Linked By A Shared Future
In one of the most gripping scenes in the Torah, the Gentile prophet Bilaam has been summoned to curse the assembled Israelites on behalf of Balak, the King of Edom. Protesting that he can only say what he is instructed by God, Bilaam nonetheless ascends the heights of a nearby mountain, to get a commanding view of Israel - all the better to curse them. Each time he attempts to curse the people, and each time he is overwhelmed by God's mandate to bless. Finally, in a moment of personal envy and hope, Bilaam blurts out, "Let me die the death of the righteous. May my fate be like theirs!"