The Hidden Meaning Behind Anti-Semitism2 min read

Forced to carry out the opposite of his intention to curse and destroy them, Bilam showers blessing upon the Jewish nation in this week’s parsha. These blessings from a non-Jewish enemy are exceedingly unique in their quality and reveal some deeply positive truths of the Jew’s experience wandering alone through a hostile world. In a definitive statement clarifying the identity of the chosen people, Bilam declares, “Hein am l’vadad yishkon uvagoyim lo yischashav”, “Indeed, they are a people that dwells alone and are not counted among the nations.” The Degel Machaneh Ephraim explains this verse in a beautiful way.

Endowed with an objectively true system of morality gifted to them by the Creator of existence in His holy Torah, the Jewish nation stands apart from the entire world. As the People of the Book, our nation has always conducted itself with an ever-advanced measure of education, civility, and nobility. The Torah’s laws, ideals, and precepts have enabled the Jewish nation to rise above senseless and immoral acts perpetrated by individuals and nations alike through the course of history. Our tzaddikim and their writings have long served as moral beacons of light, guidance, and clarity cutting through the dismal fog of a humanity which often runs the risk of sinking into the basest realms of existence. 

In order to preserve this elevated identity, it is imperative that we preserve a measure of distance from the nations of the world. When we allow secular ideals to shape the way we think, act, and feel, we run the risk of losing sight of our holy mission and forfeiting the elevated path upon which our forefathers walked from time immemorial. Devoid of an overwhelming awareness regarding the divine gifts that make us special and unique, we are unable to share those gifts with a world more in need of them now than ever before. The Degel Machaneh Ephraim teaches that in order to ensure that a certain degree of distance is always maintained, Hashem implanted within the nations an inherent aversion toward Jews. Even if they are unable to rationally explain their feelings, the general sentiment historically felt among significant segments of the global population is that Jews are lesser, inferior, even evil. This natural and unexplainable feeling prevents these communities from ever allowing Jews to grow too close. Jewish historians have long pointed out that large-scale violence against Jews was almost always preceded by assimilation and secularization. The enmity of the nations toward the Jews ensures that the boundaries remain clear and defined.

While the historical consequences of this reality have been vastly tragic, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim chooses to see the positive. He teaches that the scourge of anti-Semitism ensures that no matter how they try to assimilate and demolish the borders that protect their elevated spiritual state, Jews will forever remain Jews, always conscious of their separateness and constantly forced to confront the implications of their unique identity.

The tzaddik teaches that this is the deeper meaning of  Bilam’s blessing. It is because the Jews must ever remain “Am l’vadad yishkon” , “A people that dwells alone”, Hashem made it so that “Uvagoyim lo yischashav” , they should not be important (“chashuv”) in the eyes of the nations. The rest of the world will always see am Yisrael as being inferior so as to prevent them from growing too close. In this way, our national identity of holiness and elevation will ever be preserved.