Caricatures - For the first time, the Torah comes to examine the drives and motivations of the individual as the definition of his position in creation, for now that we have discovered חוק it is more important than ever to discover חומש הפקודים in a post קורח era.
The profound interrelationship of the חוקת ובלק in terms of the discovery of reality, including the unavoidability of the pure reaction of Pinhas as opposed to anything intellectual, a relationship expressed in the סמיכות בהפטרה: משה אהרן ומרים עמי זכר נא מה יעץ; the entire Torah being ויקר-ויקרא; the שעיבוד מצרים and the גאולת משיח ומלחמת עמלק being Bilaam; the contrast of בישראל כמשה; the ספרו של בלעם וספרו של משה; the בלעם presence in גן עדן and the בא על בעירו; the centrality of Bil‘am to the entire possibility of הלא בלכתך עמנו, all point to something so fundamental that it does not appear to make sense to turn it into a contrast of the nice-guy Avraham vs. the Bad-Guy Bilaam.
But the amazing presentation of Bila’am as caricature forces us to recognize the caricature within each of us. It makes us come to terms with the virtual reality of the magical kingdom, which is an actual magic lantern that builds movement out of רגע and the more רגע the more fps and the better the simulation, in a universe of chronons and Planck Time and Planck Length, the only reality would be the רגע and everything else is non-causal Gödel level connections not measured mathematically within the system. What then is the basis of our individual abilities to access some level of life? The very fact that the caricature also forces the recognition of the remarkable coincidence of the patterns of evolution asserting themselves over and over again in the most absurd ways while always clothing themselves in גונב דעת העליון means that it indeed boils down to the ערל element vs. מצאת לבבו נאמן לפניך; whether the דרך השם is the question or the דרך הטבע and Darwin is the solution while clothing it in something more. The אתון is central, and his lovemaking as an animal is central, with his ערלה and desperation, his silly needs and posturing, his presentations of himself, his ability to discover even love and true רוח אלוקים מחזה שק-י even while planning ways to make some cash out of the transaction. שכרו משלם ולא קיפחוהו; אם רע בעיניך; חרב בידי; אינו הכל גלוי לפניו ; לא אוכל דבר ;
The Mishna in Avot is based on the understanding of this parasha: there is absolutely no way to distinguish the level of גדלות ורוחניות based on anything but the caricature, or by discovering whether one goes to hell or to גן עדן. Indeed, Bilaam himself did not know, and remained doubtful to the last moment  This means that the reality of the תלמידו של בלעם או אברהם will always be a function of the מדות which reflect הגיד לך אדם מה טוב of our haftara  The very same שלש מדות of our parasha

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