Num. 22:2 - 25:9
PrĂ©cis: Balak, the King of Moab, is fearful because of the success of the Israelites in war against other 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 angel and 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 local population), and he slays both of them and, in the process, staves off a plague that had been threatening the Israelites.
Num. 23:9 “For I see it from the tip of the rocks, and I behold it from the hills; this is a people that will dwell apart and not counted among the nations."
Balaam, tasked with cursing the Israelites, instead blesses them in this week’s reading. But this particular verse, uttered by him, is not so simple. In a d’var Torah, Rabbi Mindy A. Portnoy (z’l) of Temple Sinai in Washington DC asked, “Is that a curse or a blessing? Is it our destiny, or our hope? Is it our burden, or our glory?”
Traditionalists suggest that this prophecy is a blessing which means that Israel will be separated so that it can achieve its mission without interference. But history seems to favor the idea that this “blessing” is actually a curse. No other people in the world must continually justify its existence as a state. Israel is held to a higher (double) standard than any other nation, which in and of itself is an expression of pernicious antisemitism.
This double standard, of a people not counted among the nations, is the logical extension of the Nazi thought process that led to the Holocaust. The new “final solution” is through the delegitimization and elimination of the State of Israel. The world, as did Balak, seeks to curse Israel and the Jewish People.
We can take hope in the might of Israel to defend itself. We also should remember that, in the end, Balaam was forced to bless us: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwelling places, O Israel.” Today, in the face of danger and threats, we declare Am Yisrael Chai, The People of Israel (and the State of Israel) live!
