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There is a verse in our weekly Torah portion (Balak) that describes the Jews in the land of Israel. It reads, “He crouches and lies down like a lion, and like a lion cub, who dares arouse him?” (Num. 24:9) It was the non-Jewish prophet Bilam who said these words, and both Rashi and the targum (Aramaic translation) say that it means that the Jews will settle the land of Israel with power and might. However, the Midrash (Breishit Raba 98:7) says something else. It applies the verse to the era beginning with King Tzedkeyahu (the beginning of the Jews in exile) and ending with the arrival of meshiach, the Jewish messiah. Since obviously, most of the time the Jews were in exile, we haven’t been living in our own land, we cannot apply the verse to how we have been living in Israel. It must be, according to the Midrash, that the verse takes on a more internal, private meaning.
According to the Tzemach Tzedek (the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l), the operative words in the verse are “crouching” and “lying down.” Lying down, and dozing off are allusions to the Jews in exile, during which we may be “down,” but we are definitely not “out.” We might have thought that the exile applies to our soul as well as to our body, and in particular to the activities of the soul, such as Torah and mitzvoth. But, when we look closely at the verse, we see that it describes us “lying down” as a lion or lion cub lies down. Nothing can force a lion to lie down. It lies down only if and when it wants to lie down. Similarly, nothing could have forced the Jews into exile. We have allowed ourselves to be placed in exile, due to our own deeds. The Jews have placed limitations upon themselves (via their mis-deeds), and positioned themselves for national contraction. This is what the verse means by “crouching and lying down.” Nobody put us in exile; we put ourselves there, just as if we are lying down or crouching of our own volition. And, since the exile is self-imposed, no other nation has true control over the Jews, even when we are not in our own land. When the lion is lying down, no-one dares awaken it, and so no-one dares touch the Jew soul in exile. There is only One who can “awaken” the Jews, and that is the One above, in order to take us out of exile.
This reality expresses itself in halacha – Jewish law – as well. The question arises whether it is possible to domesticate a lion. The halacha determines that no-one has full control over a lion. And therefore, even one who claims to have a lion as a “pet,” must pay damages if the lion hurt someone else (Choshen mishpat 389:8). Ultimately, the Jews have no business being in galut – in exile – and when we do mitzvoth, we remove ourselves completely from the influence that the exile might otherwise have over our souls.
Looking further into the parsha, the holy books (Likutei Shoshanim of R’ Shimon of Astropoli, commentary on the Ari z’l) tell us that there is an intrinsic connection between Bilam (the non-Jewish prophet who is the protagonist of our parsha) and Amalek (archetypal enemy of the Jews, descendent of Esau). There is a hint to the connection that you see when you write their names one above the other. If you write Bilam (in Hebrew) on one line, and write Amalek (in Hebrew) below it, both names appear not only horizontally, but also vertically. That is, by reading the first two letters of Bilam and then lowering your eyes to the first two letters of Amalek, you get the name “Bilam.” And the same regarding Amalek; if you read the last two letters of Bilam and the final two letters of Amalek, you will find yourself reading “Amalek.” This hint, an example of remez in the Torah, suggests that there is an intrinsic connection between the two Biblical characters. What might that be?
Both Bilam and Amalek could claim Jewish yichus, or family relation to the Jews. Amalek was a descendent of Esau, son of Isaac, and therefore a grandson of Abraham. And Bilam was said to be descended from Lavan, father of the two fore-mothers, Rachel and Leah. Both Amalek and Bilam could therefore make the claim, “I know as well as anyone else how the Jews should conduct themselves, since I am a direct descendent of either the forefathers or the fore-mothers.” And of course, being Bilam and being Amalek, two of the most evil characters in the Torah, they would not have given advice to observe Torah and mitzvoth.
So, how do you deal with these two characters? When somebody comes to you and says, “Listen, I’m from the source, from the ancestors of the Jews, and you don’t have to do mitzvoth,” what do you say? The reply comes from another, similar hint that we find. If one writes the Hebrew words for “fear” and “love” in two lines, one over the other, one again finds that they words may be read either horizontally or vertically. The words in Hebrew are yirah (“fear”) and ahava (“love”). If you write yirah over ahava in Hebrew, taking the first two letters of each word and then looking below as well as across, you will find the same words, whether reading horizontally or vertically.
Fear and love of G-d are the sources of our performance of negative and positive commandments, respectively. It is fear of G-d that motivates us to keep the 365 negative commandments, and it is love of Him that motivates fulfillment of the 248 positive commandments. One who cultivates and maintains his fear and love of G-d will not be persuaded by the claims of Bilam and Amalek. When it is not yichus (family relation) but our own intrinsic connection with G-d that motivates us, we will not be pulled off the path by false claims, however valid they may seem to be on the surface. If it is our own fear and love of G-d that propels us to fulfill mitzvoth, nothing should be able to shake us off the path.
From Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l, vol. 2, pp. 337-342 Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the old city of Jerusalem