Getting Passionate about God

Balak

Numbers 22:2 - 25:9

Précis: Balak, the King of Moab, is fearful because of the success of the Israelites against other Canaanite peoples. He hires a local magician named Bilaam to place a curse upon the Israelites. Bilaam begins the journey riding upon his ass, which refuses to proceed and actually talks to Bilaam, protesting Bilaam’s foul treatment of the poor beast. Bilaam sees an image of an angel, and he refuses to complete Balak’s mission. Balak reiterates his command to Bilaam to curse the Israelites, but instead Bilaam pronounces a blessing, frustrating Balak.

The parasha ends with an interesting narrative episode: Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron, sees an Israelite having sexual relations with a Midianite woman (a violation of a commandment not to fraternize with the Canaanites), and he slays both of them and, in the process, staves off a plague that had been threatening the Israelites.

Numbers 25:1-9 “While they were staying at Shittim, the people began to commit harlotry with the Moabite women….Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite women over to his companions…in the sight of the whole Israelite community….When Pinchas…saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand…stabbed them both…”

Aaron’s grandson Pinchas slays a fornicating couple at the conclusion of the parasha. At the beginning of the following week’s reading (25:10-13), Pinchas is rewarded with the hereditary High Priesthood.

Some commentators applaud Pinchas’ actions, while others condemn him as an out of control zealot who appoints himself judge, jury and executioner. While we will probably never come to a conclusion one way or the other, we can all agree that the story of Pinchas is about a passion for God.

As Rabbi Eric Yoffie has pointed out, the Jewish tradition has always struggled to find the correct line between opposites: between study and action, between ritualism and faith, between justice and mercy. We need the contemplative ability to calmly and meticulously study Torah, but we also strive for the ecstatic kavanah in prayer.

Today, we are all too intent on the “contemplative” and far too afraid of “passion,” particularly as it relates to God. Why? Part of it is the intellectualizing of society; part is a distrust of those who take horrid actions in the name of religion or faith. But we must come to terms with this dilemma, because if we lack a spiritual fervor, our Jewishness becomes mere intellectual curiosity and habit.