By Rabbi Marc D. Angel Balak, king of Moab, hired Bil'am to
curse the people of Israel. Balak feared the advancing
Israelites, and believed that Bil'am had the power to curse
enemies and thereby destroy them. The Torah portion describes
Bil'am's various attempts to curse Israel--but each time, God
put words of blessing into his mouth. He simply was not able to
curse Israel. The Israelites would have been totally unaware of
the machinations of Balak and Bil'am. But even if they had been
aware and even if Bil'am had uttered a curse--what difference
would that have made? Surely we do not believe in the efficacy
of curses. Certainly we believe that God's will prevails and
that no evil words could have changed God's will to bring the
Israelites into the Land of Israel. Perhaps this story has a
deeper meaning. Even though a curse has no objective power, yet
it may cause significant damage if the one so cursed takes it to
heart. If the victim of a curse believes that the curse can hurt
him, then indeed the curse can