Sunday, June 29, 2008

Balak: The Force?

Underlying the text are some powerful messages that lurk just beneath the veneer of the words. One of them is the imagery of the sword. The first time in the story where a sword appears is in the hands of the angel that stands in the way of Bilaam. A donkey, frightened by the vision of the angel with the sword, veers off course and finally refuses to budge.

It is highly evocative and frankly bizarre that the Torah depicts a non-Jewish prophet, Bilaam, going out to curse the Israelite nation. On the way God sent an angel to impede the way of Bilaam. The angel wards off the donkey that the prophet rides on. Bilaam, unaware of the presence of the angel, continues to urge the animal forward. When Bilaam ultimately realizes that God has dispatched an emissary to stop him he confesses that he has sinned.

Yet, there is a problem with the text: how could Bilaam have sinned when he did not see that his way was being blocked? Can he really be blamed for sinning when he did not know the angel was there?


This was precisely the sin. Bilaam erred because he did not see the messenger of the Lord. He should have realized that there was an angel there but he was so preoccupied by his own thoughts that Bilaam was basically blind. How can this be? Being a person of vision is what a prophet does. He is supposed to see what others cannot! That is why the Torah states, Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell on his face.

Compare this episode to the one in Genesis where Abraham marches with his servants and son to the appointed place of the Sacrifice. When they arrive at Moriah only the father and son are able to recognize it. The servants, and the donkey!, see nothing. 1 This is the way of the real man of God. He sees. Making matters worse for Bilaam, he had already identified himself as a prophet of God. Surely then his inability to see the holy emissary of the Lord is at best evidence of a lapse in his seer-hood, at worst exposes him as a fraud.

Is this the sin of Bilaam? Early in the reading Bilaam is identified as a man whose blessings and curses becomes reality. At least that is what the king Balak believes and says. When Bilaam appeals to God for guidance he is told that the people of Israel are blessed and that he must not place a curse on them. What does this prophet then do? He mounts his donkey to level a curse at the Israelites! He even has the chutzpah to tell the king that he is not motivated by all the gold and silver in the treasury. Then why does he go? The only reasonable conclusions would be pure hatred, megalomania – Bilaam was in love with himself – or he was not a real prophet after all.

The Mishna makes its choice. It states, "Whoever has three particular traits is counted among the students of Abraham, and whoever has three other traits is among the students of Bilaam. He who has a good eye, humility and contentedness is a student of Abraham, while he who has an evil eye, arrogance and greed is a student of Bilaam." 2

This teaching would indicate megalomania on the part of Bilaam. He was consumed with his own power and prestige. He only saw what he was predisposed to see, i.e. anything that would advance his self-interest. Yet, how is it possible that even a self- consumed person would brazenly reject the spoken Word of God?

Looking at the tale carefully there is another problem. Torah tells that the elders of Moab and Midian approached Bilaam conveying the demand of King Balak. Bilaam replied they should wait until the morning because he first needed to consult with God. The next morning Bilaam gave his answer to the officials of King Balak. Wait! What happened to the elders of Midian and Moab?

The Talmud 3 tells that as soon as the elders of Midian and Moab heard that Bilaam was going to consult God, they went home. They said: "No father hates his son." These high ranking emissaries knew about the relationship between the Jews and God. They understood their cause was lost. Again we are confronted with the question, what was wrong with Bilaam that everyone, including his donkey, seems to know but not him?

The end of the tale of course is that Bilaam, against his will, blesses the Israelites three times. Afterward, however, Bilaam dies by the sword. Was it the same sword that the angel held when he stopped the donkey?

In the final analysis it is impossible to know what motivates a person to do what they do. What matters is what a person does. Like Bilaam, Hitler never personally murdered anyone. Yet his words brought millions to agonizing torture and death. Perhaps then this is the real lesson of the Torah: Be concerned with the import of what we say. It could lead to terrible consequences. An evil word maybe the equivalent of a steel blade. And when God speaks, listen.



1 Rashi Genesis 22:4-5
2 Pirkei Avot 5:22
3 Sanhedrin 105



Haftara Insight:
The "Remnant of Jacob" is community of faithful that have been loyal and are the linkage which connect the generations. The promise to Abraham has been kept. We are here.
The words of Micah conclude with a stirring and powerful message. It is the answer to the question: What does God want in return? "….He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord demands of you; but to do justice, to love loving-kindness, and to walk discreetly with your God. "


A Matter of Law:
The halacha to maintain only intimate relations with Jews is in this reading. As Bilaam makes fun of this nation we learn that mockery is unacceptable. Disagreements need to be kept serious and not reduced to personal attack. Finally, respect all people as even a mercenary like Bilaam can sometimes be privy to the Word of God.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Hukkat: The Ultimate Mystery

The mitzvah of the red cow is the most perplexing tale in the Torah. That is why it is called a chok, a mitzvah that escapes logic. Maimonides tried to understand it. King Solomon was confounded by it. For some unknown reason the ashes of the animal make pure the impure.

