In this week’s parsha, Balak, Balak the king of Moav realizes he will not be able to defeat the Jewish people in war and that he must reckon with them on a spiritual level. He hires Billam, a Midianite prophet, to curse the Jews. Bilam tells God about the Jewish people, that they came out of Egypt (apparently it’s a big spiritual world and Bilaam, though a prophet, does not suspect that God is acquainted with the Jews) and his desire to curse them. God tells him, to Bilam’s surprise, that he will not be able to curse them because they are blessed. Balak offerres Bilaam more money and power and Billam tries harder to curse the Jews, but to no avail. Rashi quoting the midrash tells us that Billam in fact was a powerful a prophet as Moshe. Yet Bilam is called wicked and Moshe clearly is righteous. How is it possible that Bilam who is so wicked was a prophet?
The talmud in Sanhedrin (105a) strangely states: “Billam was a sorcerer through (the power of) his phallus.”
Billam has spiritual power, he is a prophet but something is profoundly faulty with his ability to use his prophetic powers for good. He means only to curse, to accrue wealth and power. This is symbolized through the gemara’s description of his spiritual power. His spiritual power is focused not through his heart, mind, or soul but with his penis. In Freudian thought the phallus is a dangerous tool in that in addition to its sexual utility it is also a symbol of aggression. Unlike the receptive female genitalia, the male’s is penetrative, symbolically representing the self talking over the other, the aggressive in human beings. This can be of course a holy thing in the right context, but it also presents, and represents, danger.
I think this is what the mishnah in Pirkei Avot (5:19) is alluding to in describing Bilaam and Avrohom as opposites: “Whoever possesses these three things, is of the disciples of Abraham, our father; and whoever possesses three other things, is of the disciples of Balaam the wicked. A good eye, a humble spirit and a moderate appetite he is of the disciples of Abraham. An evil eye, a haughty spirit and a limitless appetite he is of the disciples of Balaam, the wicked.”
The mishnah is telling us something fundamental about Abraham and Bilam. In the choice of these three characteristics we see a theme. Avrohom loves others, he makes room, sees them in a good light, and receives them. Billm is the opposite. He is utterly self centered, seeing others as unworthy, consuming, taking up all the space, and pushing his own power outward. May we merit to be the students of Avrohom and not Bilam.