According to the Midrash, not at all. It's a question that comes to the fore when we delve into Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically chapter 20.
The passage opens with the simple statement: “Balak son of Tzipor saw.” Okay, but what exactly did he see?
Well, the Rabbis of the Midrash don't think it's just a casual observation. They believe Balak, king of Moab, saw the future, a future filled with calamity for the people of Israel at the hands of all their enemies. He saw wars and enslavement – all the things they were able to endure, paradoxically. But Balak also recognized something else. This Bilam, this prophet he was about to hire, he was a game-changer, a person who could essentially uproot an entire nation with his words!
But here’s the kicker. The Midrash suggests that it would have been "preferable for the wicked to be blind, as their eyes bring evil to the world." Wow. That’s a pretty strong statement. Why?
The Midrash then offers a series of examples. Remember the generation of the Flood? "The sons of the great saw" (Genesis 6:2) – and what they saw led to corruption and destruction. Then there’s Ham, the father of Canaan, who "saw" something he shouldn't have (Genesis 9:22), leading to a curse. And even Pharaoh's officials "saw" Sarah's beauty (Genesis 12:15), which caused its own set of problems. In each case, seeing led to wickedness. And here we have Balak, and "Balak saw."
What's the lesson here? Perhaps it's about intention, about the lens through which we view the world. A wicked person, driven by selfish desires, will only see opportunities for exploitation and harm.
The Midrash continues with an analogy. Imagine a king who hires guards to protect him from an enemy army. He trusts in their strength, but the enemy overwhelms them. The king, witnessing this failure, is filled with dread. Similarly, Balak saw what happened to Siḥon and Og, two powerful kings he was paying to protect him. They were defeated by the Israelites. He was terrified! And he also saw the miracles that occurred in the Arnon ravine, as we also learn in Bamidbar Rabbah 19:25 and 33. Balak understood that ordinary means wouldn't work against these people. He needed something more, something supernatural… something like Bilam.
So, what can we take away from this? It's not just about the act of seeing, but what we do with what we see. Are we using our vision to build bridges, to understand and empathize? Or are we using it to exploit, to divide, to sow seeds of fear? The story of Balak reminds us that the way we perceive the world shapes the world we create. And sometimes, perhaps, it's better to look inward than outward.