Let me start this week’s parasha piece of with a question: Do you feel puzzled, on some level, by the current surge in anti-semitism? Does it leave you, as it does me, with a desire to ask what exactly is going on in the universe? If you have any access to social media, you are too well versed in the irrational avalanche that is cascading against us.
Here’s the thing about the world that is so fascinatingly
brought out by this week’s parasha. What you think you know is going on in the
world is only a particle of truth of what is going on in the world. Let me
explain with a detour… Are you familiar with the not so trivial trivia question
of which parsha does not contain the name of Moshe? The correct answer is
Tetzaveh, but Parshas Balak comes awfully close. Moshe is mentioned in this Parsha
(when not paired with Chukas) only 4 times, and those in Perek 25, which
recounts the events after Balaam tried to curse Bnei Yisrael.
Perhaps you think I did not explain my declaration concerning
our complete ignorance of what is going on in the world. Well, in the entire three
perakim that describe Bilaam’s hiring and his attempts to curse Bnei Yisrael,
the term Israel is only mentioned 12 times – out of 81 verses (in 3 chapters).
And each of those times is explaining either the view point of Bilaam or are
part of his cursed blessings.
What is missing in this entire section of the Torah is any
indication of what Bnei Yisrael was experiencing at the time. Imagine, our
forefathers were just pleasantly encamped, and, somewhere high above them,
there is a powerful man shouting that which was meant to be a curse upon them.
Imagine, our forefathers were going about their daily lives collecting manna,
and, on a not-so-distant mountain, brachos – blessings – are being rained down
upon them. And all the while they have no clue – zip, zero, nadda. There is no
line in the Torah such as: “And Bnei Yisrael looked up from their tents and
heard the words of Balaam,” Or …”saw their enemy above them.” Or even, in
anyway knew who Balak or Balaam actually were at that point. There is no pasuk
that speaks of Moshe trying to stop Balaam or asking Bnei Yisrael to daven that
his words be reversed.
Parshas Balak reflects a truth of the world. There is SO
much more happening around us that we don’t see, so what we do see must always
be understood as limited.
Interestingly, one question that has been asked is why Balak
was panicking. From a geopolitical standpoint, one could argue that he was
panicking because Bnei Yisrael had just defeated the Emorites and the
Bashonites, which is true - but the entire fighting came about as defensive
action after the Israelites asked for permission to cross through their lands. Balak,
however, is Moav, and Hashem had no intention of Moav being displaced. But all
these events take place before Bnei Yisrael even get there. Balak’s narrative
starts off with him and his people being in a panic over the Israelites – who haven’t
done anything to them.
Propaganda. False rumors. Fear mongering…. Panick and attack…and
beyond all that are the orchestrations of Hashem. Sometimes, such as in Parshas
Balak, our people come away unscathed (although real damage occurs in the aftermath),
Other times, we face tremendous challenges, and we go through a terrible and
difficult period of suffering and then growth. At all times, however, there is
far more going on then we see. Above us, beyond us, away from us… curses are
turned into blessings.
So may we see it soon.
I wish you all a good Shabbas
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