Hello and welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. Before we get started a reminder that we are scheduled for services on Friday the 25th at 7:00PM. It has been well over a year since our last meeting. Then on Shabbat we will hold our Midrash (Torah Study) starting at 10:00AM at the Shul. Hope to see many of you again.
This week we read Parsha Balak (Numbers. 22:2 - 25:9). It is named this because it is about a most difficult person by the name of Balak. To be sure, this Parsha may be one of the most fascinating psychologically-revealing portions in the whole Torah! Balak was the king of Moab and, after seeing all the nations that had been defeated by the Children of Israel on their march to the land of Israel, he became worried that his kingdom would fall as well.
So, What Did He Do?
Knowing that he would be defeated if he attacked with an army. He hatched a plan thinking the best way to attack the Jewish nation was by severing, or at least weakening, their connection to their “protector” – the Almighty.
So he hired a prophet named Bilaam to curse the Jewish people. Now Bilaam was a truly gifted prophet and, according to our sages, his prophecy was on the level of Moses. But Bilaam was a wretched human being; he was both immoral and greedy. However, G-d gave Bilaam these powers so that the nations of the world could not say at some point in the future, “If we had a prophet like Moses, we too would have accepted the Torah and would have lived according to it.” Bilaam is an intriguing character – honor-driven, arrogant and self-serving. Unfortunately, not too unique among mankind.
Meanwhile There Is Balak
Balak, the king of Moab, wanted to hire Bilaam to curse the Jewish people for a fortune of money. It is interesting that Balak believed in G-d and the power of invoking a curse from G-d, yet thought that G-d would change His mind about His Chosen People (G-d is not one to changes His mind). Bilaam was very desirous of the assignment to curse the Jews – more for the profit motive than the prophet motive.
The Almighty prevented Bilaam from cursing the Jewish nation and in fact he ended up blessing them instead. This of course infuriated Balak who felt he had been double crossed.
What Can We Learn?
It is most interesting that many of the words of Bilaam can be found in our liturgy. Specifically the verse: He sees no iniquity in Jacob, nor does He see transgressions in Israel, Hashem his God is with him and the friendship of the King is with them" (Num. 23:21) which we can find in the Rosh Hashanah service.
Remember the context here; Balak is really upset with Bilaam who had just blessed Israel rather than curse them. And so, in answer to Balak, the prophet Bilaam says the verse above. What does that verse mean and why is it so important?
Rashi comments that even when Israel sins, G-d chooses not to scrutinize those sins to determine the full extent of their shortcomings. The Sages explain that G-d is unwilling to delve into the sins of Israel because the people are zealous in serving Him, and so it is only fair that He treats them generously.
Oh, but wait! Ibn Ezra explains the verse in a different way. He says the second half is conditional on the first. Providing there is no iniquity in Jacob, G-d maintains His friendship. But, if Israel sins, G-d withdraws HIs kindness. This is what Bilaam came to realize. That the best way to harm the Jews was to entice them to sin.
And that is exactly what happens as we read in Chapter 25 where we read that Bilaam tells Balak that the way to destroy the Jews is to get them to act immorally. In fact, the only time the Torah speaks of G-d's anger as "wrath" is when He is provoked by...you guessed it...immorality.
The Plot Takes Root
We read in Numbers 25 that the Jews settled in an area and right away the women of Moab and their Midianite allies entice the entire population of men to have sex with them. They were so intent on this mission to cause G-d to curse his own people that even the nobility of those nations sent their daughters out to attempt to seduce Moses and the other leaders.
While that didn't work the women were able to call the men to dinner, so to speak, where they ate, drank and at the right time the Moabite and Midianite women took out their idols and the men bowed down to them...hey...the temptation was, shall we say, great.
Indeed the wrath of G-d was lit and He told Moses to hang every one of the men who had cohabitated and then His wrath would subside. But, it gets worse. A prince of one of the tribes takes one of the women to the Tent of Meeting where they engage in sex. There at the sight of the most holy place! What happens next saves the Jews. "Phinehas son of Elazar son of Aaron the Kohen saw, and stood up from amid the assembly and took a spear in his hand. He followed the Israelite man into the tent and pierced them both, the Israelite man and the woman into her stomach...the plague (what had descended on the people for their sin) was halted from upon the Children of Israel. Those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand." (Num. 25: 7-9)
The Lesson Is...
Here we learn a great lesson. The ways of the world can be a great enticement. While it's pretty easy to order a cheeseburger (who's going to know...right?) it may not be as easy or as simple to decide to murder another person but, know this, both acts are a transgression against, you guessed it, G-d.
Our purpose on this earth is to serve Him and the very best way we can do that is to be mindful of His commandments no matter how small they may appear. They are there for a reason and when we put G-d before these enticements we are making a choice. The choice that by being obedient to the will of G-d we are, in fact, doing our job.
Shul News
Once again, we'll meet for services on Friday the 25th at 7:00PM and then our Midrash will take place on Shabbat starting at 10:00AM. We hope to see you there.
Shabbat Shalom!
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