Existential Challenges in the International Arena
Parashat Hashavua – Parashat Balak 5785
Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald
In memory of my father, my teacher, Rabbi Moshe Shenvald, of blessed memory הֲרֵינִי כַּפָּרַת מִשְׁכָּבוֹ - May I be an atonement for his resting soul.
Eleven years since Operation Protective Edge, we remember Hadar Goldin HY'D and long for the return of his body for proper burial in Israel.
During the week between Parashat Chukat and Parashat Balak, many eyes will be turned toward Washington, for a most significant visit of Israel's Prime Minister to the United States. This is the first visit following the great success, with G-d’s help, of "Operation Raising Lion" (Am KeLavi), during which there was also unprecedented cooperation between Israel and the U.S., its strategic ally, but also an American dictate to halt the fighting at a time that suited their interests.
It seems that only a few insiders know what will be discussed there, what’s really at stake, what diplomatic opportunities might arise for us, and on the flip side, whether problematic political demands may be made in return.
The diplomatic and international arena is a sphere of existential struggle, very much like the arena of kinetic warfare. Alongside the military campaign we are currently engaged in, a parallel existential diplomatic campaign is taking place on the international stage. On the link between these two arenas, Clausewitz wrote: “War is merely the continuation of politics by other means” (from his book On War).
In the political arena, one doesn’t see armies clashing in tangible form, and there isn’t always a visible enemy whose moves can be tracked. Diplomatic maneuvers can strengthen a nation’s international standing, forge alliances to protect its national interests, which, if harmed, could impair military capabilities (e.g., through embargoes and such).
Some actions take place in the public eye, and we hear about them. Other actions are schemes that unfold behind the scenes, in secret. Sometimes they succeed and become visible onstage, and sometimes they fail, only the schemers knowing they tried and didn’t succeed.
This arena, too, must be navigated strategically, and when needed, even cunningly:
"כִּי בְתַחְבֻּלוֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה לְּךָ מִלְחָמָה"
"For by wise guidance you wage your war…" (Proverbs 24:6).
As far as the State of Israel is concerned, its status in the international diplomatic arena has always been uniquely complex. Some countries act toward Israel with hypocrisy, duplicity, and double standards, expecting from Israel what they would never demand from themselves or from other countries. In some cases, this behavior also stems from antisemitic motivations.
After the tragedy of Simchat Torah 5784, while our dead still lay before us and our blood had not yet dried, we received a wave of international sympathy through diplomatic expressions of solidarity, even from European nations. High-ranking diplomatic delegations came to visit and offer support.
However, once we began to fight back fiercely and make our enemies pay a just price, that support quickly turned to criticism, and later to sanctions, embargoes, and even arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Parashat Balak is a unique Torah portion because it describes a diplomatic, not military campaign intended to harm the People of Israel in an unconventional way: through metaphysical curses. This campaign involved a coalition between Balak and Balaam, along with the elders of Moab and Midian. It was a covert event that took place behind the scenes, known only to those involved. Their plot was ultimately thwarted, and the intended curse turned into a blessing.
The People of Israel only learned of it later through Moshe Rabbeinu. On this, the Talmud says:
וּמִי כְּתָבָן מֹשֶׁה כָּתַב סִפְרוֹ וּפָרָשַׁת בִּלְעָם
"And who wrote the books of the Bible? Moshe wrote his own book, i.e., the Torah, and the portion of Balaam in the Torah…” (Bava Batra 14b).
The Chatam Sofer comments:
"ויש לי לעורר בדבר אחד הנה אין לנו בכל התורה שום דבר שאין אנחנו בעצמנו עידי ראיה חוץ מפ' בלעם כי כל מופת מצרים ומדבר את הכל ראו עינינו ונעשה לפני ס' רבוא ולא נשאר א' מכל ישראל בחוץ שלא ראה וכו'"
"There is nothing in the entire Torah that we did not witness firsthand, except for the story of Balaam. All the miracles of Egypt and the wilderness were seen by our own eyes and occurred before 600,000 Israelites. No one was left out... But the episode of Balaam was hidden from our eyes.”
This expresses the nature of the diplomatic arena: many developments happen behind the scenes and are not immediately visible. At times, enemy plots are foiled before they can unfold, without the People of Israel knowing until much later.
What was the motivation that led them to form a diplomatic coalition and attempt to harm Israel in this way? Did Balak fear an existential threat to Moab, or was it something else?
הִנֵּה עַם יָצָא מִמִּצְרַיִם. אָמַר לֵיהּ: וְאַתְּ מָה אִכְפַּת לְךָ. אָמַר לוֹ: הִנֵּה כִּסָּה אֶת עֵין הָאָרֶץ, שְׁתֵּי עֵינַיִם שֶׁהָאָרֶץ תָּלוּי בָּהֶם, סִיחוֹן וְעוֹג, הֶחְרִימוּם וְכִסּוּ עֵינֵיהֶם, וַאֲנִי מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה
“Here is a people that has come out of Egypt.” He said to him, “As for you, how does it concern you?” He said to him (in Bamidbar 22:5, cont.), “’Look, they have covered the face (literally: eye) of the earth.’ [There are] two eyes upon which the land depends, Sihon and Og. They have destroyed them and covered their eyes. And [now] what do I do?” (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 4)
The fall of Sihon and Og destabilized the region's security and political order. However, from a strategic security standpoint, they didn’t really fear an existential threat:
וְהִנֵּה יָדְעוּ מוֹאָב כִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יִלְכְּדוּ אֶת אַרְצָם מֵהֶם, כִּי שָׁלְחוּ לָהֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׁלְחוּ לְסִיחוֹן: ״עַד אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ נוֹתֵן לָנוּ״ (דברים ב כט), אוֹ שֶׁשָּׁמְעוּ גַּם כֵּן מְנִיעַת הַשֵּׁם שֶׁאָמַר לָהֶם: ״אַל תָּצַר אֶת מוֹאָב״. וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ לְזִקְנֵי מִדְיָן: אֲפִלּוּ שֶׁלֹּא יִלְכְּדוּ אֶת אַרְצֵנוּ, יְלַחֲכוּ בְּרֻבָּם אֶת כָּל סְבִיבוֹתֵינוּ כִּלְחֹךְ הַשּׁוֹר אֶת יֶרֶק הַשָּׂדֶה, וְיִלְכְּדוּ לָהֶם אֶת כָּל סְבִיבוֹתֵינוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ לִשְׁנֵי מַלְכֵי הָאֱמוֹרִי, וְיִתְּנוּ אוֹתָנוּ לְמַס עוֹבֵד:
"Now Moab knew that Israel would not take their land from them, since they had sent to them [offering peace] just as they had sent to Sihon, [asking permission only to pass through their land], saying, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the Land which the Eternal our G-d giveth us. Or it is also possible that they had heard of G-d’s prohibition, when He said to the Israelites, Be not at enmity with Moab. Therefore they said to the elders of Midian: “Even though the Israelites will not capture our land, they will lick up because of their great numbers all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field, and they will capture all [the lands] that surround us, just as they did to the two Amorite kings, and they will make us servants to do taskwork.” (Ramban - Bamidbar 22:3)
Thus, it’s reasonable to conclude that the motivation behind the Moab-Midian coalition wasn’t merely defensive, to remove a threat, but rather ideological: opposition to G-d’s plan for the People of Israel to enter the Land of Israel and their rise on the stage of history.