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July 2, 2004/Tamuz 13 5764, Vol. 56, No.41
Dancing between two poles of virtue
Torah study
RABBI CRAIG H. MARANTZ
Balak/Numbers 22:2 - 25:9
With a sorcerer, a talking donkey, and curses-turned-blessings galore, Parashat Balak reads like a cross between "Shrek" and "Harry Potter."
The parashah focuses on Balak, a Moabite king set on cursing Israel, and Balaam, the sorcerer hired to carry out the evil deed. Balak bribes Balaam to get the job done but grows frustrated when the sorcerer seems never to complete the task. In fact, Balaam manages quite the opposite, uttering the blessing now so beloved: "Mah tovu ohalechah Yaakov, mishk'notecha Yisrael," "How fair are your tents O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel" (Numbers 24:5). He comes to this beautiful benediction after a bizarre encounter with a talking donkey that makes him aware of God's presence and leads to an apparent change of heart.
Many of the Sages consider Balaam's newfound affection for Israel insincere. Midrash colors the sorcerer as a haughty spirit and a greedy soul (B'midbar Rabbah 20:6-11). Talmud indicates that God forced the blessings out of Balaam's mouth against the sorcerer's will (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 105b). The Torah itself is so leery of the sorcerer's influence that the Israelites condemn him to death without explanation (Numbers 31:8). The monotheism of the ancient Hebrews promoted the view of a single, all-powerful God, whose will could not be influenced by human magic. The Israelites vilified anyone engaging in or associated with so-called pagan practices.
Our tradition is very protective of us. Balak and Balaam conspire to curse and undermine the Israelites in order to drive them away. Our ancestors felt a need to call out these adversaries and hold them accountable. Tocheichah, rebuke, is not only a natural response but also a necessary one. Proverbs teaches: "They that rebuke find favor, and a good blessing falls upon them" (24:25). For the Israelites, the tocheichah of Balaam and Balak and their descendants serves as medicine designed to prevent the ills of constant threats from conspirators and their kin.
The challenge with tocheichah is to guard against becoming overzealous. Our fervor can blind us to potential virtues present in the person who remains the object of our rebuke. When we become self-righteous in critiquing those who have hurt us, we often fail to give them the benefit of the doubt when they try to exercise real change of heart. In so doing, we violate the important Jewish midah, virtue, of dan l'chaf z'chut, giving others the benefit of the doubt. Our ancient texts may also be guilty of this to some degree.
The great rabbi Hillel teaches: "Judge not your fellow until you have been in that person's place" (Pirkei Avot 2:4). We all know what it is like to hurt another person, to wish ill to someone else. We also know what it is like to learn we were wrong. And we know that when we have a change of heart about someone, when we have performed acts of t'shuvah, we long for forgiveness.
Parashat Balak sets up two poles of virtue: tocheichah and dan l'chaf z'chut. There is blessing in thoughtful rebuke, designed to protect our welfare and integrity as Jews, to hold our enemies and ourselves accountable for evil. There is also blessing in the fundamental Jewish hope that any person can change if he or she truly wants to grow. Our role in life is to choreograph the steps between these two poles. When we create balance between these two midot, "virtues," we can look forward to a life of greater harmony, a reality suggestive of a world redeemed, a life filled only with blessings, a reality where God's presence is always palpable.
Craig H. Marantz is associate rabbi at Temple Israel in Omaha, Neb.
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