One God, One People: Balak
By Rabbi Boaz D.
Heilman
July 7, 2017
The morning prayers of our Jewish rituals begin with the
famous line, “How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O
Israel!” The verse comes from this
week’s Torah portion, Balak (Numbers 22:2—25:9), as part of the prophecy of
Balaam, the blind seer enlisted by the king of Moab to curse Israel. From high on top the mountains of Moab, where
Balaam could view the entire Israelite camp, the curse he had intended to cast
was turned into the famous blessing.
“How beautiful are thy tents, O Jacob, thy tabernacles, O
Israel!” This verse comes to mind every time I fly to Israel. As the plane completes its descent over the shore
of the Mediterranean Sea, the city of Tel Aviv appears like a beautiful vision,
its houses, tall skyscrapers and roads spread like a living magic carpet.
Tel Aviv is the first modern city built in Israel. Founded in 1909, its name combines the old (tel, an ancient archeological mound) and
the new (aviv, spring). Today, more than a hundred years after its
first houses were built on sand dunes, Tel Aviv truly has come to be what its
founders had in mind. Ultra modern steel
and glass structures vie with older two- and three-story buildings with those
rounded corner balconies that typify Bauhaus architecture. Multi-lane super highways intersect narrow,
winding roads that bear the names of the earliest pioneers. Young yet firm saplings stand next to twisted,
bent sycamores whose leafy branches provide wide shade from the merciless rays
of the hot summer sun.
The aging population of the older sections of the city is
slowly giving way to a vibrant segment of students and business people whose
lifestyle has given the city its nickname, The White City—the city that never
sleeps, where restaurants and pubs stay open through the night and where the
traffic never stops.
Down on the ground, the neat patterns observed from above give
way to a hodgepodge that defies any semblance of order. And yet the city continues to burgeon and
grow, with 41% of Israel’s population now living in Tel Aviv and its environs.
It’s a mixed multitude that lives here; nationalities can be
identified not only by the many languages one can hear on the street, but also
by the many types of foods. Opinions and
attitudes span the gamut, and politics—everybody’s favorite (and loudest) topic
of discussion and argument—range from one extreme to another.
Truth be told, the Jewish people has never been easily
defined by either identity or culture.
Even in the famous verse from this Torah portion, we are identified by
two names: Jacob and Israel. The 12
tribes that once formed our ancient people have, in modern Israel, turned into
more than 30 political parties! Yet they
are all united by one concept: the need to exist and survive.
Israel is surrounded by enemies who have taken an eternal
vow to destroy the Jewish State. And yet
the majority of Israelis feel secure within their borders, confident that the
IDF—the Israel Defense Force—holds a military and intelligence superiority that
holds back all enemies.
This confidence, however, isn’t share by all Jews. Half of the Jewish people live outside the
State of Israel, and their perception is much less secure. The fault lines between Israeli Jews and Jews
of the Diaspora lie along societal, religious and political lines, at times
forming a gulf that seems unbridgeable.
In my many trips back and forth, I have come to understand how
differently the two groups view their existence. For one thing, Israeli Jews cannot understand
what it means to be a minority. Diaspora Jews, on the other hand, both in the
US and certainly in Europe, know that feeling all too well.
For many Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, the Six
Day War represents a crucial benchmark.
For the most part, those born after the 1967 war have no idea how close
to destruction the State of Israel was then.
There is little memory of the mass graves that were dug in the sands
outside Tel Aviv in the terrified expectation of the number of civilian
casualties Israel feared it would suffer.
Along religious and political lines the differences are just
as marked. Separation of State and
Church—a hallmark of American political thinking—does not exist in Israel. The current government of Israel consists of
a coalition that includes ultra-Orthodox parties that hold wide sway over many
aspects of life—to the chagrin of the largely secular population.
The differences between us sometimes threaten our unity, and
that, along with the reemergence of anti-Semitism, poses one of the greatest
dangers that the Jewish People face today.
This is partially due to political and social changes, but also because
of the proliferation of extremism on the Internet and social media. There is
little nuance or subtlety in an anonymous world where almost anything is
possible and everything is permissible.
But we must never let the differences between us outweigh
our unity. Judaism is more than a set of
laws and rituals dictated from above.
There is no dogma that mandates uniformity of belief. Judaism is both a way of thinking and a way
of life founded on a core of common beliefs.
But plurality, adaptability and acceptance are also built into the
system, permitting a wide variety of viewpoints and opinions. This has always
been part of our people’s strength and one of the sources of our creativity and
inspiration.
To the untrained eye, this may seem jumbled and confusing,
but from higher up—from the top of a mountain, from a jet or from heaven
itself—the tents of Jacob and the tabernacles of Israel are indeed wonderful.
The many colors are striking; the varieties of languages, foods, music and art are
stunning. To the politically naïve,
Israel’s government system may seem baffling, but in its diversity one finds
true freedom.
It is no coincidence that Balaam’s prophecy employs the word
“tabernacles” as a synonym to “tents.” During
Israel’s wanderings in the Sinai Wilderness, the Tabernacle was the dwelling place
of God among the People. Today, it is
still the place where Jews come together not only to worship God’s oneness, but
also to celebrate the opinionated, diverse, multi-cultural, multi-faceted and
beautiful unity of our Jewish People.
It is a unity that must not, and cannot, ever be permitted
to shatter.
© 2017 by Boaz D. Heilman
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