Perhaps the mitzvah of the cow is connected with the mystery of death itself. Death consumes endless hours of deep thought. We want to know that there is something greater, more lasting than the lifetime of a human being. We know that people have a limited lifetime, but is that all there is? There must be more!

When Miriam and then Aaron die in the parasha we are deeply pained. We have carefully followed their lives, hopes, aspirations throughout the long years of slavery and exile. Is this truly then end of their life? All that remains is a story to be told. It is very sad. The chok of the cow hints that there is a border between life and death. When one has crossed over to the other side it is not simply a dull end to physical existence but also a beginning.

"A child made the palace floor filthy. The king said: Let his mother come and clean up her child's dirt. By the same token, God says: Let the cow atone for the deed of the calf. " - Tanchuma, Chukat 8.

Life and death are part of the same whole. We are interconnected. Just as the cow is the purification for the next generation, so too one universe, albeit unseen, flows into t he next.
In a later segment of the Torah reading the Israelites fall sick. Moses then sets up a bronze curled snake on a large pole. Anyone who saw the serpent was cured of their illnesses. What does this mean? In the Talmud, it is explained by Rashi that the sign of the serpent was an inspiration to the people that there was a power in the universe greater than anything else. The power exceeded the strength of their sickness. It transcended life. It was even more powerful than death. Represented by the bronze serpent the power of God is over life everything.

Perhaps the real message of the Torah reading is a subtle reassurance that our eyes have limited vision. The universe is far more expansive than what we see. The borders of life and death themselves are a chok, a mystery to us, but they are governed by God.

The people of the Israel suffer in the Torah reading too. They are affected by the death of the prophetess Miriam. They too question the meaning of life and its abrupt end. Now that the generation is nearing the end of its forty year wandering they also stare at their own mortality. When God answers their plaintive call for comfort He gives them water. And then the people break out into song. Why do they sing? Because, they realize, death is not the end of them. The waters represent a continuation of a soul. That is why the Lord God says, "From Midbar to Mattanah.: Literally -- "Fom the desert to the gift." The "gift" is not temporal; it represents eternity.

Samson Raphael Hirsch taught, "Happy is he who takes note of the unseen fiery serpents that beset his path, put to flight by the Almighty." Without God all is lost. With God all is possible.

Haftarah Insight:
From the start of the tale of Yiftach there is great sorrow. As a young man he was purged from his home like noxious bile that no one could stand. Running to a distant land, Yiftach became a warlord whose ferocity was well-known. Who knows? Perhaps it was all those years of pent up rage that made him so fearless?
Yiftach is recruited by his own people to lead a war against the relentless enemies of the Jews, the Ammonites. Making a pact with the Israelite leaders, Yiftach also makes an unholy vow to God. Praying for victory Yiftach promises to deliver whatever comes to his door after winning the war against Ammon.
What is the message? Be careful with words? Perhaps. Only ask for what your heart desires? Perhaps. Do not let anger rule your thoughts? Most likely.

A Matter of Law:
Death contaminates. The Sages ask, why does death make people impure? 1. Life is holy and we need to ensure that life and death are never confused. 2. No human remains may be used for any purpose, eg bones for utensils, skin for clothes. In this way, human life is respected. 3. Since the dead make impure no one would dare ever make a shrine out of a final resting place.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Korach, An Argument II

In this second segment about Korach I want to explore a different question, a question of psychology. What makes a person act they way he does? In our case, why did Korach mount an insurrection that not only resulted in many deaths but a wound that would fester for millennia to come? David wrote Psalms about Korach. Sages contemplated his actions and mulled his fate for countless centuries. He captures our imagination even now.

An odd fact. The Torah indicates that not only was Korach and his followers consumed by the earth but their houses as well. Houses, in this usage, means wealth. Not only did Korach disappear but everything connected to him, down to his last shekel, was swallowed by the ground.

Not so many centuries before Korah, Egypt was a haven for the Israelite nation. There they found safety and, for some, prosperity. The most notable man of success was Joseph. He not only saved Egypt from starvation and kept his family intact but he also became very wealthy.

