RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: PEREK SHIRA 1:1 DEREK ERETZ: MUSSAR

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: PEREK SHIRA 1:1 DEREK ERETZ: MUSSAR

 

 

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Jewish Spiritual Renewal: New Class: Fun/Light: Perek Shira: Shabbat 6/30/12

perek shira:

song of nature

Shalom my dear Chaverim, Talmidim, v' Rabbanim, friends, students, and fellow rabbis. An oneg, joy-filled, Shabbat this coming weekend to all.

This week, and for this series, we are starting a NEW CLASS. It will be fun and light and short for those that wish it to be, as well as deep and involved from those who like to delve into our traditions texts.

Our 1.75 year class on Talmud Bavli Tractate Derek Eretz Zuta was completed, Baruch Ha Shem, last week. As promised in the first class, it is at the publisher's, being the first Modern Commentary on Derek Eretz and having its title as "Great is Peace." Before we start to study Derek Eretz Rabbah, I thought it might be spiritual and fun to study a text that is widely unknown to Modern Jews, called Perek Shira, the Chapter of Song, aka Natures' Songs.

It is an ancient text, some say written by King David, and certainly precedes the Talmud, as the Talmud references it. Rabbi Judah ha Nasi and Rabbi Eliezer both teach that one who studies Perek Shira, is guaranteed a place in Heaven.

At the end of this class I will include information about the text from the Encyclopedia Judaica. Feel free to read it today, or when every you wish. The article is NOT light, but quite informative.

Perek Shira is 6 chapters long with a total of 84 (*) verses of various heavenly and earthly bodies, plants and creatures singing praises to God. If you would like, consider the phrase the entity is singing, and ascribe to it what the entity is trying to teach us... about what traits to mirror and what traits to avoid. (* Hence the class will be about 84 weeks).

For those new to the class Baruch ha Ba! Welcome! You can access last week's class, as mentioned, the end of a series, at :

Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: DEREK ERETZ: SHALOM IS THE CONTAINER FOR GOD'S BLESSINGS or http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2012/05/rabbi-arthur-segal-derek-eretz-shalom.html

perek shira:

song of nature

1:1 : The HEAVENS are singing: "The Heavens speak of God's glory and the skies tell of His handiwork.'' (Ps. 19:2)

(Marc Chagall "Aleka and Zemphira'')

These middot, character traits, of living in shalom, and becoming spiritually connected are discussed throughout all of my books. Find the one or more that you would like at www.JewishSpiritualRenewal.org/books.

How has learning Perek Shira helped you in your interpersonal relationships? Are you learning to live in shalom and be in shlema? How has understanding the spiritual and ethical teachings of Judaism helped you live a more joyous life?

Next class, Baruch ha Shem, we will continued with Perek Shira.

Thank you for joining me.

For those who want a d'var Torah on Parasha Chukat from '''A Spiritual and Ethical Compendium to the Torah and Talmud'' please click on http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com/2011/06/rabbi-arthur-segal-jewish-spiritual_23.html or

Rabbi Arthur Segal: RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: BALAK: CHUKAT: BALAAM'S ASS

PEREK SHIRA: NATURE'S SONG from the Encyclopedia Judaica

Chapter of song and praise to God by heavenly and earthly bodies, and by plants and creatures. It is composed of Scriptural verses, one or two for each creature enumerated; and it is divided, according to subjects, into six parts, one for each of the six week-days, though the whole chapter is repeated every day at the morning prayer, except on Sabbath, when the "Shir ha-Yiḥud" is substituted. The reciting of "Pereḳ Shirah," however, is not obligatory, and is not observed generally, except by very pious Israelites.

"Pereḳ Shirah," as is shown in part by the strange names of the birds mentioned therein, is evidently an ancient baraita, which has been more or less modified in the course of time. There are unmistakable traces of it in the Talmud, though it is not specifically referred to. The Talmud mentions that an egg of an unclean fowl is forbidden by the Mosaic law, and quotes "bat ha-ya'anah" ("the daughter, or issue, of the fowl"; Lev. xi. 16). This interpretation is disputed by counter-quoting, "The beasts in the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls" ("u-benot ya'anah"; Isa. xliii. 20), and it is argued: "Surely an egg can not be classed among those that may say the 'Shirah'!" (Ḥul. 64b).

Perhaps Referred to in the Talmud.

