Balak 5776 - English

Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik

Congregacion Kol Shearith Israel

Psychologists refer to the “Halo effect” as the phenomenon by which the most prominent trait of an individual –be it positive or negative– affects the way we see the rest of his qualities. In other words, the first impression is what counts and, generally, it defines the rest of our relationship with that person.

Several studies have demonstrated how we are conditioned –either consciously or unconsciously- by the Halo effect. In fact, advertising abuses this resource and uses celebrities to sell all kinds of things, assuming that our appreciation for that celebrity will generate a positive connection with the offered product.

I discovered the Halo effect in a very interesting book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by the Israeli Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kanheman (Economic Sciences, 2002). In it he demonstrates how our judgments are biased. We evaluate a declaration or a comment from our previous consideration of the person, without analyzing objectively the meaning of his words.

No matter how much we try to justify it, we must acknowledge that we act based on prejudice. Kanheman explains the appearance of the Halo effect from the necessity to find harmony in our appreciations giving us the possibility to be simple and coherent. However, and this becomes evident through any deeper analysis, the Halo effect leads to endless errors in judgment.

Our sages give us testimony on how to neutralize the Halo effect.

Anyone who is familiarized with prayer knows that the beginning of the Morning Prayer is Ma-Tovu, a group of biblical verses that must be recited when entering the synagogue. The first of these verses appears in our Parashah (Numbers 24:5), while the other three belong to the Book of Psalms.

We do not know exactly when the Ma-Tovu reached its present arrangement, but the initial verse, which is the one that interests us, appears in the Sidur of Rav Amram Gaon (Babylon, IX Century), the oldest liturgical compilation.

“Ma-Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov Mishkenotecha Israel”

“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!”

What is surprising from this verse is that the author is Bil’am, a gentile “prophet” hired by Balak, King of Moav (whose name appears in the title of this Parashah), to curse the people of Israel.

The Parashah describes the unpleasant events of a fablesque story (Bil’am´s donkey is the only animal to speak after the snake of Adam and Eve) where Bil’am –at the request of Balak– agrees to curse the Israelites but ends up blessing them, and not once, but three times.

The sages in the Talmud (Baba Batra 60a) state that what Bil’am saw was the way in which the Israelite camp was set up, where the placement of the tents was such that it respected the privacy of each family. Like the Malbim (Rabbi Meir Leibush ben Yechiel Michal Wisser, Eastern Europe, XIX Century) explains, the appropriate translation for the Ma-Tovu would be “How good” and not “How beautiful” are your tents. It is a moral quality more than an aesthetic one.

In another Talmudic passage (Sanedrin 105b), our sages claim that what Bil’am describes when referencing the tents and dwellings is actually the houses of study and the synagogues of the people of Israel (Mishkenotecha related to the Mishkan, the sanctuary of the Israelites) and this interpretation is possible what justifies the selection of this verse to begin the liturgy.

And that is the merit of our teachers. Beyond the discussion of the legitimacy of Bil’am´s prophecy and the controversy of whether he was a true prophet or not, they were able to move away from previous judgments and from the negative context surrounding the tale, to find in those brief words a jewel that would help us express the transition between the street and the synagogue. Our spirit is transformed when listening to the ancient words of Bil’am´s blessing, giving foot to the process that must lead us to a full liturgical experience.

There is something else in the choice of the Ma-Tovu that is worth noting. The sensibility of our sages is found not only in their capacity to neutralize the negative Halo effect of a highly questionable personality such as Bil’am, but also in the powerful message that comes from the fact that the words pronounced by a gentile –a non-Jew– should be chosen to begin our prayers.

Without a doubt, this is a profound lesson to counteract intolerance.

Shabbat Shalom

Gustavo