In the Talmud, 1 there is a hint of the massive wealth that Joseph accumulated as viceroy. He became so rich that there was no place to store his burgeoning possession. He had to divide his gold, jewels and other valuables into three lots and hide them away. According to this tradition, Korach found one of them when he was treasurer to the Pharaoh. He took the money of Joseph. Korach was profoundly wealthy.

Now, the biblical insight of the earth swallowing the possessions of Korach begins to make sense. The loot he took from Joseph was what was lost, eaten by the earth, along with the man that held it.

Yet, there is a hidden, more powerful message at work here. Korach had no need for anything. He had more money, more possessions, more everything than the rest of the Israelites. Why then would he want to wrest control from Moses for himself? Did he not already have enough? That is precisely the hidden message of the Torah. Wealth does not make us whole. It does not bring us joy and fill in the gaping psychic holes in our life. In fact, if taken as a goal it can utterly corrupt to the point where money becomes a god.For Korach, wealth corrupted his values. Instead of focusing on the mitzvot, what God wanted from the people, he chose his own path.


1 Pesachim 119

Haftarah Insight: The prophet Samuel addresses the people as he readies himself to install Saul as the first monarch of Israel. Samuel, as a descendant of Korach, carefully picks his words to reflect what Moses says in the Torah reading. Both leaders, Moses and Samuel, declare that they have not harmed anyone. This is a telling and deliberate statement from the descendant of Korach.When Samuel concludes his speech the air is punctuated by a storm. God thus validates the words of his servant.
A Matter of Halakha:
It is vital to argue for the sake of truth. However, when the argument takes the form of personal attack that is an evil punished by God Himself.Two opinions emerge from the Talmud regarding Korach and his assault on the leadership of Moses. Rav said it is forbidden to fight like Korach against an accepted authority. Rav Ashi is a bit more lenient. Rav Ashi says that it is forbidden to continue to argue against an authority like Moses after stating the premise of the disagreement.All embrace the idea that it is a terrible wrong to assault the integrity of the person.



Korah: An Argument

Human nature compels us to look for meaningful signals in the sands of the past. It is no different for Korach. The name has two meanings. One meaning of Korach is “ice.” It was not just the presence and words of Korach that was chilling as much as it was his cold and cruel attacks on Moses. The Talmud also sees the name Korach as relating to “bald.” When the land split and yawned open to swallow Korach and his cohorts the only thing left was an empty or bald patch of earth where nothing else could grow.

There are a number of fascinating insights that are revealed in the Mishna and Gemara regarding Korach.

1. The crevice of the earth that would engulf Korach was one of the last acts by God during the Creation. 1 As the sun began to set on the sixth day, just at twilight, God created the vast chasm that would only be needed thousands of years later.

Interpretation: God operates in the universe of the physical. He uses only what was crafted when the universe was born.
Interpretation: The Holy One knows the heart the potential of every individual. While He anticipates we always have a choice…

2. There are two kinds of controversy. One is for the sake of heaven; the other has nothing to do with heaven. The illustrations for the sides of such an argument are Hillel and Shammai and Korach and Moses. 2 Korach was not arguing for truth. His desire was far from noble; Korach was seeking power for himself while dethroning Moses. Hillel and Shammai, on the other hand, argued philosophy, interpretation, law and much more. Yet, these factions never reduced their disagreements to invective or tried to undermine the character of each other. They argued for God.

3. A long discussion of the punishment of Korach takes place in the Talmud. What happens to him in the narrative of the Torah is clear. What is less clear is what happens to Korach afterward. Was Korach doomed forever? Was he denied entry to the Universe Beyond? One opinion is that when the Torah states that the earth “sealed” itself after Korach, this means that he was gone forever. There was no eternal life for him. Another rabbi disagrees by saying that life-after-death is part of the ongoing promise of the Lord. No one is excluded. 3

4. Another commentator, Or HaChayim, stated that Korach went to Sheol. Sheol comes from the Hebrew, to ask or borrow. Korach went to a place, the Or HaChayim tells, where there was no death. Just eternal suffering. This is explained by Rabbah bar bar Hanah who told that once he was taken to the Sinai by a desert merchant to be shown the place where Korach disappeared. Bar bar Hanah says that he saw the crust of the earth rise and from deep inside the earth came billowing smoke. He claimed to have placed his ear close to the crack and heard, "Moses and his Torah are true; Korach and his band are deceivers." 4

Whatever is the ultimate historic truth we will never know. At the same time, the bald facts of the story point to the incontestable truth of the tale of Korach: We must be self-critical enough to always ask what is our motivation and endeavor to place love and respect before invective and hatred.








