Rabbi's Sermons

Shabat Shalom!

          The haftarah from this week's portion, Parshat Balak, from the book of the prophet Micah Ch. 6, speaks of the powerlessness that the prophet feels before the sins of the people. The text reads, as follows: “⁴ For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servitude; and I sent before thee Moses, Aharon, and Miriam. ⁵ O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Bilaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. ⁶ With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? ⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”. Micah mentions the sin of idolatry, which is done on every hill, the sacrifice of animals, and even the most terrible of them, the sacrifice of human beings, especially children! Desperate, the prophet Micah talks to the cities and hills, which will serve as witnesses to the word of God, against a people who do not listen to him. The prophet Micah presents two arguments: First, the people forgot the grace of the departure from Egypt led by Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam; and second, Micah reminds the story of Bilaam, recounted in the book of Numbers. In this week's Parasha, God commands Bilaam to say only what God commands. This is the connection of the Haftara with this week's Torah portion.

          Two questions arise from the words of the prophet Micah. The first: why did he choose to include the three brothers, as leaders of the people? This is the only time Miriam's name is mentioned as a leader, along with her brother, and it is the only time she is mentioned, outside of the Torah and the list of families in the Book of Chronicles. The second question is: why, from all God's miracles performed for the people of Israel while wandering in the desert, did the prophet just choose to mention the story of Bilaam? Were there not greater miracles than this? The very giving of the Torah, for example, or the manna, which came down from heaven and fed the people, or the pillars of cloud and fire, or the victories in wars. Of all these miraculous acts, does the prophet Micah only remember Bilaam's blessing? Is it not odd?

          Let us begin with the first question. In a commentary by the Israeli journalist Arel Segal, it is suggested to see in the words of the prophet, a summary of the responses of each of the leaders: Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam: According to this commentary, Moshe reminds the people of Bilaam's message, Aharon, who is in charge of the sacrificial work, reminds the people that God does not want sacrifices without sincere and true repentance, while Miriam, the woman, reminds people not to sacrifice children. Along the same lines, Segal suggests that the three leaders share the beautiful verse that seals the haftarah:

“וּמָה ה 'דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ, כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת, עִם אֱלֹהֶיךָ” - “And what does the Eternal ask of you?: but to do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”. According to this interpretation, Moshe says that the will of God is - "to do justice", Aharon tells the people that the main thing is - "to love mercy", while according to Miriam, the humble woman, the main thing is - "to walk humbly with your God”. Such an interpretation of the mention of Moses, Aharon and Miriam is very interesting, but there is a traditional division of roles between the two genders: the men are in charge of leadership, while the message from the woman, Miriam, is clearly "feminine", to walk modestly. This interpretation is a bit difficult to accept in a modern liberal society. Not only because it is not inclusive and it reminds us of a clear stereotype of women normally accepted in more traditionalist denominations, but because the interpretation itself contradicts the message of the Prophet, who sought to present Miriam as a leader along with her two brothers.

          We may answer the question of why to mention Miriam, by analyzing the answer to the second question. Why, from all the miraculous events in the desert, the story of the prophet Bilaam is mentioned? If we think about it, this story does not take place within the people of Israel, but in distance, with Balak and Bilaam. The story is made known to the people after the fact, through the Torah. This story of Bilaam presented the people with a mirror image. It shows that there was a prophet like Moshe, who had a connection with God, who WAS NOT HEBREW, nor did he belong to the people of Israel, a prophet of the nations of the world, who walked in the way of God and obeyed him. Even a prophet who could curse all the people of Israel, and who understood that those people far away, that great mass of people was blessed and that they had a uniqueness and shared destiny. If this was understood by Bilaam himself, how is it possible, then, that the Israelites themselves did not understand it? How did the people renounce that uniqueness and adhere to pagan customs, such as making sacrifices on every hill, or even the appalling act of sacrificing human victims? Or if I transport this story 2300 years forward, I could ask, today: How is it possible that part of the Jewish people TODAY, do not understand the importance of maintaining the Jewish traditions? How does part of the Jewish people renounce that singularity, abandon their identifying features, and assimilate themselves into other peoples? While, on the other hand, we know that many people praise the Jewish people, admire Medinat Israel, or yearn to adhere to Judaism. I do not know of cases of Jews who have adhered to other religions, well… we know there have been, and that is why the words of the prophet still carry an echo today.

          Bilaam's act is a mirror. Sometimes we need someone else, from the outside, to tell us how good, worthy, and smart we are, or how much potential is within us. Bilaam's words reminded the people of the prospect of a bright future, realize how great they can be! מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל - Ma tovu Ohalecha Yaacov, Mishkenotecha Israel - “!How good are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel!”; This is the text used to begin our prayers!

          But to do that, we need a courageous and united leadership that leads people to a real change from within, a total change, for everyone, including women. A united effort to walk the path of goodness and honesty. Because, as is known, "doing justice" for example, is not just something personal. It is a general social change, an effort to be a more moral society. I believe that the prophet Micah mentions Miriam in his prophecy to fulfill two functions. On the one hand, inclusion. Bilaam was the "outsider" who was far from Israel. Miriam, and all the women, have traditionally been - "alienated from the group", and in general, the prophets do not demand anything of them at all, they do not even mention them. Now Micah is inclusive, and as the approach of liberal movements today, Micah included women. On the other hand, Miriam is a role model here, and women, perhaps, find it easier to identify with Miriam's female leadership.

          In the spirit of the words of Micah, who prophesied his prophecies hundreds of years after the Exodus from Egypt, I would like to suggest that even if the leadership of our time is not always inspiring, there is inspiration in the history of our people. And the power that defended us then, with that wonderful leadership, will protect us now, even in Israel with this crazy government, because the inspiration and strength derive from our history and are eternal. The prophet Micah teaches us that if someone is modest enough to walk with his God, he understands that the main thing is grace and mercy. And if he understands that the main thing is grace, he will judge his fellow man fairly. Sometimes we need someone from the outside to remind us that we are good men and women, and we have the power to change and better ourselves. People who will be a mirror to us. Like Bilaam, like the prophet Micah.

          Let us not only try to find the strength within ourselves to do good, let us support each other. I suggest that we may act like Bilaam or Micah. We try every day, to remind the people around us that they are good, worthy, and special. That they are loved. And there is no better time to do this than on Shabbat, because Shabbat, as is well known, is a time of love. All of you dear Haberim are good, worthy, and special! Now please… go ahead and keep saying this to everyone else you know and cherish!

Shabat Shalom!

Rabbi David Laor

July 19^th, 2024