Parshah Summary – P’sha
The parshah opens with king Balak, ruler of Mo’av, sending 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 king Balak. 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 sees the impeding angel, who again tells him to go, but that he should only say the words that God tells him to say. When Bilam arrives, Balak takes him 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 – the women seduce the Israelite men and entice them to worship an idol called Baal Peor, which causes a plague to break out against the Children of Israel. When a certain Israelite man publicly takes a Midianite princess into a tent, Pinhas kills them both, stopping the plague.
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כְּגַנֹּ֖ת עֲלֵ֣י נָהָ֑ר…כַּאֲרָזִ֖ים עֲלֵי־מָֽיִם׃ יִֽזַּל־מַ֙יִם֙ מִדָּ֣לְיָ֔ו וְזַרְע֖וֹ בְּמַ֣יִם רַבִּ֑ים... Like gardens by a river… like cedars by water, their boughs drip with moisture, their roots have abundant water… –BaMidbar (Numbers) 24:6
Rabbi Akiva would often quote the verse from Prophets:
מִקְוֵ֤ה יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ יְהֹוָ֔ה – Hashem is the mikveh (Waters of Immersion) of Israel… - Yirm’yahu (Jeremiah) 17:13 Menahem Mendel of Kotzk, “Kotzker Rebbe,” would elaborate: “The mikveh only purifies the soul if one is wholly immersed, so that not a hair is showing. That is how we should be immersed in God.” Water is such a powerful metaphor for consciousness because it is so fundamental – not only is it an essential nutrient that makes up about 70% of our bodies, but it is also the medium through which our bodies are cleansed both inwardly and outwardly. Similarly, just as our bodies are made primarily out of water, on the level of consciousness, we are fundamentally made out of awareness. And just as our physical bodies become polluted and must be regularly purified with the help of water, so too we are affected by every experience – everything that happens to us, every emotion we feel, every thought that arises. We are, in a sense, like sponges, absorbing the energies of all that we experience, constantly. Fortunately, just like a sponge can be cleaned water, so too we can get “clean” from every experience with the help of awareness. Whatever we experience, no matter how intense, traumatic, or disappointing, is ultimately not who we really are; it is like the schmutz in a sponge that can be cleansed from our consciousness if we know how to rinse, squeeze, and rinse again. And, if we don’t immerse frequently in the waters of awareness, then just like a sponge, we can dry out. The dried-out sponge can neither absorb anything new nor can it be distinguished from all the dried-on garbage within it. Similarly, when we become “dried out,” our belief systems are frozen; we can’t see anything new, but rather we perceive everything through the screen of our preconceptions. The inner pollution of negativity becomes indistinguishable from who we are. But no matter how dried out and encrusted we might become, just like the sponge, soak in the water of awareness and the life comes back. If you’re really dried out, it might take some time for the water to penetrate. But once it does, you will know, because all that stuff you thought was you will start rinsing away. מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ – Mah Tovu! How good are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! - Numbers 24:5 In the story of Jacob, his brother Esau wants to kill him for stealing the blessing of the first born from their father Isaac. Jacob runs away and embarks on a journey of transformation, culminating in his wrestling with an angel who gives him the name Israel. “Jacob” and “Israel,” then, are the “before” and “after” of spiritual transformation. At first you may be practicing – meditating, davening, learning – but you still feel like a dried-out sponge, because the “waters” haven’t penetrated yet. That’s אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב ohalekha Ya’akov – the “tents of Jacob” – because you’re sitting and working in the “tent” of goal-oriented practice. But eventually, the water breaks through and you get soaked. At that point, just like a sponge, you still can get dirty again and again, but you know the dirt isn’t you; you know how to get clean. Then, you can bring that “moisture” of consciousness out of the tent and into your life – that’s מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל mishkanotekha Yisrael – the “dwellings of Israel,” because wherever you go, you can bring with you that Indwelling Presence, that Shekhinah. How do we do that? הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְה–וָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ You have been told, O human, Mah tov, what is good, and what Hashem requires of you! - Haftora for Parshat Balak from Micah 6 The essence of all spiritual teachings about how to live is not unique, and it’s not something we don’t already know intuitively. And yet, we often need to be reminded; that is the purpose of these spiritual teachings, to tell us what we already know, but are prone to forget. כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃ Only to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God… On the inner level, עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ asot mishpat – “doing justice” means giving your attention fully to all moments, not “favoring” some experiences over others, just as a judge would hear all testimonies and not take bribes… But it doesn’t end with awareness; וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד ahavat hesed – “love of kindness” means then speaking and acting your from the heart, as an expression of empathy, generosity and benevolence. But, don’t then hold on to an idea of how your words and actions are received: וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ v’hatzneia lekhet im Elohekha – “and to walk humbly with your God” means being aware that you are not in control, being aware of the limits of your own understanding, and living through your faith, trusting in The Mystery – that is meditation. In this way, may the blessing of Bilam be fulfilled, that we immerse and drink frequently from the “waters” of consciousness, and express those life giving “waters” in all our ways.
Read past teachings on Balak HERE
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