How one verse became an ideological battleground

This article, written for the Sabbath reading of Parashat Balak in Numbers, argues that Balaam’s blessing of Israel became a proof text for competing Jewish worldviews. The Torah’s Balaam episode is presented as unusual because, unlike the rest of the book of Numbers, Moses is not the central prophetic figure. It also contains varied divine names, and it underscores that magical curses and omens cannot override God’s will. Balaam himself comes to see that God chooses to bless Israel, not curse it.

The author says the Torah preserved this story because it balances the severe crises earlier in Numbers, including the complainers, the lust for meat, the spies, and Peor. Citing Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, the article says the Balaam blessings show that even when God is angry with His people, that anger remains an internal family matter and does not mean He has abandoned Israel. The article adds that this is especially important today, because readers might otherwise conclude from the book’s harsh episodes that God has rejected His people.

The most political verse, the article says, is “Behold, a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” It notes that two Jewish movements claim it: Zionist nationalism and ultra-Orthodoxy. The nationalist reading, associated with the Natziv of Volozhin, treats the verse as a description of Israel living securely and honorably as a nation in its own land, while remaining faithful to tradition. By contrast, Rabbi Elchanan Wasserman’s anti-Zionist interpretation says Israel does not need a state or territory to be recognized, and rejects Zionism as a rival creed or even a form of idolatry.

The article concludes that figures such as Rabbi Kook also saw the verse as expressing Israel’s unique historical and moral mission. It presents the national reading as affirming Jewish dignity and sovereignty, and the ultra-Orthodox reading as a diasporic rejection of national restoration.