Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. Moab became terrified of the people, for they were numerous, and Moab became disgusted because of the children of Israel. Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this assembly will eat up everything around us, as the ox eats up the greens of the field. Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. He sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of his people, to call for him, saying, “A people has come out of Egypt, and behold, they have covered the ‘eye’ of the land, and they are stationed opposite me. So now, please come and curse this people for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will be able to wage war against them and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed.” (Numbers 22: 2-5)
The Torah portion of Balak is seemingly a simple story of Balak, a fear-stricken king of Moab, calling on a sorcerer Balaam to curse Jewish people, and G‑d turning curses into blessings. As always, there is more here than meets the eye. The Zohar notes that Balak was no slouch himself. In fact, he was a master magician and an adept of occult arts on par with Balaam. Why then did he need the help of Balaam? Why did G‑d allow Balaam to go to Balak if he didn’t want Balaam to curse the Jewish nation? How is it possible that the biggest blessing and the only prophecy about the coming of Mashiach (Messiah) in Tanach come from the mouth of Balaam, a pagan prophet?
According to the Arizal, as recorded by his principal student Rabbi Chaim Vital in Sharei HaGilgulim (the Gates of Reincarnation), both Balak and Balaam were reincarnations of two sons of Adam – Cain and Abel (Havel) – their evil sides, to be sure. Thus, Balak and Balaam were soulmates.
Before the primordial sin, Adam and Eve (Havah) were pure and holly – there was no evil inside them. The evil existed only outside, channeled by the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and personified by the serpent. As the Sages teach us, by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve mixed good and evil in the world so that, now, there is no good without some admixture of evil, and there is no evil without some good in it.
If we can say metaphorically that the Tree of Good and Evil was in a state of superposition of good and evil (as it is clearly indicated by the name of the Tree), by eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve entangled themselves with the Tree of Good and Evil bringing the world and themselves into a state of superposition of good and evil. Consequently, their children, Cain and Abel, had both good and evil sides to them. The good side was their G‑dly soul (nefesh Eloki), and the evil side was their animal soul (nefesh habahamit).
As taught by the Arizal, Balak was primarily a reincarnation of the evil side of the soul of Cain, although he also received an aspect of the evil side of the soul of Abel. Balaam, on the other hand, was primarily a reincarnation of the evil side of Abel’s soul although he also received an aspect of the evil side of Cain’s soul. Thus, besides being soulmates, Balak and Abel, complemented each other. They were, as it were, each in a state of superposition of being a reincarnation of Cain and a reincarnation of Abel, although, in different proportions.
On a more granular level, there is even a deeper reason for Balak requiring Balaam’s assistance. The good side of Abel, his G‑dly soul, reincarnated into Seth (Sheit) – a later-born son of Adam and Eve. Subsequently, it reincarnated into Jacob (Yaakov), and then into Moses (Mosheh). Thus Moses, being the incarnation of the holy side of Able, was the nemesis of Balak, the reincarnation of the evil side of Cain. Cain killed his brother, Abel. It was bad karma for Balak. Perhaps, he thought, it was time for revenge. That is why he was terrified of the Jewish nation.
