Lessons from a Blind Seer by Rechie Eisner

The Jewish Home | JULY 14, 2022

Torah Thought Present Tents

Lessons from a Blind Seer

By Rechie Eisner

“Oh, my darling Eeyore! You can speak! It’s a miracle! …. I’m so sorry I lost it and beat you…”

Isn’t that what one would expect Bilaam’s response to his trusted donkey’s oratory to be?

Imagine your pet suddenly opened a mouth to you? Would you be at all inclined to tell him he has made a mockery of you?

Yet here we have Bilaam, prominent prophet, seer, esteemed council to kings, saying just that. Parashat Balak reads like a comedy with our visionary continuously oblivious. It is clear from the donkey seeing, what Bilaam was meant to see, that our seer is somewhat blind.

Bilaam attests to this himself, “Vayomar…ne’um hagever shetum ha’ayin.” He said, Here is the speech of the man whose eye is…. Is what? Various commentaries translate “shetum” as both open and closed, with the Gemara telling us that Bilaam was, in fact, blind in one eye. Throughout the parasha, this blindness exhibits itself to be figuratively so.

One cannot help but ask, “How can someone so smart be so stupid?” This question hits me, because I have been asking it in numerous contexts these past few years. How is it that people I consider bright and good, whose opinions I would expect to value, believe things that are so beyond the pale? How is it, that they act upon these beliefs in ways that are dangerous to society?

This problem seems to be global. How is it that news commentators, despite the glaring evidence, cannot figure out who the good guys are and who the bad guys are? Who would expect the media to promote the cause of hooded thugs carrying submachine guns, advocating for mass murder, over that of those whose every song, dream, and action displays a yearning for peace? This, among an entirety of mind-boggling media distortion, hits close to home.

How is it that humans can be so deluded about reality? I believe it is in part because, as social beings, we are all perception impaired.

In our morning brachot, when we acknowledge that “Hashem opens the eyes of those who cannot see,” we are not thanking Him for the cornea transplants of a minority but are acknowledging that, in fact, if we look at things only from our individual vistas, or only from a place of group think, we get but a sliver of a glimpse of all that is. (See Ted Talk “Can We Trust Our Own Brains” for an interesting account on the subject.)

Knowing this, as my father, tz”b, would say, we have to do our best to think things through and then ask Hakadosh Baruch Hu who is chonen ha’daat, the Granter of perception, to “grant us knowledge, understanding, and intellect.”

In this quest for truth, how can we enable ourselves to find more clarity? Perhaps we can look at our “Blind Seer” Bilaam, to notice what gets in his way and in doing so acquire some tools to help us see what gets in ours.

The Tiferet Shmuel seeks to explain what Bilaam was trying to do in cursing Bnei Yisrael. He speaks about the three primary organs which drive all of our human actions:

Our Moach/brain, the source of our neshama, from which intellect arises.

Our Lev/heart, the source of desire/ taavot.

Our Kaved/liver, the source of middot/character traits.

It is our purpose to elevate our sechel in our moach, over our lev and kaved, so as to direct our middot and desires for good.

The Tiferet Shmuel says, that Bilaam’s aim was to cause Bnei Yisrael to fall victim to their bad character traits and desires. The first letters of Kaved – Lev – Moach, in that order, spells out kalem, meaning destroy them.

Bnei Yisrael however, when acting as a whole, prioritized the mo’ach over the lev and kaved, in the order that spells melech, king.

Bilaam, on the other hand, is a kavod seeker. This primary desire for honor blinds him and has him losing his vision all along. It is Balak’s promise of kavod that sets him on his ill-fated mission altogether and his sense of losing honor that has him in a personal power struggle with a donkey, among other things. (Not so, lehavdil, as when adults feel the need to show their wonderful two-yearolds “who is boss.”) In choosing our perspectives, it is helpful to ask ourselves whether there might be character traits (resentment, fear, selfishness, dishonesty, honor seeking) that might be driving our thoughts.

All this comes together very nicely in a Mishnah in the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot.

Whoever possesses these three things is of the disciples of Abraham, our father; and three other things, is of the disciples of Balaam, the wicked. A good eye, a low spirit and a humble soul, he is of the disciples of Abraham, our father. An evil eye, a haughty spirit and a broad soul, he is of the disciples of Balaam, the wicked. What is the difference between the disciples of Abraham, our father, and the disciples of Balaam, the wicked? The disciples of Abraham, our father, enjoy this world, and inherit the World to Come…. But the disciples of Balaam, the wicked, inherit gehinnom…

To summarize:

The disciples of Abraham Avinu possess: 1) Good eye (brain/neshama/intellect); 2) low spirit (heart/desires/taavot); 3) humble soul (middot/character traits)

On the other hand, the disciples of Bilaam HaRasha have: 3) Evil eye (brain/neshama/intellect); 2) haughty spirit (heart/desires/ taavot); 1) broad soul (middot/character traits)

In the disciples of Avraham Avinu, the good eye/brain/neshama takes precedence over the others. This is chochmah, the ko’ach of mah. As Onkelos explains, when Hashem breathed a neshama into Adam, he was granted knowledge and speech. It may be what is implied in Bilaam saying, “Mah tovu,” i.e. Your (koach)mah is good, and in

Pirkei Avot stating, “Mah ben talmidav shel Avraham Avinu,” the difference between the disciples of Avraham Avinu and Bilaam HaRasha is in the use of (koach)mah.

