Balak
Numbers 23:2 - 25:9
In this Shabbat’s Torah portion, Balak, we find the opening words of the morning service: “Mah Tovu, How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!” It would be fair to ask why the sages who composed the liturgy chose the words of a non-Jewish prophet to suggest as an early meditation when walking into the sanctuary, later making it a fixed part of communal prayer. If we look at the midrah, the collections of commentaries on the Torah, we will find a wide range of opinions on the nature of this prophet, Balaam. For some he is just a wizard who can’t find his way out of his own neighborhood (Etz Chaim), one who is not even as smart as the talking donkey we find in this story!
For others, Balaam is an authentic prophet to the non-Israelites and in his words are hidden meanings which the sages will uncover for us. Called upon to curse the Israelites, in a prophetic trance he utters words of praise instead. In one commentary the word “tents” is said to refer to the schools while “dwellings” points to the homes. It is like re-reading an ancient text to adapt it to a different time and place. Urban Jews, the descendants of the Israelites of old, now settled and dispersed among the nations survive because of their dedication to education and the integrity of their homes. What we teach and how we live is of utmost importance! Idealized as it may be, it spoke to the things that strengthened Jewish identity when everything from the outside world turned into threats to their very existence.
In another inspiring interpretation the Talmud asks what could have moved Balaam to praise the tents of Jacob instead of cursing them. They answer their own question: because the arrangement of the entrance to their tents made it impossible for a family to see inside the tents of others. This then opens the door to the rabbinic views on the right to privacy which they surround with protections. Not only are they concerned with illegal entry into ones private space, but with the murmurings regarding what may go on inside a private space. “It is none of your business what transpires in your neighbors’ bedroom,” they seem to teach us. An ancient interpretation of a biblical verse attributed to a gentile prophet can continue to inform how we are commanded respect privacy and intimate relationships between individuals.
We recite Mah Tovu as we enter sacred space and are reminded at one and the same time the values we inherit and the places where we strengthen and cultivate them, our homes, our schools, our synagogues.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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