But still, why calling on Balaam for help? Then there was another question nagging at me. Why in his blessings, Balaam used the same refrain referring to the Jewish nation by both names of its patriarch – Jacob and Israel? Let us look at the verses:
Balak the king of Moab has brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east [saying], “Come, curse Jacob for me and come invoke wrath against Israel.” (Num. 23:7)
Who counted the dust of Jacob or the number of the seed of Israel? (Num. 23:10)
He does not look at evil in Jacob, and has seen no perversity in Israel; (Num. 23:21)
For there is no divination in Jacob and no soothsaying in Israel. In time it will be said to Jacob and Israel, “What has G‑d wrought?” (Num. 23:21)
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! (Num. 24:5)
A star has gone forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel… (Num. 24:17)
While Jacob, according to the Arizal, was the reincarnation (gilgul) of the G‑dly soul of Abel, his brother Esau (Eisav) was the reincarnation of the evil soul of Cain. What role does the name Israel play here? I thought, perhaps, we can say that Jacob himself possessed both souls – of Abel and Cain. While he was mainly a reincarnation of the G‑dly soul of Able, he also possessed the holy aspect of the soul of Cain. If this were to be true, that would be really neat, as it would answer both questions. I checked in the Sefer HaGilgulim (the Book of Reincarnations by R. Chaim Vital) and, lo and behold, it was indeed so. On his good side, Cain represented the partzuf Aba or sefirah of Chochma (Wisdom). The holy side of Abel personified the partzuf of Zeer Anpin or the sefirah of Tiferet (Beauty). So was with our patriarch, Jacob – His name Jacob represented partzuf of Zeer Anpin and, therefore, was a reincarnation of the holy soul of Abel. His name Israel represented Chochmah (or partzuf Aba) and, therefore, was a reincarnation of the holy soul of Cain. Now everything fits together. Balak needed Balaam who was mainly reincarnation of the evil soul of Abel also possessing the evils aspect of Cain – a mirror reflection of our patriarch, Jacob-Israel. As the Kabbalah teaches, G‑d created the world ze, l’umaze – this opposite of that, i.e., the side of holiness and the side of unholy, spiritual “matter” and “antimatter.” Balaam was the mirror reflection of Jacob-Israel on the side of the unholy.
Let us now recall from high school physics the concept of interference. If you throw two pebbles into a pond, each will cause concentric waves to percolate throughout the pond. Where the waves meet, one can see a characteristic picture of interference. Interference is a process whereby two waves of the same frequency combine to reinforce or cancel each other. The amplitude of the resulting wave is the sum of amplitudes of the two waves interfering with each other.
What happens is that when two sine waves overlap, there are two possibilities: where the waves are in phase with each other, their amplitude doubles – constructive interference; and where they are in counter-phase with each other, they will cancel out – distractive interference. You can clearly see it in the following diagrams:
Constructive Interference:
Distractive Interference:
It seems to me, this is precisely what Balak was trying to accomplish. He was so terrified of the Jewish nation that he felt the need to double the power of his curses – double the “amplitude.” He needed to cause constructive interference with the soul of his soul-mate Balaam – so he called for him.
But why waves, you may ask? In spiritual worlds, nothing is ever static. A soul is in a perpetual state of oscillation – ratzo vashov – running (to its source) and returning, as the prophet Ezekiel saw in his vision “The Work of the Chariot” (Maaseh Merkava). Moreover, the personalities of Balak and Balaam being reincarnations of two souls – one of Cain and one of Abel – were in a perpetual state of oscillation between the two. This is what a wave is – an oscillation of energy, such as an electromagnetic wave. Recall, however, that a wave has both picks and throws. G‑d arranged it so that the energies of Balak and Balaam combined so that their curses turned into blessings. And, because they doubled in “amplitude,” we got the biggest blessings and the prophecy of the messianic redemption.
The primordial schism between the soul of Abel and the soul of Cain has been playing out through the history of the Jewish nation culminating with two messiahs – Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid in fulfillment of the biblical prophecy:
A star has gone forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel… (Num. 24:17)
A “star” is a hint at Mashiach ben Yosef; and a “staff“ is a hint at Mashiach ben Dovid.
Hi Alexandre,
I really enjoyed your article! Please read the below that connects to what you wrote. Its from my sefer Parallels in the Torah to be hopefully published soon. Regards Avraham Edery
Q Is there any evidence in the Torah connecting Pharoah and
Balak?
A Yes, as seen by the many similarities between the episode
describing Pharoah’s behavior toward the Bnei Yisrael and the
episode describing Balak’s behavior toward the Bnei Yisrael:
1) Both episodes describe the multitude of the Bnei Yisrael
with the same root word:
In the beginning of the Pharoah episode it says “The children of Israel
were fruitful, teemed, increased (וַיִּרְבּוּ) and became strong……; (Shemot
1-7),
While at the beginning of the Balak episode it says “Moab was very
frightened of the people, because it was formidable (רַב )”;
(Bamidbar 22-3).
