Shabbat Balak – Listening to Magicians
It seems strange that the whole part of the Torah we read this week should be named after a Midianite/Moabite King, Balak, and devoted to a non-Jewish magician Bilam.
The Talmud says Bilam’s magnificent and prescient poetry should have been recited with the Shema every single day (TB Brachot 12b). The only reason it was not was that they were reluctant to impose it on the community since it would drag out the services for too long. It makes you wonder why we have prolonged the daily services a lot more than that since those days.
Even so, whenever we enter many synagogues, we see the quote of Bilam’s words “Ma Tovu Ohalecyha Yaakov.” “How good your tents are, Jacob.” Originally, this had nothing to do with synagogues but referred to the homes and families.
Bilam is portrayed as a confused and ambivalent man with undoubted gifts. Struggling, uncertain about his relationship with God. But in the end, he is someone who cannot decide which side he belongs to.
The poetry put into Bilam’s song contains many jewels. Such as “Magic and wizardry have no place in Jacob.” And “Israel is a people that dwells alone and is not counted (respected) amongst the nations,” which is as true today as ever it has been for thousands of years. And “He may lie down and crouch, but like a lion he will always get back up.”
The message of the Torah and why it finds a place in the Torah at this stage is that there are indeed prophets and great minds amongst the nations of the world. But we should be careful not to be misled when they come up against us and our traditions. Bilam’s powers came when he invoked God but as soon as he was left to his own devices, he used them destructively to counsel a different way of undermining Israelite morale.
Yet one wonders why the Torah keeps on referencing magic, false prophets and distortions of Divine messages. One explanation is that these chapters found a place here in the Torah just when the Israelites were about to encounter for the first time in a generation, alien cultures whose values clashed with theirs. As today, there were and are any number of both charlatans and well-intentioned gurus who claim to have the answers to everything in life, promising wealth, success and cures for all illnesses and ambitions. And many swear by them.
We humans are easily seduced. Which is why Judaism stresses a system of behavior and a way of life rather than placebos and easy answers. But human nature being what it is seems to need easy magic. This episode illustrates the positive and the negative in the world. The contrast between truth and falsehood. We must always beware of false prophets. If in certain areas other cultures may have a great deal to offer. They also can present grave dangers to us and to our way of life.
The other important message of Bilam coming from a non-Jew, is that we will always be different, unwanted, picked upon and isolated. Yet if we preserve our way of life, our families and pass it on to our children, we will survive. We need to differentiate friend from foe, positive from negative, true prophets from false ones and not be afraid to stand our ground.
Numbers Chapters 22-24.
Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.
