Parashat Balak 5785, 2025: "Mah Tovu!"

Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Many of us upon entering shul recite the pasuk: “How goodly (mah tovu) are your tents, O’ Ya’akov, your dwelling places, O’ Israel!” (Sefer Bamidbar 24:5, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) The noted posek, Rabbeinu Yechiel Michal ben Aharon Yitzhak Halevi Epstein (1829-1908), gave his stamp of approval to mah tovu’s daily recitation in Aruch HaShulchan, Orech Chaim 46:17: “The text of tefilah to be recited prior to Baruch She’amar is printed in the prayer books. When one initially enters the synagogue he should say, mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov… (“How goodly are your tents Ya’akov…”)
 
Over many years, mah tovu has become one of the best-known verses of both our parasha and the Torah. How and why did it achieve this distinction? After all, it contains the words of the despicable diviner Bilam, whose two-fold goal was to lead the Jewish people away from Hashem and simultaneously destroy them. This is clear from his machinations leading to our people’s licentious behavior with the daughters of Moab, and the subsequent punishing plague (Sefer Bamidbar 25:1-9 and 31:16). As such, it seems counterintuitive that Bilam’s statement would become one of the most oft-cited pasukim of the Jewish people.
 
One way of understanding the popularity of mah tovu is found in Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 105b. It identifies the phrase, “mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov,” with batei tefilah and batei midrash and clarifies why it is shagur b’pive ha’am—recited by one and all:

R. Johanan said: From the blessings of that wicked man [Bilam], you may learn his intentions; he wished to curse them so that they [the Jewish people] should possess no synagogues or houses of study, [this is deduced from] “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob.” … R. Abba b. Kahana said: All of them [the blessings] reverted to a curse, except the synagogues and houses of study, for it is written, “But the Lord, your God, did not want to listen to Bilam, so the Lord, your God, transformed the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord, your God, loves you” (Sefer Devarim 23:6) (Translation, The Soncino Talmud, with my underlining and emendations)
 
In his commentary on the Torah, Torah Temimah, Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein (1860-1941) asks and answers a fundamental question regarding the above passage:

One of the curses was transformed into a permanent blessing, yet, it is not at all clear how R. Abba b. Kahana would know that it was solely this blessing (mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov) that was never converted into a curse. Perhaps we can answer this question in the following manner. Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 5a states in general, “Were it not for the Torah’s existence, the heavens and earth would cease to exist.” Therefore, since the continuation of the world is contingent upon the perpetuation of the Torah and its transmission through the synagogues and houses of study, perforce, they can never cease to exist. (Gloss on Sefer Bamidbar 24:5, note 9)
 
The great Chasidic Master, Rabbi Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717–March 11, 1787), in his seminal work, Noam Elimelech, offers a creative approach as to why mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov was the sole bracha that never changed into a curse, and the reason for this unique status:

This is the explanation of the verse: “Bilam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel; so he did not go in search of omens as he had done time and time again, but turned his face toward the desert.” (Sefer Bamidbar 24:1) This means that Bilam fully understood that the Holy One Blessed be He desired to bless the Jewish people [through his prophetic utterances] and not just to nullify his curses alone… Therefore, Bilam decided that he, too, should bless the Jewish people and thus thought positive thoughts concerning them. As a result, the Holy One Blessed be He placed the blessing of mah tovu in his mouth. Consequently, it alone, of all the blessings, retained its status, as a bracha, since it was the only one that did not have an evil intention inherent therein. (Brackets and underlining my own)
 
I believe that Rav Elimelech is teaching us a profound and powerful lesson. Beyond a doubt, Bilam was nothing other than a conduit through which Hashem’s bracha flowed. Yet, even he realized the singular nature of our people and our unique relationship with Hashem. As such, in a rare moment of introspective reflection and honesty, Bilam acted according to “… what is proper and good in the eyes of the Lord” (Sefer Devarim 6:18) and wholeheartedly delivered his eternal blessing to our nation.
 
Baruch Hashem, the fulfillment of mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov is undoubtedly one of the reasons we exist today. With Hashem’s help, may ever have the zechut to daven to Him in our batei tefilah and study His Torah in our batei midrash. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom

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