Why is this all so important? What does it mean to have an ayin tovah, in this context?

It means that one has the ability to set aside the desires of the moment in exchange for something of more value in the future. It is what enables us to avoid temptation, one decision at a time, in exchange future growth.

The Stanford marshmallow experiment conducted in 1972 demonstrated this point. In this study, children were offered a marshmallow which they were told they could eat immediately. They were also told that if they could wait 15 minutes while the researcher left to take care of an errand, they would receive two marshmallows when he returned.

What is fascinating about this longitudinal study is that it tracked into adulthood the four-year-olds who were able to wait for a second marshmallow, who were shown to do better throughout life, socially, educationally, economically, and in general wellbeing.

It turns out that the ability to delay gratification is key to success in all areas of importance. (Why else study for tests, work out, or plow fields?)

This ability to delay gratification, to know that it is all about the future, is the legacy of the disciples of Avraham Avinu.

Avraham Avinu is told to leave everything he is familiar with, to set off on a journey into the unknown, for which he will be blessed with eternal reward. At Hashem’s instruction, he sets off for the Land, only to be faced with trial upon trial, famine, war…

What I believe enables Avraham Avinu to flow with each challenge as it comes is his ayin tovah, his knowledge that everything in the now is for a future good.

This is, in fact, the Bris Bein Habesarim, the covenant given to Avraham, our legacy throughout generations. “Know that your offspring…. will be oppressed for 400 years…. And afterwards they will go forth with a great reward.”

Clarity about building for the future enables one to thrive through present struggles. Thus, Pirkei Avot tells us that the disciples of Avraham Avinu eat in this world and receive as an everlasting inheritance the World to Come.

It is all about the afterwards. And we, who have the benefit of the hindsight are able to glimpse our history’s hardships, along with beginning of the reward.

Having an ayin tovah is not something one is born with. It is something that can be learned, exercised, and developed. Hence Pirkei Avot calls those who have it “disciples” rather than “de-

scendants” of Avraham Avinu. By interacting with our children in ways that don’t encourage a Me Me Me Now Now Now Generation attitude, we are doing them a favor. We are creating “Marshmallow Kids” and are ensuring their future success, and that of society.

People with a good eye know that it is beneficial to everyone, themselves included, to help others through challenging times. People who have an ayin tovah are able to do without, for they see clearly that in doing so they are keeping alive those who did without in ways they will never grasp.

When we demonstrate this to our children and include them in the process, we are teaching them not to be victims. We are showing them that they can be part of a solution and ensuring a future in which they are resilient and confident.

At the end of the day, Bilaam HaRasha was able to see past his ta’avot and desire for honor and in his moment of clarity to say, “Erenu ve’loh atah, ashurenu veloh karov,” I see that it is not about the near and now. He was able to look out over the glorious expanse of Am Yisrael and see the good that they truly are and will be.

Unfortunately, the Bnei Yisrael he was speaking of, despite their miraculous existence, despite the fact that the nation of Emori had just fallen before them, could not see the breathtaking greatness they had and were. With their slave mentality, they were still caught up in the blandness of their desert menus and the desires that lead into the next parsha.

We, who do have the luxury of hindsight, can almost yell out to them, saying, “No! Just hang on. In literally a few more days you’ll be in the land flowing with milk and honey.” Yet, although we cannot say it to them, perhaps we can say it to ourselves.

When Bilaam said, “Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov, meeshkenotecha Yisrael,” How great are your tents oh Yaakov, Your dwellings, O’ Israel, he was not

It means that one has the ability to set aside the desires of the moment in exchange for something of more value in the future.

simply speaking to himself. He was putting forth the attitude with which we in our tefilot set our intention each day.

When Rashi comments about these words, that Bilaam noticed that the openings of Bnei Yisrael’s tents were not facing each other, I believe he is also saying that despite what looked from above like a vast unity, each person was an individual. Not looking into another’s tent enables one to avoid group think and confirmation bias. It enables one to process and to discern what is right and wrong for himself.

Looking at Bnei Yisrael from our vantage point, are we able apply this lesson to ourselves? Are we able to step beyond, to see what is? Are we able to see all the good we already have, all the promises Hashem made to Avraham that have already been fulfilled? Are we able to make decisions and direct our actions to create the future we pray for each day?

Let us learn from the parsha to create “Present Tents,” in which we are able together to “Ur’eh be’tuv Yerushalayim,” to see the goodness of Yerushalayim with our good eye. And then, may we be zocheh to the fulfillment of “Ha’rachaman Hu yanchilenu yom she’kuloh tov,” He who is merciful will grant us as an everlasting inheritance, the day which is completely Good.

Rechie Eisner is a morah who has made aliyah who thinks about stuff.