Blessed And ABalk74ar Artson 1

TORAH-FAX BALAK SERMONETTE

BALK74AR
BLESSED, AND A SOURCE OF BLESSING
BY RABBI BRAD ARTSON
Every year that I read the remarkable story of the Gentile Kin Balak hirin the
Gentile !ro!het Balaam to "#rse the Israelites$ I am str#"k by ho% remarkable this
story really is& After all$ ho% often does the 'orah "on"ern itself %ith the internal
affairs of other !eo!les(
)nderstood as the love letters bet%een God and the *e%ish !eo!le$ it is +#ite
!ro!er that the 'orah,s fo"#s is on the relationshi!$ the brit bet%een God and Israel&
-et$ this story stars a non.*e% %ho is seen as a holy and %ise seer&
Balak demands that Balaam "#rse the *e%s so that they %ill be easier to defeat in
battle& /aithf#l to God$ Balaam e0!lains that he "annot "#rse or bless %itho#t first
re"eivin 1ivine a#thori2ation& 3hen he asks God %hat to do$ God tells him$ 41o
not "#rse the !eo!le$ ,ki var#kh h#$, for it is blessed&4
3hat is God really sayin abo#t #s( In %hat %ay are the *e%ish !eo!le ,bar#kh$,
blessed(
'he medieval "ommentary$ Lekah 'ov$ #nderstood this !hrase to mean that %e are
blessed be"a#se of the ,2ekh#t avot$, the rihteo#s deeds of the 5atriar"hs and the
6atriar"hs& 'heir oodness %as s#"h that God blessed #s %ith an irrevo"able
blessin& 3e$ their later des"endants$ benefit from their blessin to this day&
Blessed And ABalk74ar Artson 7
Another related %ay to #nderstand this verse is to ask o#rselves$ in %hat %ay are
%e blessed( It does so#nd like God is sayin there is some intrini" blessin %ith
%hi"h %e are imb#ed& 8o% are *e%s blessed(
3e are blessed %ith a ri"h memory9 As a !eo!le$ %e en:oy a "ontin#o#s identity
stret"hin ba"k to the very earliest !ayers of h#man history& /rom Abraham and
;arah do%n to the yo#nest *e%ish baby alive today$ %e kno% %here %e "ome
from$ and %e kno% %ho %e are& In an ae of rootlessness$ in a time of "onf#sion
abo#t identity$ %e *e%s have the l#0#ry of kno%in o#r beinnins and of
identifyin %ith o#r ri"h and varied history&
As the 5assover 8aadah #res$ ea"h eneration #nderstands the history of the
*e%s not merely as somethin from the !ast$ b#t as somethin informin o#r o%n
identity today& 3e %ere freed from Ey!t$ %e fashioned the 'alm#d$ %e e0!lored
the de!ths of *e%ish !hiloso!hy and Kabbalah$ %e en:oyed the modern fr#its of
eman"i!ation and of <ionism&
3e are blessed %ith a %ise and !rofo#nd %ay of life9 =ot only do %e have a
history that is an"ient and "ontin#in$ b#t %e also have a %ay of life that is ri"h
and re%ardin& 'he "y"le of ;abbaths$ holy days and festivals add sha!e and
te0t#re to o#r %eeks and years$ allo%in #s to re:oi"e %ith o#r loved ones and to
"reate !re"io#s o""asions to "herish and to en:oy& 'he bea#ty of the holidays
be"omes !art and !ar"el of o#r love for ea"h other and o#r sense of "omm#nity&
Linked as they are to ethi"al val#es and reliio#s e0!ression$ their bea#ty is
enhan"ed by moral de!ths and by reat insihts to be learned ane%&
3e are blessed %ith bein the messeners of God,s love and :#sti"e9 >#r reliio#s
tradition harnesses bea#tif#l rit#al for the sake of ethi"al rior& By tea"hin #s to
"are for the si"k$ to feed the h#nry$ to shelter the homeless$ to "are for the Earth$
Blessed And ABalk74ar Artson ?
o#r reliion offers a messae as vital no% as it %as %hen it %as first arti"#lated&
=o less revol#tionary today$ the notion that all !eo!le refle"t and dinity "ontin#es
to transform and elevate the %orld& >#rs is the !rivilee of "arryin that messae
and reiteratin it$ even %hen it seems that others may have forotten it&
In these and other %ays$ %e are indeed blessed to be *e%s& B#t there is another
%ay that %e "an #nderstand Balaam,s re:oinder& 'he 8ebre% %ord$ ,bar#kh, may
be !assive$ meanin blessed& B#t it miht also be an ad:e"tive$ like ,han#m, or
,ra"h#m&, In that "ase$ it means 4so#r"e of blessin4 or 4bo#ntif#l&4 3hen %e say$
4Berakhah$4 then$ %e are sayin that God is enero#s to #s and then s!e"ifyin
ho% God,s bo#nty is manifest in that !arti"#lar instan"e&
)sin this #nderstandin$ %e "an say that Balaam is ref#sin to "#rse the *e%s
be"a#se %e are a so#r"e of blessin&
In that readin$ Balaam offers #s a reat "hallene& >#r mission as *e%s is to be a
so#r"e of blessin$ not merely for o#rselves$ b#t for all h#manity& As Balaam says$
4Blessed are those yo# bless$ and "#rsed are those yo# "#rse&4
>#r task as *e%s is to serve as God,s re!resentatives on Earth& *#st as God is
kno%n as a so#r"e of blessin for "reation$ so %e are to be a so#r"e of blessin for
all&
'he %ay %e live o#r lives$ then$ m#st be meas#red not only by o#r rit#al
observan"e$ im!ortant as they are$ b#t also by ho% %e embody the ethi"al mit2vot&
By sho#lderin the b#rdens that %eih others do%n$ by "ond#"tin o#r b#siness
lives in an honorable and !rod#"tive fashion$ by embodyin !atien"e and
"om!assion in all %e do$ %e live #! to Balaam,s and God,s hih e0!e"tations& Are
%e a blessin( Are yo#( ;habbat ;halom&