BS"D || Rabbi Geier

Balak 5784

Parashat Balak is the one where a prophet or sorcerer, who is not a member of the people of Israel, is tasked with cursing the people of Israel by the king of Moab. This king's name is precisely Balak, hence the name of the parashah. The sorcerer or prophet was named Bilam son of Beor.

It's strange because initially this prophet does have some connection with the Lord, since during the course of the story it is he who speaks to Him, as the Torah says, and He tells him not to curse His people. The Lord speaks directly to him, without intermediaries, even though he is not a member of the People of Israel.

Later, when Bilam insists on cursing the people, he stands on a cliff from where he can see the entire people camping around the mishkan, the tabernacle. And then he marvels, and instead of the curse he intended to send, he pronounces the words "Ma tovu ohalecha Yaakov," the prayer with which we open our prayers every morning. "How beautiful are your tents, Oh Yaakov, your dwellings, Oh people of Israel". So instead of cursing them, Bilam praises the people of Israel.

There is an interesting rabbinic discussion in which the power of Bilam is compared to that of Moshe. Who is the stronger prophet? Is it the power of Bilam, who stands alone in front of a people to curse them and also has contact with the Lord, or Moshe, who depends so much on the Kadosh Baruch Hu to fulfill his task of guiding the People of Israel?

The answer lies in the kind of life each leads. Bilam is a pagan sorcerer, indeed, but he is also one who goes alone, whose services are hired, a sort of mercenary. He has no loyalties to anyone, not even to those who hire him. The proof is that when he cannot curse, he simply ends up blessing or praising regardless of why he was hired.

In Moshe's case, loyalty is in his heart. Moses stood up for the people of Israel whenever he could, whenever he felt and could and had to do it, he defended them even in front of God. Even in the face of the threat of total destruction of the People, his response was "Blot me out of your book if you are going to blot out the people of Israel."

When a leader has these conditions, which are what people follow as Bilam or as Moses, the difference has to do with the loyalty of what they are doing, how much each one risks for what one does, for the project one has, for the community, for those who are around them, for those who put all their body and soul into making things continue forward.

According to the Tanakh, true prophets are called to their mission by God, or they hear an inner call, and they do not run after honors or money; on the contrary, they sacrifice for their people and their ethical convictions.

To be a prophet in the Tanakh, in our Bible, and in the terms of our time is to be a visionary leader, not to predict the future, but rather to denounce the present and its probable impact on the future: particularly corruption, injustice, discrimination of all kinds, the indifference of the elites and their hypocrisy.

It is also to denounce those who favor the practice of rituals, religious fundamentalism, or associate for convenience with those who do so, to the detriment of the observance of ethical commandments.

Many times these visionary leaders are perceived as the harbingers of doom, because they warn their fellow citizens and the powerful of the consequences of their actions. Thus were the prophets of the People of Israel, who were rejected and often vilified by the authorities and the general population. If only they were truly heard…

In our parashah, Bilam does not want to go to curse Israel, and his commitment is to abdicate his responsibility and only say what God orders him to say.

We know that today there are no prophets in the biblical sense, but we can refer to questions of leadership and speak of the need for a high sense of commitment to truth, justice, memory, and what is more important, to the collective they lead. Bilam is a stranger who sees how beautiful the camp of Israel is. It is not a vision from within, it is a vision from without.

The challenge for us from within is to contemplate the diversity of our tents and see the goodness that is in them, and to separate the chaff from the wheat to align ourselves with those who do not pursue personal goals and can truly commit to the reconstruction of our tents and dwellings, and to liberate our brothers and sisters who are currently kidnapped and held captive in the darkness of those who represent our serial haters.

One can choose to have loyalties and then have those loyalties returned to us as a reward for collective and community work and cooperation, or we can choose to be another Bilam, changing our principles and loyalties, respecting only the loyalty to ourselves.

Kol Israel arevim zeh lazeh. All the people of Israel are responsible for each other. Moreover, we are all responsible for each other, no matter what people they belong to. This is also how we build together a better world.