Being Guided by Fear
Midrash Tanchuma 22:2
讜讬讙专 诇砖讜谉 讙专, 砖讛讬讜 专讜讗讬谉 诇注爪诪谉 讙专讬诐 讘注讜诇诐. 讗诪专讜: 讬专讚讜 诇诪爪专讬诐 诇讙讜专 讜讗讞讝讜 讗讜转讛 讜诪砖讻讬专讬谉 讛讬讜 诇讛诐 讘转讬诐, 砖谞讗诪专: (砖诪讜转 讙)讜砖讗诇讛 讗砖讛 诪砖讻谞转讛 讜诪讙专转 讘讬转讛
讚讘专 讗讞专: 讜讬讙专 诇砖讜谉 讬专讗讛, 砖讛讬讜 诪转讬专讗讬谉 砖专讗讜 讻诇 讛讗讜诪讜转 讘讬讚 讬砖专讗诇
“Moab was alarmed because that people was so numerous. Moab dreaded the Israelites” (Numbers 22:2). The root of the word “alarmed” is similar to and derived from the word “stranger” because Moab saw themselves as strangers, as it says that they went down to Egypt and took possession of it, and the text reads, “Each woman shall borrow from her neighbor and the lodger in her house” (Exodus 3:22). Another way to interpret this word is that “vayagor” is the language of fear, that is to say that Moab was afraid when they saw all of the land in the hands of the Israelites.
The midrash cited above provides two answers as to why Balak, the king of Moab, would send out the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. Both answers state fear as the emotion that provokes the desire to curse the Israelites, but they differ in identifying the root cause of the fear. The first answer provided states that the Moabites’ self-perception as foreigners leads them to fear. Regardless of their actual size and strength, Balak and the Moabites couldn’t see themselves as anything other than outsiders, dependent on the temporary hospitality of their hosts. This self-perception of weakness leads Balak to fear the Israelites, and to instruct Balaam to curse them. This fear is based in a past traumatic experience, the memory of being foreigners.
The second answer places the fear of Balak not in a past experience, but in present geopolitical realities. In the narrative context this midrash draws upon, the Israelites had just destroyed the entire Amorite people and taken possession of their land. Neither the text of the Torah nor the midrash seeks to assuage this fear. After all, given the recent destruction of the Amorite people, Balak and the Moabites had legitimate reasons to fear the Israelites. In the end, the goal of this midrash isn’t to give a deeper meaning to the fear experienced by the Moabite; rather, this midrash seeks to delve into the possible narrative and philological origins of a certain word. With that in mind, the exercise of exploring the root cause and origins of emotion, whether personal or national, provides the foundation for rational decision making. Had Balak been able to reflect on the complex origin of his and his people’s fears, he might have been able to lead away from a conflict with the Israelites.