R. Isaac Nappaḥa asserted that the crushing defeat of Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem was due to the shirah of the beasts of the field, to whose voices the Almighty opened the ears of the Assyrians. "At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself [by the recitation of the "Shirah"] the nations were scattered" (Isa. xxxiii. 3; Sanh. 95b). In I Sam. vi. 12, referring to the kine that drew the cart in which the holy Ark was conveyed from the country of the Philistines, R. Meïr interprets "wa-yishsharnah" (they took the straight way) as "they [the kine] sang the 'Shirah'"; according to one rabbi, it was Psalm xcviii.; while R. Isaac Nappaḥa puts into their mouths verses in classical Hebrew ('Ab. Zarah 24b). R. Eleazar and R. Simeon assert that the ears of grain say their shirah in the month of Nisan: "The valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing" (Ps. lxv. 14 [A. V. 13]; R. H. 8a). R. Mana b. Tanḥum could determine the time of day when the waters of the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) rendered praise to their Creator, for they are then sweet (Yer. 'Ab. Zarah ii. 8). In Josh. x. 13 the words "wa-yiddom ha-shemesh" ("And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed") are interpreted, "The sun ceased to say the 'Shirah'" (comp. "wa-yiddom" = "was silent"; Lev. x. 3), for Joshua replaced their shirah by his own ('Ab. Zarah 25a, Rashi).

Early References.

Evidence of the existence of "Pereḳ Shirah" in the geonic period is given by the Karaite Solomon b. Jeruḥam, the contemporary of Saadia Gaon (892-942). Salomon, in his commentary on Ps. cxix. 51, criticizes the Talmudic rabbis for their "invention" in attributing the "Shirah" to the ass, and quotes from I Chron. xxix. 11 (Pinsker, "Liḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot," Appendix, p. 134). The tosafists quote the geonic responsa, asserting that the Palestinians recite Ḳedushshah only on the Sabbath, to take the place of the shirah of the living creatures in the Merkabah and of the six-winged angels; the latter have one wing for each week-day, but none for the Sabbath; and when the Sabbath arrives the angels plead that they have no wing for that day. But the Almighty assures them that there is another wing, which recites the "Shirah": "From the uttermost part ["kenaf" = "wing"] of the earth have we heard songs" (Isa. xxiv. 16; Tos. Sanh. 37b).

The ascription of the shirah to animals is explained in one of two ways: the first is that their angels (each creature has a special guardian angel, or "mazzal" [constellation], above) speak for them; the second is that the "Shirah" is in the hearts of the creatures, and represents what they would say if they could speak (Tos. 'Ab. Zarah 17a; see commentary on "En Ya'aḳob," ib.).

Joseph Albo (1380-1444) highly values "Pereḳ Shirah," and explains why the Rabbis asserted that every one who recited it daily would become "a member of the world to come"; he regarded the sayings as wise and excellent, as tending to elevate man's moral conduct: "Who teacheth us from the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser from the fowls of heaven" (Job xxxv. 11, Hebr.). R. Johanan said: "If these things were not prescribed in the Torah, we could learn decency from the cat; the ant would preach against robbery, and the dove against incest" ('Er. 100b). Albo quotes the shirah of the ant: "Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Ps. cxxxvi. 25). From this, he says, each may learn to be content with his lot, to be industrious and saving, like the ant. The shirah of the dove teaches that "in the clefts of the rocks" (Cant. ii. 14) one may find examples of true love and virtue ("'Iḳḳarim," iii. 1).

The Preface.

The preface to "Pereḳ Shirah," which declares that every one who recites it daily is sure to be a "ben 'olam ha-ba" (an inhabitant of the world to come), is' credited in certain editions to R. Eliezer the Great, and also to Rabbi. In another edition these names are omitted. The preface is probably erroneously copied from R. Joshua b. Levi: "Whosoever recites the 'Shirah ' in this world is en titled to recite it in the world to come" (Sanh. 91b; comp. Tan., Ẓaw)—in which "Shirah," however, refers to the shirah of Moses at the Red Sea, and not to "Pereḳ Shirah."

Another preface to "Pereḳ Shirah" consists of the midrash concerning King David and the frog. David, on completing his Book of Psalms, is said to have boasted of his beautiful hymns; whereupon a frog appeared and exclaimed: "Do not be so proud; indeed, I sing more beautifully than thou" (Yalḳ., Ps. 889).

