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Why did Moab fear Israel after seeing them defeat the mighty Amorite kings? Balak's kal vachomer argument that Israel would attack them next was logically flawed, since Israel was only reclaiming Eretz Yisrael from the Canaanites who had stolen it from Bnei Shem. The real fear was the massive population of Erev Rav traveling with Israel - who would need their own land to settle.
The opening verses of Parshas Balak present several textual difficulties that Rabbi Zweig addresses through a careful analysis of the geopolitical situation. The Torah (תורה) states that Balak saw what Israel did to the Amorites, yet it was Moab collectively - not just Balak - who became afraid. This raises questions about why general knowledge would need to be attributed specifically to Balak, and why Moab's fear required his particular insight. Rashi (רש"י) explains that Balak made a kal vachomer argument: if Israel could defeat the powerful Amorite kings Sichon and Og, surely they could defeat the weaker nation of Moab. However, Rabbi Zweig demonstrates that this kal vachomer contains a fundamental flaw that any reasonable person should recognize. According to Rashi in Parshas Lech Lecha, when Noach divided the world, Eretz Yisrael was allocated to the descendants of Shem. The Canaanites (including the Amorites) had conquered and stolen this land from its rightful owners. When Israel defeated Sichon and Og, they were merely reclaiming what belonged to them as heirs of Shem.
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Parshas Balak 22:2-3
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