פרשת בלק- Abuse of Power

Byאלי קאמפף

Parsha - delving deep

במדבר כ״ב:ג׳

וַיָּ֨גׇר מוֹאָ֜ב מִפְּנֵ֥י הָעָ֛ם מְאֹ֖ד כִּ֣י רַב־ה֑וּא וַיָּ֣קׇץ מוֹאָ֔ב מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Numbers 22:3

Moab was alarmed because that people was so numerous. Moab dreaded the Israelites,

Who was worse Bilom who did not curse the Jews but attempted to or Balak.

The Gemora tells us:

Bilom does not get any reward in the world to come

סנהדרין צ׳ א:י״ז

שלשה מלכים וארבעה הדיוטות אין להן חלק לעולם הבא שלשה מלכים ירבעם אחאב ומנשה ר' יהודה אומר מנשה יש לו חלק לעולם הבא שנאמר (דברי הימים ב לג, יג) ויתפלל אליו וישמע תחנתו וישיבהו ירושלים למלכותו אמרו לו למלכותו השיבו ולא לחיי העולם הבא השיבו ארבעה הדיוטות בלעם ודואג ואחיתופל וגחזי:

Sanhedrin 90a:17

Three prominent kings mentioned in the Bible and four prominent commoners who are described in the Bible as men of great wisdom have no share in the World-to-Come. The three kings are: Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and Ahab, both of whom were kings of Israel, and Manasseh, king of Judea. Rabbi Yehuda says: Manasseh has a share in the World-to-Come, as it is stated concerning Manasseh: “And he prayed to Him, and He received his entreaty, and heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem unto his kingdom” (II Chronicles 33:13), indicating that he repented wholeheartedly and effectively. The Rabbis said to Rabbi Yehuda: He regretted his actions, and his repentance was effective to the extent that God restored him to his kingdom, but God did not restore him to his share in life in the World-to-Come. The four commoners are: Balaam, son of Beor; Doeg the Edomite; Ahithophel; and Gehazi.

Balak gets rewarded

סוטה מ״ז א:ג׳

וְהָאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב לְעוֹלָם יַעֲסוֹק אָדָם בְּתוֹרָה וּבְמִצְוֹת וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁלֹּא לִשְׁמָהּ שֶׁמִּתּוֹךְ שֶׁלֹּא לִשְׁמָהּ בָּא לִשְׁמָהּ שֶׁבִּשְׂכַר אַרְבָּעִים וּשְׁנַיִם קׇרְבָּנוֹת שֶׁהִקְרִיב בָּלָק מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב זָכָה וְיָצְתָה מִמֶּנּוּ רוּת שֶׁיָּצָא מִמֶּנָּה שְׁלֹמֹה שֶׁכָּתוּב בֵּיהּ אֶלֶף עֹלוֹת יַעֲלֶה שְׁלֹמֹה וְאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בֶּן חוֹנִי רוּת בִּתּוֹ שֶׁל עֶגְלוֹן בְּנוֹ שֶׁל בָּלָק הָיְתָה תַּאֲוָתוֹ מִיהָא לִקְלָלָה הֱוֵי

Sotah 47a:3

But didn’t Rav Yehuda say that Rav says: A person should always engage in Torah study and in performance of mitzvot, even if he does so not for their own sake, as through such acts performed not for their own sake, one will come to perform them for their own sake. He proves the value of a mitzva done not for its own sake: As in reward for the forty-two offerings that Balak, king of Moab, brought, he merited that Ruth descended from him, from whom King Solomon descended, about whom it is written that he brought many offerings: “A thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer up” (I Kings 3:4). And Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥoni similarly says: Ruth was the daughter of Eglon, son of Balak. These Sages state that Balak’s reward was to have Ruth descend from him, not that a number of Jewish people perish. The Gemara answers: His desire, in any event, was to curse the Jewish people, and his reward for sacrificing his offerings was that the curse was fulfilled in the incident involving Elisha, as well.

Why is Bilom worse, if they both conspired together surely neither of them should get rewarded?

Bilom was a prophet.
what is a prophet?
What power did he have
what did he use the power for
what struggles did bilom have?
did he use it to help him or against him?
Abuse of Power is taking something which is powerful and should be used for only good and is used for bad to harm people.
Do we know anyone like that?
What powers did Hashem give us?
What struggles did Hashem give us?
Are we using them only for good and not to hurt anyone?
Many people do public abuse of power because they don't feel anyone will stop them, this is very very damaging
in our lives do we abuse the power Hashem gives us?
Every hardship Hashem gives us is for our good, we need to harness the power

מסילת ישרים א׳:כ״ו

נמצינו למדים, כי עיקר מציאות האדם בעולם הזה הוא רק לקיים מצוות ולעבוד ולעמוד בנסיון

Mesillat Yesharim 1:26

To summarize what we have learned, the primary [purpose] of man's existence in this world is solely to fulfill the commandments, serve [G-d] and stand up to trials.

Our whole purpose of being alive is threefold, do mitzvos, serve Hashem and stand up to a nissyon to our hardship, That is why we are alive. Someone who does mitzvos and serves Hashem but does not work on himself missed one of the fundamentals of life!