"Pereḳ Shirah" ends with the "Song of the Dogs," to which is appended the following midrash: R. Joshua, a disciple of R. Ḥanina b. Dosa, fasted eighty-five days, imploring a divine explanation of the shirah of the dogs. "Is it possible," he argued, "that the greedy dogs, 'which can never have enough' [Isa. lvi. 11], shall be honored by being permitted to say the 'Shirah' ?" An angel then said: "R. Joshua, why this long fasting? This is the decree of the Almighty, the secret of which has been revealed only to Habakkuk, but which I will now reveal to thee, since thou art a disciple of a great man: The dogs are thus privileged for the reason that against the children of Israel in Egypt there did 'not a dog move his tongue' [Ex. xi. 7]. Furthermore, the dog's excrement is used in tanning parchment for the Sefer Torah, phylacteries, and mezuzot. Finally, pay heed to the proverb, 'Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles'" (Prov. xxi. 23; Yalḳ., Ex. 187).

In the Cabala.

R. Isaac Luria recognized the worth of "Pereḳ Shirah" from a cabalistic standpoint (Azulai, "Shem ha-Gedolim," ii., No. 147). Moses b. Joseph di Trani, in his "Bet Elohim," credits King David with the authorship of "Pereḳ Shirah." Trani's commentary on it comprises the third part of his "Sha'ar ha-'Iḳḳarim" (Venice, 1576). Other commentaries on it are: "Mesapperim Tehillot," by Hananiah Jaghel of Moncilisi; "Sifte Renanot," by his son Gamaliel of Norzi (Mantua, 1661); "Siaḥ Yiẓḥaḳ" and "Sha'ar Shimeon," by the brothers Isaac and Simeon b. Meïr (Venice, 1664); "Sedeh Bokim," by Joseph Darshan of Posen (Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1679); "Sha'ar ha-Shamayim," by Isaiah Hurwitz (Amsterdam, 1717); "Pi Eliyahu," by Elijah Deutsch, who credits "Pereḳ Shirah" to David and Solomon (Altona, 1735); "'Abodat Miḳdash," by Menahem de Lonzano (Leghorn, 1767); "Liḳḳuṭe Amarim," by Abraham ben Israel of Brody (Zolkiev, 1802); "Kenaf Renanim," by Enoch Zundel Luria (Krotoschin, 1842); "Ṭub Ṭa'am," by S. J. Abramowitsch (Jitomir, 1875).

The various editions of "Pereḳ Shirah" differ a little in the order followed and in the quotations given. The following list is from Baer's siddur, "'Abodat Yisrael" (p. 547, Rödelheim, 1868).

"Pereḳ Shirah."