1 Avot 5:6
2 Avot 5:17
3 Sanhedrin 108-9
4 Bava Batra 74a

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Shlach Lecha: The Etilology of Mistrust

Shelach lecha means “Send for you."

Comment: God did not ask the Israelites to dispatch spies. The people demanded it. God had already promised the Israelites both the land and that the land was “good.” The first time God promised the land of Israel to the Jewish people was with Abraham our Father so many years before. (Genesis 13) Reiterated time and again throughout the Torah, these descendents of Father Abraham had lost all faith in the Divine Word.

There was no reason for the spies to pass through the land on a mission except if they were already filled with doubts. Just think of the revealing statement by the returning spies who claimed that "We looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them." (Numbers 13:33) To imply that the Israelites looked like tiny insects to the inhabitants of the land is a depressing, and unreliable, thought.

Perhaps “Send for you” means send a message to yourself about the reality of the situation.

Comment: The word “you” is singular.

The Zohar says that the underlying reason for the spies, really princes, of each tribe, giving such a negative report was they feared for their positions. The delegates/princes/spies believed that the change from escaped slaves to freemen in Israel might mean they would lose their position as princes of their tribes. Afraid of demotion they chose to frighten the people into remaining in the wilderness. In that way the princes remained in power. Perhaps then the reason "you" is in singular form is to tell us that HaShem was specifically speaking to the spies, not the congregation of Israel. God knew their hearts were dark and was warning each of them to think clearly.

Comment: When God declared to Moses to send out the spies what He really meant was, ‘send them out for yourself, if you have so little faith in My word. Did I not already tell you that the Land would be yours?’

In other words, God was telling the doubters that He was surprised at their utter lack of faith. How could the people have so little trust in the Lord after the plagues in Egypt? After the walls of water that parted for them at the Sea? After Mt Sinai? After the manna?

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner invents, based on a midrash, a conversation between two Israelites, Reuven and Shimon. At the splitting of the sea they converse:

"What is this muck?"Shimon scowled, "There's mud all over the place!""This is just like the slime pits of Egypt!" replied Reuven."What's the difference?" complained Shimon. "Mud here, mud there; it's all the same."... For Reuven and Shimon the miracle never happened.

Could this be the problem with the spies? Is it a natural human response to life to have short-term memory lapses?

A Hasidic Master, grandson of the famed Baal Shem Tov, noted that Moses asked the spies to take note of whether the land had trees (yesh) or not (ayin). The word yesh is a positive attitude of life. It is the predisposition of the faithful to see the hand of God in everything. Ayin, on the other hand, is a note of negativism. It is the unwillingness to see hope. Life is nothing more than a battle to stop the steady downhill pull into the dank abyss.

Despite all the implicit warnings to the spies, they were oblivious to hope; their trust in God was minimal.

Noteworthy is the date when these terrible events occurred: the day the spies returned from their mission was the most awful day on the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av.

Perhaps this great tragedy is why the Torah reading takes a strange turn toward the end of the parasha. The reading ends with the commandment to wear tzitzit – fringes on the corners of our garments. Why the mitzvah for the tzitzit? “To look and remember all the commandments of the Lord, God, to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes.” (15:39)

Since our ego so strongly influences our yesh, God gives us a commandment which will act as a constant reminder that we must be aware of Providence. When doubts come to mind we are supposed to look at the fringes and be assured that we are not alone.



Haftarah insight:
Once again, spies are dispatched to view the land of Israel. This time, however, takes place some forty years after the debacle in Moses' time. The two spies were Pinchas and Caleb - who went the first time with Joshua.
Joshua carefully picked two individuals whose belief and trust is God is absolute. Their insight led to the home of Rahab. An unlikely hero, Rahab saves the spies. Who could have predicted that a whore would deliver Caleb and Pinchas? Yet, Rahab succeeds where the earlier leaders of ten tribes fail.
Faith is a more important criteria for the people than credentials or familial ties.


A Matter of Halakha:
Three things were gifted to the Jewish people but will only be delivered through trial, reveals the Talmud. They are Torah, Israel and Olam HaBa.
In the first instance, Torah is earned through effort. While a gift, its true essence can only be apprehended when a person applies energy to it.
Israel too, is an inheritance but like Torah, gleaning its true power means travelling there and for the truely devoted, living in Eretz Yisrael.
Olam HaBa, while waiting for each of us, requires us to live a righteous life.
All three gifts come with a price-tag: we must earn them.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

B'haalotkha

We are called Israel.

