Seeing the Bigger Picture: Balak 5786

 This piece by Rabbi Kenigsberg was first posted in our Hanassi Highlights, Thursday 25 June 2026. Thanks to ChatGPT, you can also read the Ivrit translation here.

Seeing is not the same as understanding. Two people can look at the same reality and perceive entirely different worlds. One sees a collection of isolated events; the other sees a story. One sees only human action; the other discerns a deeper purpose.

Few examples illustrate this more clearly than the contrast between Yitro and Balak. Both were outsiders who encountered the extraordinary rise of the Jewish people. Both were confronted by the same historical reality. Yet one chose to join that story, while the other sought to destroy it.

The Torah hints at the difference in the opening verses of their respective parshiyot. Parshat Balak begins: “And Balak son of Tzippor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorites”. Parshat Yitro begins: “And Yitro heard all that God had done for Moshe and for Israel His people”.

The distinction is subtle but profound. Balak saw what Israel did. Yitro understood what God did. Balak focused on the immediate events unfolding before him. He saw military victories, political developments, and shifting balances of power. Some note that he saw what Israel had done to the Emorites, but failed to consider what had brought those events about. He saw the latest chapter of the story but ignored the chapters that came before it.

Yitro looked at the same reality and reached a completely different conclusion. He recognized that something larger was unfolding before his eyes. The story was not simply about a nation emerging from slavery and defeating its enemies. It was about God's presence in history and His relationship with His people.

This contrast reappears later in the parsha. When Balak sends messengers to Bilam, he describes Israel as a nation that "came out of Egypt." For him, the Exodus was an event of the distant past.

Yet when Bilam speaks prophetically, he describes God as the One who "brings them out of Egypt" (Bamidbar 23:22). Not who brought them out in the past, but who brings them out. The redemption from Egypt is described in the present tense.

The message is striking. Yetziat Mitzrayim is not merely a historical memory. It is an ongoing reality. The covenant forged at the Exodus did not end thousands of years ago. The story continues to unfold.

Perhaps this idea lies behind the Mishna's contrast between the ayin tovah of Avraham Avinu and the ayin ra'ah of Bilam (Avot 5:19). An ayin ra'ah sees only the surface. It sees isolated facts, detached from context and meaning. An ayin tovah sees more deeply. It recognizes the larger picture and understands that individual moments are part of a greater whole.

We live in a world saturated with headlines, analysis, and endless commentary. It is easy to become consumed by the events immediately before us. The challenge is to cultivate the perspective of Yitro rather than that of Balak—to look beyond the surface and to search for the deeper story.

The great story of the Jewish people did not end with the Exodus. It continues in every generation. The question is whether we see only the immediate events around us, or whether we recognize that there is a far greater story unfolding—of which we are privileged to help write the next chapter.

Shabbat Shalom!