	Creatures.	Scriptural Quotations.*
	I.
1.	Heavens	Ps. xix. 2; Isa. xxiv. 16.
2.	Earth	Ps. xxiv. 1.
3.	Day	Ps. xix. 3.
4.	Night	Ps. xcii. 3.
5.	Sun	Hab. iii. 11; Isa. lx. 1.
6.	Moon	Ps. civ. 19.
7.	Stars	Dan. xii. 3; Neh. ix. 6.
8.	Higher clouds	Job xxxvii. 11.
9.	Lower clouds	Jer. x. 13.
10.	Mist, nebula	Ps. xviii. 12.
11.	Lightning	Ps. xcvii. 4.
12.	Wind	Jer. x. 12; Isa. xliii. 6.
13.	Dew	Hos. xiv. 6.
14.	Rain	Ps. lxviii. 10.
15.	Water	Jer. x. 10.
16.	Springs	Ps. lxxxvii. 7.
17.	Rivers	Ps. xcviii. 8.
18.	Seas	Ps. xciii. 4.
19.	Leviathan	Ps. cxviii. 1.
20.	Sea-monsters.	Ps. cxlviii. 7.
21.	Fishes	Ps. xxix. 3.
22.	Gan 'Eden	Cant. iv. 16.
23.	Ge-hinnom	Ps. cvii. 9.
24.	Wilderness	Isa. xxxv. 1.
25.	Fields	Prov. iii. 19.
	II.
26.	Vegetables	Ps. lxv. 11.
27.	Ears of wheat	Ps. cxxx. 1.
28.	Ears of barley	Ps. cii. 1.
29.	Other grain	Ps. lxv. 14.
30.	Trees	Ps. xcvi. 12, 13.
31.	Vine	Isa. lxv. 8.
32.	Fig-tree	Prov. xxvii. 18.
33.	Pomegranate	Cant. vi. 3.
34.	Palm-tree	Ps. xcii. 13.
35.	Apple-tree	Cant. ii. 3.
	III.
36.	Reptiles	Ps. civ. 31.
37.	Reptiles, rams	Ps. cxlix. 2.
38.	Frogs	Ps. cxiii. 2.
39.	Snake	Ps. cxlv. 14.
40.	Scorpion	Ps. cxlv. 9.
41.	Mole	Ps. cl. 6.
42.	Cat	Ob. i. 4.
43.	Rat	Ps. xxx. 2.
44.	Lizard	Ps. lviii. 9.
45.	Fly	Isa. xl. 6, 8; lvii. 19.
46.	Spider	Ps. cl. 5.
47.	Ant	Ps. cxxxvi. 25.
48.	Locust	Isa. xxv. 1.
49.	Bird of the vineyard	Ps. cxxi. 1.
	IV.
50.	Cock	Prov. vi. 9.
51.	Hen	Ps. cxxxvi. 25.
52.	Dove	Cant. ii. 14; Isa. xxxviii. 4.
53.	Goose	Ps. cv. 2.
54.	Wild goose	Isa. xl. 3; Jer. xvii. 7.
55.	Eagle	Ps. lix. 6.
56.	Stork	Isa. xl. 2.
57.	Gier-eagle	Zech. x. 8.
58.	Raven	Job xlviii. 41.
59.	Starling	Isa. lxi. 9.
60.	Parrot	Ps. xxxiii. 2.
61.	Swallow	Ps. xxx. 13.
62.	Bird	Ps. lxxxiv. 4.
63.	Bird in arid country	Ps. xcvii. 11.
64.	Hunting-bird ("ẓappi").	Isa. xxvi. 4.
65.	Ravenous bird ("ṭa sit").	Ps. cxxi. 2.
66.	Young poultry ("pargiyyot").	Ps. cxxxviii. 4.
	V.
67.	Clean small cattle.	Ex. xv. 11.
68.	Clean large cattle.	Ps. lxxxi. 2.
69.	Unclean small cattle.	Ps. cxxv. 4.
70.	Unclean large cattle.	Ps. cxxviii. 2.
71.	Ox	Ex. xv. 1. 2.
72.	Hare	Ps. lix. 17.
73.	Horse	Ps. cxxiii. 2.
74.	Ass	I Chron. xxix. 11.
75.	Mule	Ps. cxxxviii. 4.
76.	Camel.	Jer. xxv. 30.
	VI.
77.	Animals	Ps. cxix. 68.
78.	Elephant	Ps. xcii. 6.
79.	Lion	Isa. xlii. 13.
80.	Bear	Isa. xlii. 1.
81.	Wolf	Ex. xxii. 8.
82.	Fox	Jer. xxii. 13.
83.	Deer, or steed	Ps. xxxiii. 1.
84.	Dog	Ps. xcv. 6.
*Chapters and verses are quoted according to the divisions of the Hebrew Bible.

Every quotation is preceded by the formula: "The . . . says." In a few cases several verses are quoted continuously. The cock's shirah is divided into seven calls, with a curious preface, as follows: "When the Almighty visits the righteous in Gan 'Eden, the trees there drop aromatic spices and sing praises. Then the cock rises also to praise." In the first and second calls he repeats Ps. xxiv. 7, 8, and 9, 10; in the third, "Arise, ye righteous, to study the Law, and win double compensation in the world to come"; in the fourth, Gen. xlix. 18; in the fifth, Prov. vi. 9; in the sixth, Prov. xx. 13; in the seventh, Ps. cxix. 126. In other editions the cock's calls are limited to four. To understand the application of many of the quotations it is necessary to consult the ingenious explanations of the commentaries noted above.

Shalom uvracha,

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
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Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: CHUKAT: MOSES' PUNISHMENT

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: CHUKAT: MOSES' PUNISHMENT

 

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL: JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL: BALAK: CHUKAT: BALAAM'S ASS

RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL : CHUMASH CANDESCENCE : PARASHAT CHUKAT + BALAK : NUMBERS 19:01-25:07

CHUMASH CANDESCENCE
PARASHOT CHUKAT
AND BALAK
NUMBERS 19:01-25:07
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
facebook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

"Smart Ass"

One definition of a smart ass is one who can sit on a falafel and tell you in what type of oil the chick peas were fried. In this week's double portion we will read, among other things, about Balaam's talking donkey.