Our name is taken from the patriarch, Jacob, who refused to relinquish his hold on the Angel that assaulted him in the night. Jacob fought him. Who among us would do the same? Who would have the temerity to contest a Messenger of God? The name Israel is descriptive. It means he who has struggled with God and has prevailed. Genesis 32:29

Why not just leave well enough alone? Why wrestle the angel? Why grip him until dawn? Why refuse to relinquish hold on him until Jacob received his blessing?
Idea: Had Jacob not had this chutzpah, the Jewish people would not exist today.

Much later, in Numbers 36, the unthinkable happens. Zelophad dies. Zelophad? While he was a man who might have been swiftly forgotten by time, circumstances changed this. Zelophad left behind several unmarried daughters. The rules of inheritance of the Israelite nation stated that only males could be heirs. What did this mean for Zelophad’s daughters? That they would lose their rightful inheritance when they reached the Promised Land. They took their case to Moses. Moses heard their pleas and changed the law so that they would receive their family allotment when they finally arrived.


It is remarkable that the chutzpah of these woman changed law of Israel. They lived up to the real inner meaning of the name of Israel. They fought for what they believed they deserved like their forebear.

In this Torah portion, those who attended to the dead were denied participation in the celebration of Passover. At that time only people in a state of ritual purity could eat the Paschal sacrifice. Since the Angel of Death did not take time off for the Exodus holiday some Jews were going to be excluded. The Talmud states that the real complaint came from the people that were carrying coffin of Joseph from Egypt. Here they were involved in doing a great mitzvah…and prevented from doing another.

These impure folks took their case to Moses. Feeling deprived of participation in the community celebration they asked him if there was a way they could also be part of the mitzvah of Passover. Because they made the request, a second Passover was given to them one month later, Pesach Sheni. Like the daughters of Zelophad, they sought justice and received it. Like Jacob, they were willing to take a risk, and wrestle God, if necessary to be a part of the community. From just a few people, Israelite law was changed.

Why not remain silent? These men and woman did not want to be deprived of the mitzvah of the Paschal sacrifice. Still, why not be silent? Perhaps that is not what God wants from us. Maybe God wants from us a total and silent acquiescence. In fact, the Sages, of blessed memory tell us, this whole Torah portion only comes as a result of the merit, their holy chutzpah! God does not want out silence. He wants our voice. God wants our involvement. He yearns for us to be partners in a universe that continues to grow.

There is so much loneliness in everyone. In the Torah, Adam is so lonely he feels he might die without companionship. Moses is often spoken of the lonely man of deep faith. The solitude of Abraham is well known. Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto declares that even God is lonely.

Can it be that the initial question of God in the Garden of Eden – “Where are you?” never had a response. When Adam and Havvah hid among the trees of the Garden after eating the fruit God asked them the same question that has parsed the universe since that time. In reading the holy Torah we have heard the response to the hanging question, heneni, --Here am I-- several times. The giants among us answer: the Abrahams, Jacobs, Moses, bearers of the tomb of Joseph, the daughters of Zelophad and…..







Haftarah Insight:
There is a vision of a Golden menorah; the same one spoken of the the Torah reading. There is a noticeable difference, though. Here, the Kohen Gadol, High Priest, is wearing filthy garments - not the kind the Kohen Gadol ought to wear. That is because he symbolizes exile and suffering. Yet, God Himself demands that the adversaries of the Jews remove the filthy clothes from the Kohen Gadol and restore him to his glory. That redemption was demonstrated in the Hanukka story and will come again promises Zechariah.

A Matter of Law:
Under no conditions may we ever utter words of lashon ha-ra, gossip. See what happened to Miriam when she came to say some unkind - perhaps even true - words about Moses' wife? We are told to curb our instincts for gossip.

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D'var Acher

We are known by many different names; each name depicts a part of our personality or the relationship to the person who is referencing us.  It name might describe our temper, knowledge or any number of personality qualities.  Aaron is the paragon of modesty and peace-maker.  He was renowned for his ability to restore harmony when there was discord.  Though his determinedly kind disposition he invariably found ways to soothe fits of anger or jealousy.

Aaron spoke up for his brother Moses when Moses was too shy to speak with Pharaoh.  Aaron interceded when the Jews threatened one another during the building of the golden calf.  He patched up couples that were on the brink of divorce.

The Medzibozer Rebbe commented that when Aaron passed away, he was “gathered unto his people.” (Bamidbar 20)  This means, said the Rebbe, that he was so beloved that when Aaron died the entire people mourned, as the man of peace was no longer among them.

The Torah challenges us to ask, “What do I stand for?”  “How do people think of me?”  “What is the name by which I am known?”

The answer will depend on how we treat one another.   Torah tells us how to act but it is up to us to follow its teachings.