“Fire of Awareness” | Parshat Balak & SHIN ש

Parshah Summary – P’shat

​​The parshah opens with the story of king Balak, ruler of Mo’av. He’s terrified of the Israelite encampment in the plains of Moav, so he sends messengers to request that the sorcerer/prophet Bilam curse the Children of Israel. After several refusals, explaining that he can only do what God allows him to do, Bilam receives Divine permission to meet the king, but that he should only say the words that God puts in his mouth. So, he sets out to meet the king. On the road, Bilam’s donkey sees an angel blocking their way and veers off the road, pressing Bilam’s leg against a wall. Bilam beats the donkey with a stick, after which the donkey magically speaks to him. Bilam then also sees the impeding angel, who identifies himself as satan – Satan! But this is a good “Satan” who tells him to go meet the king, but only say the words that God tells him to say. When Bilam arrives, Balak takes to a high place in view of the Israelite camps. Three times, from three different vantage points, Bilam pronounces blessings instead of curses, and also prophesies about the end of the days and the Messianic Era. Later, the Moabites and Midianites try a different tactic, seducing the Israelite men into idolatry which causes a plague that is eventually stopped by Pinhas.

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​Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching​

וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָאָתוֹן֩ אֶת־מַלְאַ֨ךְ יְהֹוָ֜ה נִצָּ֣ב בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וְחַרְבּ֤וֹ שְׁלוּפָה֙ בְּיָד֔וֹ וַתֵּ֤ט הָֽאָתוֹן֙ מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה וַיַּ֤ךְ בִּלְעָם֙ אֶת־הָ֣אָת֔וֹן לְהַטֹּתָ֖הּ הַדָּֽרֶךְ׃
The donkey saw the angel of Hashem standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand, so the donkey swerved from the road and went into the field. Bilam beat the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
- Bamidbar (Numbers) 22:23, Parshat Balak

When Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak of Lubavitch was four years old, he asked his father, Rabbi Shalom Ber: “Abba, why do we have two eyes, but only one mouth and one nose?”

“Do you know your Hebrew letters?” asked Shalom Ber. “Yes,” replied the boy. “And what is the difference between the letter שׁ shin and the letter שׂ  sin?” he continued. “A שׁ shin has a dot on the right side, and a שׂ sin on the left.” “Right! Now, this letter shin represents fire, and fire makes the light that we see by. The dots on the right and left are like your two eyes. Accordingly, fire has two opposite qualities. On one hand, it can give us life by keeping us warm and cooking our food; that’s the dot on the right. On the other hand, it can burn us; that’s the left dot. Similarly, there are things you should look at with your right eye, and things you should look at with your left eye. You should always see another person with your right eye, and candy and toys with your left eye!”

This “fire” represented by the letter שׁ shin is the fire of awareness itself. It in the Torah in many places: it is the fire of the burning bush, calling Moses to his  life purpose – awareness of one’s path; it is the amud ha-aysh, the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness – awareness navigating choices in life; it is the fire that erupted forth on Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Aseret HaDibrot – the Ten Commandments – awareness of the spiritual principles guiding our actions; and all of these are essentially the same: deep discernment – which is why it also the fire of danger: the plague of fiery hail in the ten plagues, as well as the fire that consumed Nadav and Avihu when they brought their offerings without enough awareness.

These two manifestations of “fire” are the “yes” and the “no” of Presence: yes to this moment as it is, no to reaching, to insisting. Yes to Presence with other beings, no to the “candy” and “toys” that keep us stuck. How can we discern which eye to look through?

וַתֵּ֣רֶא הָאָתוֹן֩ אֶת־מַלְאַ֨ךְ יְהֹוָ֜ה נִצָּ֣ב בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ - The donkey saw the angel of Hashem standing in the road…
The “donkey” is our physical body, giving us subtle signals that something is not quite right, whispering that we need to pay deeper attention.

וְחַרְבּ֤וֹ שְׁלוּפָה֙ בְּיָד֔וֹ וַתֵּ֤ט הָֽאָתוֹן֙ מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וַתֵּ֖לֶךְ בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה - so the donkey swerved from the road and went into the field…
The “field” is the key! Rather than continuing mechanically along a predetermined path, take a pause in the “field” – the spacious field of awareness within which this experience is now arising. Step away from the momentum of your agenda and just notice; be careful to not simply override your intuition and barrel forward:

וַיַּ֤ךְ בִּלְעָם֙ אֶת־הָ֣אָת֔וֹן לְהַטֹּתָ֖הּ הַדָּֽרֶךְ - Bilam beat the donkey to turn her back onto the road.
How often do we do the same thing? The body is speaking, but we push it aside. Instead, pause; enter the field and listen, as when the donkey opens her mouth and Bilam can finally hear her voice. Then the curse can transform into blessing: 

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב - How lovely are your tents, O Jacob…
The “tents” are really the same as the “donkey” – our physical bodies. When we become attentive to hear its “voice,” the body becomes Mishkanotekha Yisrael – the Sh’khinah dwelling with Yisrael – the fire of awareness, alive and awake through this marvelous vehicle of our physical bodies. And through our rootedness in this indwelling Presence that we are, our paths are illuminated – both the “yes” and the “no” – the fire of awareness is our guide.