A close inspection of our two portions, doubled so that we can catch up to our brothers and sisters in Israel who are a week ahead of us since the Shavuot holiday, will show a repeated theme of juxtaposition of opposites. There is a subtle interplay of antinomianism, where good becomes evil, evil becomes good, and where the holy becomes defiled and the defiled becomes holy. This shifting takes place through kavenah
(intention).

Our first of these two parashat, Chukot, begins with the law of the Red Heifer. This d'var Torah series discussed many aspects of this strange ritual in the special Shabbat called Parah (heifer), which preceded Pesach.

The Torah story is now 38 years after the Exodus. Aaron and Miriam will die in this portion, and Moses is told that he will be dead in two years. Jews have been taught by Moses that they become impure when they come in contact with the dead. They are now taught that if they burn this perfect-looking red cow and sprinkle themselves with its ashes, they can become pure again. However the person doing the sprinkling becomes impure.

The Midrash in trying to explain this paradox sites examples of how evil fathers begot good sons, that is, Abraham from Terach, Ezekiel from Ahaz, and Josiah from Ammon. The Talmud reminds us that we are forbidden to drink blood as it's the source of life but that we are allowed to drink milk which is a baby's source of life (Tractate Niddah 9A). King Solomon said concerning this paradox in Proverbs 7:23, "I said I would be wise but it is far from me."

Rashi writes that when Numbers 19:14 says the cow should have no blemish, it means that it should be perfectly red in color. If there were two black hairs on it, the cow was disqualified. He then states that a Jew's perfection is disqualified by even the slightest "hairsbreadth" of dishonesty or deception.

We are told of Miriam's death. When she dies, the portable well told of in Talmud Tractate Ta'anit 9A dries. The Jews again rebel because of the lack of water. Yet this is the new generation. The old generation who griped and moaned is dying off. But their children sound just like the older generation! God tells Moses to speak to a rock and ask it for water.

Moses, who just lost his sister and is burnt-out by this job he never wanted, angrily strikes the rock twice. Water flows. God punishes Moses by telling him he will die in the wilderness and will not go into the promised land.

If you recall, back in Exodus 17:2-6, Moses also strikes a rock for water. God commands Moses in Exodus to take his staff and strike the rock. This time Gods tell Moses to take his staff and speak to the rock. Maybe God was setting up Moses, giving him confusing instructions and giving him a way out of playing nursemaid to the Israelites. Ramban writes that this is the same rock from the Exodus story as well as the same rock from the Hagar and Ishmael story (Gen. 21:19).

The parasha is called "Chukat." Chukat are statutes that were to be obeyed traditionally even if we do not understand why. The word is related to "l'chakei," which means "to engrave or impress." Moses improvised on his own personal chuk. God punished him perhaps as a lesson to the Israelites to obey the Torah to its very letter.

Aaron is given an almost immediate death. Aaron does not hit the rock, yet he is punished. The Talmud teaches that Aaron's sin is not blessing God when the water gushes out. This non-blessing seemingly causes the Israelites to think that the water comes from Moses and not from God.

This new generation does not witness the miracle at Sinai, nor the ones in the desert, nor the greatest miracle of the Exodus from Egypt. This is the first miracle that this generation is to witness for themselves. Water was to come from a rock by Moses speaking to it in the name of God. Moses and Aaron steal the show.

The Israelites are again of little faith. They rebel over food as their parents did. God gives them a plague of poisonous snakes. Moses prays for a cure. Gods tell Moses to make a brass statue of a snake on a pole. If an Israelite looks at this image of a snake he will be cured from the bite of the real snake. One of our Ten Commandments is not to make any graven image. Our golden calf was forbidden, but this brass snake is allowed.

So far in our parasha we have learned of ashes that purify what was defiled and defile what was pure. We have read of a well that dried up when a righteous woman died and a rock that became a well when God was disobeyed. We are told that praying to a graven image of a snake will cure poisonous snake bites that came from praying (albeit complaining) to God for food.

There is a Talmudic doctrine of "mitzvah ha ba'ah ba-averah"--fulfilling a commandment by transgressing it. This a concept of redemption through sin. Wherever great holiness exists, there is also great evil. The Talmud teaches that a body of a dead religious Jew gives more defilement to someone who touches it than a nonreligious person's body. The Ba'al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism, wrote, "Evil is the throne of Good."

