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Balak - 5779

Numbers 22:2 – 25:9

“Mah Tovu Ohalecha Ya’akov, mishkenotecha Yisrael – How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel!”  [Num. 24:5]

With these words the pagan prophet Balaam blessed the people of Israel, despite his commission from King Balak to send a destructive curse instead. How do we make sense of these words, coming from a man who was no friend of the Israelites, and later plotted their destruction through other means? Why does God force Balaam to bless Israel instead of inviting Moses or Aaron to do so? Why is Balaam’s blessing enshrined in our prayer books and chanted each morning as we gather to pray, to frame our experience of worship?

One possibility, developed by the medieval rabbinic commentators, speaks to the idea that our greatness comes because we are different from all other peoples, and we must be diligent to maintain our distinctiveness. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, however, offers a different interpretation – turning instead to the words of another anti-Semite (at least according to the poet W.H. Auden), G.K. Chesterton, who famously described America as “a nation with the soul of a church” and “the only nation in the world founded on a creed.” Rabbi Saks continues:

“That is, in fact, precisely what made Israel different – and America’s political culture, as historian Perry Miller and sociologist Robert Bellah pointed out, is deeply rooted in the idea of biblical Israel and the concept of covenant. Ancient Israel was indeed founded on a creed, and was, as a result, a nation with the soul of a religion.”

Most every other nation formed out of practical circumstances – functions of demographics, geography, economics and similar concerns. Israel, however, received the Torah (our effective constitution) in the wilderness of Sinai, forty years before establishing ourselves in the Promised Land. We are a covenant people, governed by ideals and values, faith and hope – and regardless of our demographic conditions have born witness to this, our way of life, for thousands of years.

Rabbi Saks notes that Balaam was right in describing Israelite exceptionalism and notes the irony of Chesterton’s similar description of American exceptionalism. I agree and would also suggest that this exceptionalism is but a step along the way. The goal is that all nations, regardless of how they originated, be governed by principles and ideals of freedom and justice like those which permeate both Torah and the American Constitution. Of course, for that to happen, we must all be diligent – just as the medieval rabbis warned – lest we lose what we have so generously been given.

Recent Posts by Rabbi Pokras

July 30, 2020

Va’Etchanan – 5780

July 24, 2020

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July 17, 2020

Mattot/Masei – 5780

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Pinchas – 5780

1 2 3 4›»
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    VaYechi – 5780

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    VaYigash – 5780

    December 26, 2019

    Miketz – 5780

    December 20, 2019

    VaYeshev – 5780

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    VaYishlach – 5780

    December 4, 2019

    VaYeitze – 5780

    November 26, 2019

    Toledot – 5780

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    Chayei Sarah – 5780

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    VaYeira – 5780

    October 24, 2019

    Bereshit – 5780

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    Rosh HaShanah I 5780 Sermon – Truth in Teshuvah

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    Ki Tetze – 5779

    September 5, 2019

    Shoftim – 5779

    August 29, 2019

    Re’eh – 5779

    August 23, 2019

    Ekev – 5779

    August 15, 2019

    Va’Etchanan – 5779

    August 9, 2019

    Devarim (Shabbat Hazon) – 5779

    August 1, 2019

    Mattot/Masei – 5779

    July 24, 2019

    Pinchas – 5779

    July 5, 2019

    Korach – 5779

    June 26, 2019

    Shelach Lecha – 5779

    June 13, 2019

    Naso – 5779

    June 5, 2019

    BaMidbar – 5779

    May 29, 2019

    B’Chukkotai – 5779

    May 23, 2019

    Behar – 5779

    May 1, 2019

    Kedoshim – 5779

    April 30, 2019

    B’nei Yisrael

    April 24, 2019

    Acharei Mot – 5779

    April 17, 2019

    Pesach I – 5779

    April 9, 2019

    Metzorah – 5779

    April 4, 2019

    Tazria – 5779

    March 29, 2019

    Shemini – 5779

    March 20, 2019

    Tzav – 5779

    March 12, 2019

    VaYikra – 5779

    March 6, 2019

    Pekudei – 5779

    February 28, 2019

    Vayak’heil – 5779

    February 19, 2019

    Ki Tissa – 5779

    February 13, 2019

    Tetzaveh – 5779

    February 6, 2019

    Terumah – 5779

    January 24, 2019

    Yitro – 5779

    January 17, 2019

    BeShalach – 5779

    January 9, 2019

    Bo – 5779

    January 6, 2019

    A Few Words About Israel

    January 2, 2019

    Vaera – 5779

    December 27, 2018

    Shemot – 5779

    December 19, 2018

    VaYechi – 5779

    December 11, 2018

    VaYigash – 5779

    December 5, 2018

    Miketz – 5779

    November 28, 2018

    VaYeishev – 5779

    November 21, 2018

    VaYishlach – 5779

    November 14, 2018

    VaYeitze – 5779

    November 8, 2018

    Toldot – 5779

    October 31, 2018

    Chayei Sara – 5779

    October 25, 2018

    VaYeira – 5779

    October 19, 2018

    Lech Lecha – 5779

    October 10, 2018

    Noach – 5779

    October 3, 2018

    Bereishit – 5779

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