BLESSINGS

 

This week’s Torah reading, Balak, intrigues me as we read about Bilam the pagan prophet who was persuaded to curse the Israelites by King Balak of Moav.

Though Bilam starts out to curse the Jewish People, his curses turn into Brachot.  It seems to me that even this wicked prophet became so impressed with the Jews in so many ways and recognizing the importance of the Jewish home as one of the factors of Jewish survival, he could not curse them.

At this point he utters a beautiful prayer which we recite every day as we begin our daily T’fillot.

“Ma Tovu O’halecha Yaakov”  “How goodly are your tents O”Jacob”

As he uttered these words of blessing, I sense his original thought was really to express it as a curse.  My question is “What did he have in mind that would reflect this beautiful T’fillah as a curse?”

We must always remember that the essence of Judaism is “Growth.”  At all cost, we must pursue a life of constant advancement in the realm of spirituality.  Judaism is living a life wherein we are constantly in the pursuit of greater development of our moral and Torah observances.  Self satisfaction and contentment with our past performances and achievements very often lead to stagnation and human inertia.  Bilam realized this and with this blessing he was saying to Am Yisroel; “It’s enough.  Be satisfied with your accomplishments.”  He was hoping to encourage them not to improve on their spiritual lives. Therefore, this was a curse disguised as a blessing with the intention to stop the forward progress of the Jewish people.

This idea has more validity as we read of another bracha of Bilam; “Ki Meirosh Tzurim E’renu.” “From the tops of mountains I see him.”

The Yalkut interprets the Tzurim, mountains, as “Eilu Avot V’emahot.” That it refers to our Patriarchs and Matriarchs.  We, the Jewish People, are inspired by our ancestors.  This inspiration gives us the strength and fortitude to continuously grow in Torah and Mitzvot.

It is true, we need our ‘Avot and Emahot’ as our roots for inspiration, but more so, they need us as branches to continue to promulgate Yiddishkeit to future generations to produce vibrant gardens of dedication to our Torah way of life.

We will show the Bilams’ of our society, that we, the Jewish People, are blessings to ourselves, to Hashem and to society at large.

As we begin the Three Week mourning period this coming Sunday, let us bereave the destruction of the Temple but, at the same time, let us be proud of ourselves, as a people that continues to grow to spread spiritually throughout the world.

Let us pray that our ‘Geulah S’hlaymah’ come quickly, in our time.