ספר במדבר

Numbers 23,7. “come then and curse Yaakov for me, ‎etc.;” There is a rule that each nation must possess at ‎least one virtue, [otherwise why would G’d allow its ‎continued existence. Ed.]This virtue is the reason of its ‎existence. Israel, on the other hand, possesses all virtues. This ‎posed a problem for the wicked Bileam who had been charged ‎with cursing such a virtuous nation. Bileam/Balak was searching ‎for a virtue possessed by the Moabites which the Israelites could ‎not match. Once he had isolated that virtue, this would be the ‎key to his successfully putting a curse on the Jewish people. This ‎is the reason why Balak, instead of using the word ‎קלל‎, when ‎asking Bileam to curse the Jewish people, used the word ‎ארה‎ ‎instead, as the word ‎ארה‎, from the root ‎ארר‎, means to isolate in ‎the sense of “to pin point, to single out.” The word ‎ארר‎ is closely ‎related to the root ‎ברר‎, “isolate,” usually the refuse, waste.‎When our sages (Bartenurah on Peyah 8,1) speak ‎of ‎אורה בתאנים‎, the reference is to the selection of ripe figs for ‎harvesting as figs do not ripen all at the same time.Apparently, Balak wanted to pinpoint a virtue possessed by ‎his people which was not shared by the Jewish people, and to base ‎this moral superiority entitling Bileam to curse that nation on ‎this virtue. This is why he referred to Yaakov, meaning: “in what ‎manner am I like Yaakov who possessed so many virtues?” He ‎went on saying: ‎ולכה זועמה ישראל‎, “so that you can proceed and ‎curse Israel.”‎ ‎