2) Next Both Pharoah and Balak are considered new kings at the
beginning of these episodes:
"A new king (מֶלֶךְ-חָדָשׁ ) arose over Egypt, who did not know Yoseph;
(Shemot 1-8),
While the Balak episode read “Balak son of Zippor was king(מֶלֶךְ) of
Moab at that time”; (Bamidbar 22-4).
Rashi explains from the Midrash that Balak was a new king – that the
Moabites "appointed him over them for the necessity of the hour”;
3) Both Pharoah and Balak are afraid of the Bnei Yisrael because of their
multitude (RAV) and strength (ATSOOM):
He (Pharoah) said to his people “Behold the people, the Bnei Yisrael are
more numerous and stronger than we ( מִמֶּנּוּ רַב וְעָצוּם.)” (Shemot 1-
9)
While the Balak episode reads “Moab was very frightened of the people
because it was numerous (RAV) (Bamidbar 22-3),
It also reads, "Balak told Bilaam ” because it is more powerful than me
(עָצוּם הוּא מִמֶּנִּי) (Shemot 22-6).
4) Both, the Egyptians and Moabites were "disgusted in the face of the
Children of Israel”:
Concerning the Egyptians it reads,”…and they were disgusted because
of the children of Israel ( " וַיָּקֻצוּ, מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל “) (Shemot
1-12),
While the Balak episode read ” …and Moab was disgusted because of
the children of Israel (וַיָּקָץ מוֹאָב, מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ) (Bamidbar 22-3).
5) Both Pharoah and Balak express this concern to ‘his people’ (עַמּו )
using similar language:
The Pharoah episode reads “He (Pharoah) said to his people(עַמּו),
behold the people (הִנֵּה, עַם ) the Bnei Yisrael are more
numerous….(Shemot 1-9),
While Balak also expresses this concern when Balak “Sent messengers to
Bilaam….land of the members of his people (bnei עַמּוֹ)…..saying “Behold a
people (הִנֵּה עַם ) has come out of Egypt. Behold it has covered the eye
of the land….(Bamidbar 22-5).
From Rashi we see that both Balak and Bilaam are from Midian and they
previously new each other.
6) We see above that both Pharoah and Balak use similar language of
Behold a people (הִנֵּה, עַם ) when communicating their concern about
Bnei Yisrael:
“הִנֵּה, עַם , the Bnei Yisrael are more numerous…” (shemot),
“HINEI AM , has come out of Egypt….” (Balak) .
7) Next Both Pharoah and Balak recommend taking action to
destroy/curse the Bnei Yisrael:
Pharoah tells his people and advisers "Come let us act wisely to it….”;
(Shemot 1-10),
While Balak tells Bilaam "…Please come and invoke curse upon this people”;(Bamidbar 22-6).
8) Then both Pharoah and Balak try multiple times to destroy/curse Bnei
Yisrael, each time failing and the OPPOSITE occurring:
That is Pharoah appointed tax collectors(slave labor to build storage
cities) in order to reduce its population growth; then imposed heavy slave
labor; then they asked the midwives to kill the new born boys; then they
ordered the Egyptians to kill all new born boys,
But the opposite occurred as per, “But as much as they would afflict it, so
it would increase” (Shemot 1-12),
While each of Bilam’s intended curses turned into the opposite- a
blessing!
9) Both Pharoah and Balak ask the person/s they told to kill/curse the Bnei
Yisrael why they did the opposite:
Pharoah asked the midwives who didn’t listen to his order to kill the new
born boys “Why have you done this thing (מַדּוּעַ עֲשִׂיתֶן הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה )
that you have kept the boys alive ?” (Shemot 1-18),
While Balak asks Bilaam after he also didn’t listen his request to curse,
but instead blessed the Bnei Yisrael ” What have you done to me (מֶה
עָשִׂיתָ לִי)? To curse my enemy have I brought you, but behold, you have
even blessed” (Bamidbar 23-11).
10) Both the midwives and Bilaam answer that it was not possible to listen
to his orders:
“The midwives said to Pharoah, “….before the midwife comes to them, they
have given birth”; (Shemot 1-19),
While Bilaam says to Balaak "Is it not so that whatever Hashem puts
in my mouth, that I must take heed to speak”; (Bamidbar 23-12).
