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A people set out from Egypt on their way to the land of their ancestors. Their enemies feared them, not just for the physical threat they posed to their sovereignty and territorial integrity, but because of the revolutionary moral and spiritual message they carried. The king of Moab, aware of this new nation's growing strength, sought to undermine their status and image in the eyes of the world. To rally his people and neighboring tribes to war against these wandering nomads, he first had to break through their fear and turn the newcomers into a menace threatening all humanity.
To do this, he hired the services of an ancient prophet, what we might call today a leading public intellectual, renowned for his rhetorical power, persuasive abilities and decisive influence over public opinion. The region's armies were poised to attack the encamped people immediately after what would become an unprecedented incitement speech against an entire nation.
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Does it really matter what they say about us? Many among us believe that we cannot possibly withstand the tide of millions acting against us, on social media, in the press, on college campuses, in parliaments, and even in governments that speak against us with unprecedented harshness. The State of Israel invests next to nothing in the war for global consciousness, while our enemies relentlessly spread hate propaganda, bombarding international audiences with lies that paint Israel as the root of global evil and the main source of instability in the Middle East, fueling anti-Israel unrest around the world.
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This is how King Balak phrased his request: "A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and are settled opposite me. Now come and curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed" (Numbers 22:5–6). To defeat this people on the battlefield, to strike them and expel them, required an assault on their narrative. Balaam's curse was meant to erode Israel's sense of justice and undermine the deterrence it had created among surrounding nations, encouraging them to believe they could succeed where the mighty Egyptian Empire had failed: eliminating the nuisance.
Balaam accepted the challenge of neutralizing the perceived threat to the region, including to himself, for the spiritual message carried by this nomadic people was one of belief in a single God, unaffected by magic or omens. This people dared defy the cultural and moral norms of the time. Their very existence was an act of defiance, a living testament to an alternative spiritual and cultural model. Balaam was summoned to the epicenter of global communication to persuade public opinion that the highest moral duty of any civilized person was to destroy this people, whose mere existence endangered world peace. His mission: to stop the dangerous historical process of this nation returning to its ancestral land.
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More than 3,000 years have passed since then, and many have followed in Balaam's footsteps, trying to halt the Jewish people's return to Zion. The world is rife with conflicts far bloodier than the one between Israel and its neighbors, yet international attention remains fixated on the Arabs of Gaza. The disturbing contrast between global indifference to other conflicts and the obsession with ours shows that the issue is not Palestinian suffering, it is Israel. Where once they tried to block the return to Zion, now, whether consciously or not, they try to halt our consolidation in our land, especially our return to the biblical heartland, the cradle of our national identity, where the prophets of Israel once stood and proclaimed hope for humanity.
There is a reason even friendly nations resist recognizing Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. Israel's return to these places revives the spirit of the Bible and the moral message of redemption for the world. Look at whom the critics support. Look at their moral message as seen in the atrocities of October 7, and you will understand why they oppose Israel's very existence as the nation-state of the Jewish people. No other nation's legitimacy is debated in cultural forums, academia, and media - not over its policies, but over its right to exist. The intensity of the opposition, uniting disparate groups with little else in common, reveals Israel's central role in the story of humanity.
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"But the Lord your God refused to listen to Balaam. Instead, the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you" (Deuteronomy 23:5). The journey from Balaam's home to the scene of the planned incitement gave him time for introspection, to question the roots of his hatred and why he leapt at the chance to incite against a people he had never met. This self-reflection triggered a transformation - a shift in consciousness that planted doubt in his self-assurance. When he finally saw the people from a distance, the inner change was complete, and he stunned the world. At the pivotal moment, with the world watching, he uttered these eternal words: "How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?" (Numbers 23:8). Who am I to curse this extraordinary people? The king praised my ability to bless and curse, but I now see that this is a phenomenon greater than myself. "From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations" (Numbers 23:9). This nation's historical path lies outside the normal cycle of rise and fall experienced by others. Nations are born, grow, flourish, expand, reach their peak, decline and vanish. But this people, standing before us, has a permanent role in history. It is not counted among the others. It follows a winding path through the valley of the shadow of death, through war and peace, destruction and redemption. It may be exiled and shattered, but it endures, defying historical norms. Even in exile, it continues to contribute to humanity, and ultimately, it will return home. Balaam ends with a sincere plea: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my final end be like theirs" (Numbers 23:10). I want to stand with Israel, to help it rebuild in its land and bring blessing to humanity - and thus be blessed by its blessing.
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Balaam continued to speak boldly in defense of Israel, despite protests from his hosts and walkouts by some in the media. Near the end of his speech, he offered a cryptic prophecy: "Alas, who can survive when God does this!" (Numbers 24:23). Rabbi Yochanan, a third-century sage in the Land of Israel who lived under Roman rule after the destruction of the Temple, interpreted these words as a historiosophical principle: "Woe to the nation that is present when the Holy One redeems His children; who dares come between the lion and the lioness when they are mating?" Let the world take heed: The Jewish people have returned home. Their sons and daughters continue to return to Zion from the four corners of the earth. Woe to those who stand in their way. The historical reckoning is not yet complete.