In Kabbalistic terms there is constant interplay between the sephirot of chesed (kindness) and gevurah (justice). The rabbinic kabbalists believed that the Messiah will also purify what is defiled and defile what is pure in order to break the kelippah (husks) surrounding the nitzotzot (holy sparks) to do tikun olam (repair of the world).

Traditionally, we are taught that in the Messianic age man will be so pure that the Torah laws will not be needed and even pig meat will be kosher. Tractate Nazir 23B states that "a sin performed for its own sake is greater than a mitzvah performed for its own sake."

The Talmud in Tractate Moed Katan 28A states that the reason Miriam's death is mentioned right after the Red Heifer is to teach that "just as the ashes of the parah adumah (red heifer) atones, so does the death of the righteous atone." The idea of a rabbi dying for his generation's sins is a traditional Jewish idea and not a foreign one.

In Torah terms, and certainly in agreement with the Kabbalistic viewpoint, death is a technical term to describe transition. The Talmud in Tractate Bava Batra 15A asks how, if Moses wrote the whole Torah, he was able to write about his own death. The rabbis compromise and decide that Moses got all of the Torah from God, but taught these last few verses to Joshua, who wrote
them down.

But, according to the Zohar, one can die and still walk the
"face of the earth." The snake in the Garden of Evil gave us spiritual filth (zuhama). This prevents the body from rising to the level where the soul can bring it to a higher, eternal level (Tractate Shabbat 146A). When we rot in the ground we shed our spiritual filth and regain our ketonet ohr--clothing of light, that Adam wore before Eve chatted with the snake, and they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Evil, Rabbi Moses Chaim Luzzatto (the Ramchal) wrote, has only one purpose, and that is to be uprooted completely. We are to work to remove evil from its existence. During the Messianic age, he teaches, God will remove all evil and the world will "perceive His Unity and His perfection like a blinding light." Our Aleinu prayer near the end of our daily service calls for this to occur.

The human embodiment of evil is seen in our second of two parashat. Balak is the King of Moab (modern Jordan). He fears for his kingdom because he has seen what the Jews have done to Sichon and Og, his neighbors. So he hires Balaam, the Prophet, to curse the Jews. To Balak, Balaam is his secret weapon.

Balaam is called a prophet because he spoke with God. God tells Balaam not to be hired by Balak (Num. 12:12). When Balak heard that Balaam would not come, he assumed the price he first offered was too low, and he increased it. Balaam made a counter offer. God then tells Balaam he can go, but only to say what God tells him to say (Num. 22:20).

Balaam "arose early in the morning and saddled his donkey" (Num. 22:21). While Balaam is on his way to curse Israel, his donkey sees an angel blocking the road three times. Each time the donkey veers to the side, and Balaam hits her. Balaam does not see this angel. Eventually Balaam does see the angel, and his curses become blessings.

"Whoever has three particular traits is counted among the students of Abraham, and whoever has three other traits is among the students of Balaam. He who has a good eye, humility and contentedness is a student of Abraham, while he who has an evil eye, arrogance and greed is a student of Balaam" (Mishna Pirkei Avot 5:22).

The Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin 102B reminds us that Abraham, when he was commanded by God to sacrifice Isaac, also "arose early in the morning and saddled his donkey" (Gen. 22:03). In Hebrew the word for saddled (yach'vosh) is related to the verb "to conquer." The word for donkey (chamor) matches the word for physicality (chomer).

When Abraham saddled his donkey, he conquered his physical drives of fear and love for his son in the service of God. When he went up to Mount Moriah he left his donkey, meaning his physical needs, behind (Gen. 22:05). Balaam gets up early to make a great deal of money by causing the destruction of others. Both Abraham and Balaam are tested ten times by God. Abraham passes each test. Balaam fails each test. The donkey hears the angel of God. The donkey is on a higher level than the prophet Balaam. The donkey speaks the truth for only her daily bag of feed, while Balaam is prepared to utter curses for his bag of gold and silver.

Abraham's name means the "father of the nation." Balaam's name is from the contraction "bi-lo Am," which means "without a nation." Abraham was
known for his moral integrity, kindness, and loyalty to God. Balaam was a hired gun whose loyalty went to the highest bidder. The rabbis also say that his name means "swallow" (bilaam) as no matter how many times he was humiliated, he would not swallow his pride and admit that he was wrong.

Tractate Eiruvin 13B says that God can tolerate many things but He despises the proud. The Zohar points out that the last two letters of King Balak's name and the last two letters of Balaam's name spell Amelek, the eternal enemy of the Jews. The remaining letters spell Bavel, the Hebrew name for Babylonia, the first country to capture the Jews into Exile. Bavel also means to "confound" (Gen. 11:09) as we are taught in the story of the Tower of Babel.

