Refreshing Visions--Balak

Refreshing Visions

D’var Torah for Parashat Balak

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

A joke has been making the internet rounds lately.  A salesman for a popular soft drink comes back from Israel, looking totally worn out and frustrated.  “What’s the matter,” asks a friend when he comes home.  “Why weren’t you successful in selling them the most popular soft drink in the world?”  The salesman explains:  “When I got there, I prepared a series of three cartoon panels.  In the first, you see a man lying in the hot summer sand, totally exhausted and fainting.  In the second, he is drinking an ice-cold glass of our soda.  In the third panel, the man is totally refreshed.”  “Sounds pretty clear to me,” says the adman’s friend.  “Yes, to me too,” replies the man.  “But nobody told me Israelis read from right to left!  They saw it all backwards!”

Sometimes misunderstandings happen because we don’t read the signals right.  Take this week’s Torah portion, Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9).  Balak, king of the Moabites, sees the Israelites towards the end of their journey to the Promised Land; they have withstood the harsh desert and the violent tribes and peoples that stood in their way, and now they are poised to overcome their final enemy—the Moabites.  Balak commissions Balaam, an internationally famous prophet, to cast a curse on the Israelites.  Balaam at first refuses but finally concedes, adding that he will only say what God tells him to.

On his way to a mountain that overlooks the Israelite camp, Balaam encounters a fiery angel, visible only to his donkey.  Trying to avoid the angel, the donkey veers from the road, and Balaam beats the animal.  This happens three times until the donkey finally speaks to Balaam and tells him about the danger only he perceives.

When Balaam finally reaches the top of the mountain, he sees the tents of the Israelites.  Intending to curse, he utters a blessing instead.  Balak, the Moabite king, is enraged; his intent was the exact opposite, and he had paid Balaam richly to do his bidding!

Once again, Balak sends Balaam to curse the people, and again the curses turn into a blessing.  On his third and final attempt, Balaam utters the famous words that convey such an exalted vision that they have entered our prayer book:  Mah tovu ohaleicha Yaakov, “How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwellings O Israel!”  After forty years in the dessert, shouldn’t the image Balaam sees be one of an exhausted and worn-out people? 

A similar image struck me just a couple of days ago, as the plane I was on descended towards Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.  Summer had already begun in our land, and I could imagine the heat and humidity that awaited me below.  But from my perspective, it all looked so orderly and cool!  Traffic on the roads seemed to flow evenly and easily.  New and sparkling high-rise apartment buildings alternated with older houses easily recognizable by the red-tile roofs favored by Israelis in the 1940’s and 50’s.  Urban areas alternated with orchards and fields, creating a multi-colored jigsaw pattern astounding with geometric beauty.

Considering that almost none of this was a reality fifty years ago; considering that just 67 years ago we emerged from a Holocaust that destroyed half of our people; considering that the majority of those who built up this amazing country came here with nothing but the clothes on their back, the vision that now unfolded before my eyes was nothing short of miraculous.

It all depends on how you look at things.  You could see a people worn by thousands of years of wandering and hatred, or you could see a people whose blood pulses with purpose and amazing vitality.  You could see a land beleaguered by enemies from within and without, or you could see a people whose confidence and self-assurance amaze all those who behold them.

For six days a week, you see a people working at least one job to keep up with the demands of security and the economy; the roads are crowded with impatient drivers, while the heat and humidity drive you to seek shade and air-conditioning wherever these can be found.

On Shabbat, however, things are different.  Everything seems to slow down and stop.  Families and friends gather in synagogues or around a table laden with all sorts of wonderful foods.  It’s as though someone has uttered a magic spell on the land.  A blessing.  How wonderful, how goodly indeed are the tents of Jacob, the dwellings of our people in our Land, Israel.

This prayer and blessing is part and parcel of our entire being.  It’s hard to understand unless you’ve been there and seen it yourself. 

Just be sure to read from right to left.

©2012 by Boaz D. Heilman