11) Both Pharoah and Bilaam harness/saddled their animals for their
voyage intended to destroy Bnei Yisrael:
Concerning Pharoah,”He harnessed his chariot and took his people with
him” (Shemot 14-6),
While “Bilaam arose in the morning and saddled his she donkey….”;
(Bamidbar 22-21).
Rashi explains that Bilaam hate made him do this (similar to Pharoah;s
hate of Bnei Yisrael).
12) Also, interestingly, both Pharoah and Balak consulted Bilaam
as to what to do about this particular Jewish problem; with its large
population and strength described above:
The Midrash explains that Pharoah consulted Bilaam his advisor on what to
do about the Jewish problem with its high population growth, and its threat
to Egypt… ,
While Balak also consulted Bilaam for similar reasons as explained above.
131
POTENTIAL MEANING OF THE PARALLELS:
Midda kenneged Midda Punishment
A Midrash in Bamidbar Rabbah 2-11 as brought down by Meam loez
explains that Bilaam, Yitro and Iyov were advisors to Pharoah in Egypt
(during the time period of our above episode) when Pharoah was
concerned about the size and strength of Bnei Yisrael). Since Bilaam
advised Pharoah to annihilate the Hebrews he was later killed by the sword
at the later episode when he gave advice to Balak (in our parallel Balak
episode above).
So we see that the Midrash already apparently connects the two
episodes, thus the above parallels act to provide the scriptural support for
the above Midrash that connects them.
We should note that Bilaam seems to have used the same strategy in
both episodes- that is to target only the males while leaving the females
alive. In Egypt the plan was to enslave and only to kill the males while
Bilaam’s strategy that he gave to Balaak was again, to target only the
males with the Midianite women to entice them to commit immorality. But
this time Bilaam got punished trying to do a similar thing which supports a
Midda Keneged Midda punishment.
Apparently Bilaam learned that a direct attack will not work as G-d will
defeat the enemies as he did in Egypt , so he decided that he must get the
Jews to commit immorality so that G-d himself will destroy them.
At a later date I asked Rav Amram Cohen who is fluent in Kaballa what the connection between Balak and Pharoah is ? From what I gathered he said the Arizal says that they both share the same source of their souls – that they both have their source in the soul of Cain. Seems he was saying that Balak is a gilgul of Pharoah. So this supports the reason why they acted in the same ways creating parallel episodes. I need to look into this more and the potential implications as to rectifications that may be happening here.
Thus far with the help of Hashem
Thank you, very interesting!
Thanks for your reply Rav Alexandre.
This all connects to the gilgulim you mentioned and other ones Arizal teaches that someone I know who is versed in Kaballa recently told me:
– Balaak got the bad of the souls of Cain and Heivel (majority was from Cain)
– Bilaam got the bad of the souls of Cain and Heivel (majority from Heivel)
– Jacob got the good from the souls of Heivel and Cain (as you mentioned)
– I believe Balaak was gilgul of Pharoah
– We know Moshe was a gilgul of Heivel (to name one) so maybe (need to check) had the good of the souls from Heivel and Cain? Moshe had same shoresh neshama as Jacob.
So we see in the Bilaam and Balaak versus Moshe (and Jacob) good versus bad – the bad of the souls of Heivel and Cain versus the good of the souls from Heivel and Cain. We see also that first Cain killed Heivel and then Pharoah (did he have bad of Cain’s soul?) oppressed Israel (and got punished) and then Pharoah as a gilgul in Balak tried again to destroy Israel and failed. Good wins out and it seems like a tikkun of Cain’s murder of Heivel is effected.
Please send me your email and I will send you a PDF attachment of some other interesting chapters on parallel Torah episodes I am sure you will enjoy.
Stay well my friend
Avraham
Good wins out. So we see from the article you read matching up Pharoah and Balaak that this consistent with the teaching (need to verify this) that Balaak is a gilgul of Pharoah!
To clarify, most of the gilgulim I list above were mentioned by you in your wonderful article.