An Indestructible People: Balak.22

 An Indestructible People

D’var Torah for Parashat Balak

By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

July 13, 2022

This week's Torah portion is Balak (Numbers 22:2--25:9). In this portion, Balak, King of Moab (a neighboring enemy of ancient Israel), asks the world-famous seer Balaam to cast a curse upon the Israelites. Three times Balaam tries to do as Balak bids him, but each time the attempted curse turns into a blessing. The most famous of these has become part of the Jewish morning prayer service, Mah Tovu: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!" (King James Version). 

It's hard not to think of these words this evening as I watch--live--President Biden's visit in Jerusalem, and particularly the moments he just spent at the Tent of Remembrance, the heart of Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It's hard to think of this terrible place, this dark "tent" built of black basalt stones from the area surrounding the Sea of Galilee, as "goodly." The eternal flame burning over the spot where ashes of Holocaust victims are interred provides almost all the light here. Engraved on the floor are the names of 22 concentration and extermination camps built by the Nazis in their efforts to annihilate the Jewish People. A choir sings a prayer of hope in this place where memories of suffering and hopelessness mingle with dreams of courage and determination. The President, obviously emotional, spends precious moments with two elderly survivors, going beyond the planned handshakes and holding with them instead a spontaneous, fifteen-minute-long conversation. 

It's an unforgettable moment. The recognition by the President of the United States of the tragedy and triumph of the history of the Jewish People recalls Balaam's prophecy, "Blessed are they who bless you, accursed they who curse you" (Num. 24:9). It was the United States’ vote that ensured the success of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 on Nov. 29 1947, resulting in the creation of the modern State of Israel. This wasn't as simple as these words might suggest. Anti-Semitism is an ancient curse, and as much as sometimes American Jews deluded themselves into thinking that this part of our history had been left behind in "the old country," we now know how blind we were. Still to this day, whether 

it’s BDS, the desecration of cemeteries, deadly violence directed against worshippers in temples and synagogues, or anti-Semitic sentiments expressed openly and broadly on college campuses and social media, it has become obvious to all of us that this murderous hatred still burns with undiminished intensity.

To hear President Biden expressing support and love for Israel, to read his words in the Yad Vashem guest book, is heartening. “It can happen again unless we remember,” the President writes. “That is what I teach my children and grandchildren—Never Forget.” 

The long-standing friendship between Israel and the United States is deep and mutual. There isn’t always automatic approval, but underlying this relationship is the understanding that the two countries are partners. Deep cultural and spiritual bonds, as well as matching technological and material aspirations, are at the foundation of this accord.

And it all goes back to the vision of Balaam, a blind seer who, thousands of years ago, understood the spiritual beauty and inherent strength that exist in an indestructible people called Israel. 

© 2022 by Boaz D. Heilman