The Midrash teaches that Balaam was one of Laban's sons. That means Balaam was Jacob's bother-in-law. Balaam is the children of Israel's uncle. The Midrash states that the stone wall that Laban and Jacob made to seal their truce is the same wall against which the donkey smashes Balaam's leg (Num. 22:25).

Jacob and Balaam studied together. But Balaam also learned to be hateful and jealous of Jacob from Laban. Balaam was a gifted student of the occult. It is taught that he was the advisor to Pharaoh who suggested enslaving the Jews. Pharaoh's other advisors were Jethro, who advised against Balaam, and Job, who remained neutral. The Talmud teaches that Balaam was one of two men who knew "da'at Elyon," God's holy knowledge. The other man was Moses. The Talmud compares Balaam with Moses.

The Talmud teaches in Beracoth 7A that there is an instant each day when God is angry, and if you curse someone at that instant it will work. Balaam knew how to judge this specific time. This moment is "one fifty-eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eighth part of an hour." This is 1/16 of a second. What curse could be pronounced in such a short time? The rabbis answer "kelahm," which means "destroy them." When does this time occur, they ask. During the first three hours of the day during a moment when the comb of a rooster pales as he stands on one leg, they answer.

Rabbi Yehoshua wanted to curse a heretic who was continually harassing him. The Talmud reports that he therefore tied a rooster to the foot of his bed and tried to stay up all night to watch when its comb turned from red to pale. But just before that moment came he dozed off. The rabbis conclude that God never wants us to ask Him to curse anyone.

The text called Eicah Rabbah Pesikta 2 states "there never arose a philosopher the likes of Balaam son of Beor." The Midrash says that "Balaam was granted prophecy for the benefit of Israel." Yet his she-ass reprimands him when he threatens her by asking rhetorically, "Am I not your she-ass that you have ridden all of your life until this day?" (Num. 22:30).

Balaam is perceived rabbinically in the Midrash as the last of the prophets of the non-Jewish nations who received revelation from God. The Midrash says he surpassed Moses in the wisdom of sorcery. Balaam's donkey not only could see the angel with his fiery sword but understood his intention and refused to go past him. Balaam, the great prophet, could not see the angel and beat his donkey three times for bowing to the will of God. This donkey not only could hear, understand, and speak, but had a soul greater than Balaam's. Balaam was on his way to sin, and his she-ass was trying to redeem him. This was one smart ass.

Again in this parasha we see a juxtaposition of good and evil. We read about evil becoming good, about seers who are deaf and blind, and about farm animals that are astute and wise. Balaam's speaking donkey left him speechless. Balaam eventually blessed us instead of cursing us. He said, in words that we hear each Shabbat morning in our service, "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your dwelling places, O Israel."

Rashi says that Balaam really wanted to curse our houses of Torah study and our prayer houses. Rashi says if one really wants to kill the Jews, one should destroy our synagogues and Torah study. Why does evil persist? Why did God give permission for Balaam to proceed toward his goal? The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zara 3A asks why, if God does not play games with his creations, did He not stop Balaam immediately. The Talmud answers, "In the way in which a person wants to go, God will lead him there" (Tractate Makkot 10B).

The Bible has few examples of the application of curses, but has numerous blessings expounded. The Jewish prophet Elisha cursed a group of school children who mocked him and 42 of them were eaten by two bears (2 Kings 2:23-24). And we have discussed previously the curse of the Sotah ordeal in Numbers 5:11-29 where the words of a curse written on parchment are scraped into bitter water and given to a woman, who is suspected of adultery, to drink.

Life really is not a battle of God versus man or good versus evil. Life is an eternal battle inside each of us between what we know is right and what we know is wrong. It is man's battle against himself. We all have the power to curse and the power to bless. The Zohar also teaches that the best way a Jew can rid himself of the Amalek, Balaam, Balak, and Babylon inside us all is with yira (fear and awe) and ahavah (love) for God. The first two letters of yira, combined with the first two letters of ahavah spell "yira." The last two letters of yira and the last two letters of ahavah spell "ahavah."

When God tells Abraham to leave his home and "go forth" he is promised that he "shall be a blessing" (Gen.12:2-3). Traditionally, when one dies, we say "zichrono/zicrona
l'vracha--may he/she be remembered for a blessing." If Balaam's curses could be turned into blessings, perhaps we could turn our own personal adversities into opportunities for blessings as well.

