu, using our contact the Torah and Mitzvos to elevate our physical existence. If we make the mistake of Balak and Bilaam, assuming that we can be successful only if we spurn the physical world, we set ourselves up to fail just as they did. If, however, we seek to elevate our Gashmi to interact with and complement our Ruchni, we too can reach a level of true “Kocho B’Piv.”