At the end of parasha Balak we read that when Balaam fails to curse the Jews the Moabites send their daughters to entice the Israelites away from God. The men become attached to the idol worship of Baal P'or. The Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin 64A explains that one worshipped this idol by defecating in front of it. One would clean one's self by using the nose of the idol for wiping.

The rabbis teach that food grows from the "accursed" earth. By eating food, we take the good from it. Our body eliminates the bad. They teach that manna was from God and was pure good.

Therefore, the Jews during their 40 years in the desert did not have to eliminate bodily waste. So service to Ba'al P'or was 100 percent evil. If one could worship in this way one could free himself to do any act. Hence in next week's parasha we will read about the orgy with the Moab women.

A sad day on the Jewish calendar falls around the time of this Torah portion. It is called the Fast of Tamuz 17. It is the beginning of the three weeks of mourning ending with Tisha B'Av. Tisha B'Av is the 9th of Av. Tisha B'Av is when both Temples were destroyed.

Tamuz 17 is when the walls of Jerusalem were forced open by the Romans. During this period traditional Jews do not shave or get their hair cut. No marriages are performed. No court cases are held. There is no rejoicing with music or dance. The wearing of new clothes or eating a new fruit, which would require a "shehechiyanu" blessing, can not be done. This fast is not a 24-hour fast like Yom Kippur. It starts at sunrise and ends at sundown.

We are taught traditionally that many tragedies befell the Jewish people on the 17th of Tamuz. Moses returned from Mt. Sinai and witnessed the Golden Calf and smashed the Tablets. During the fall of the first Temple there was starvation. The animal sacrifices stopped as there were no animals left. The Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem (the Babylonians breached the walls on the 9th of Tamuz).

The Talmud in Tractate Ta'anit recounts that just before the story of Hanukkah a Syrian governor, Apustomus, publicly burned a Torah as well as placed a idol in the Second Temple. Historians think it was really a Roman officer, but the rabbis censored themselves to avoid the wrath of the Romans and called him a "Syrian." King Menashe placed an idol in the First Temple on this day. It is interesting to note from a modern historical perspective that Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor, from which he planned to create a bomb to drop on Israel, was called "Tamuz 17."

Our two parashat teach us that good and evil can be found paradoxically in what we have assumed to be evil and good. Evil exists in man, as God gave us the freedom to choose our actions. We can work to eradicate evil by choosing intentionally, with the force of kavenah, to make evil into good. We can with kavenah make the disallowed into the allowable. We do not have the power to keep bad things from happening to us. But we do have the power to decide how we will react to it. We cannot change the cards that are dealt to us or the way others behave. We can not change the inevitable. However, we can control our attitude and the way we think about situations. If we "awfulize" them and make everything into a catastrophe, we will emote anxiously, angrily, fearfully, or jealously.

The Mishna teaches that "in a place where there are no leaders, strive to be a leader" (Pirkei Avot 2:06). We know wrong from right. Let our lives be for a blessing, even when we are cursed for doing so.

The Mishna teaches that Balaam's she-donkey was created right before the first Shabbat by God, along with Miriam's well. The Midrash teaches that God killed that multi-millennia year old talking donkey to spare mean Balaam the embarrassment of having people point to it and say "there goes dumb Balaam's smart ass." God went to this great length to preserve the human dignity of a wicked character.

In this week's Haftarah, the prophet Micah (6:08) says that all God asks of us is to be just, do acts of loving kindness (ahavath chesed), and be humble. Let us try to live with Father Abraham's attributes of a good eye, humility, and contentedness and not Uncle Balaam's traits of an evil eye, pride, and jealousy. It is not always easy to do, but in both the short run and the long haul it is a healthier and a more spiritual way of living.

Shabbat Shalom,
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
facebook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

If visiting SC's Low Country, contact us for a Shabbat meal, in our home by the sea, our beth yam.

Maker of Shalom (Oseh Shalom) help make us deserving of Shalom beyond all human comprehension!

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
facebook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal www.jewishspiritualrenewal.org
Jewish Renewal www.jewishrenewal.info
Jewish Spiritual Renewal http://rabbiarthursegal.blogspot.com
Jewish Spirituality
Eco Judaism
facebook.com/RabbiArthurSegalJewishSpiritualRenewal
Hilton Head Island, SC, Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA