Balak: Enough of Tears and Bloodshed... and Cursing

If you wanted to, you could read this week's Torah portion as having a great sense of humor. It tells the story of a non-Israelite king, Balak, who intends to curse his enemies, 

the Hebrews. He enlists the help of a renowned prophet, Bilaam, who is spectacularly unsuccessful in his attempt to curse the people. First, the Torah tells of a donkey that has greater insight and vision than this supposed prophet, and then, when Bilaam attempts to speak curses three times, God instead has blessings pour out of his mouth each time. Our enemies are left looking ridiculous and incompetent, and Israel - naturally - looks indestructible and triumphant. You COULD indeed see all the wonderful humor in our parashah. And yet, in light of recent events in the Middle East, I can only read our Torah portion as incredibly tragic.

It is the story of enemies. And it portrays what a lack of communication and diplomacy looks like. Balak cannot, or will not, see that there is anything blessed about Israel. They represent only evil to him. 

And the Israelites are notably silent throughout our Torah portion as well, equally unable, or unwilling, to negotiate or sympathize with the opposition. I think, historically speaking, we are meant to read our parashah as lauding Israel's might, and demonstrating the futility of our enemies' slander and provocations. But who wins? Who benefits from this kind of hatred, or utter lack of conversation between people who inevitably MUST share this section of God's planet. We have nowhere else to go; none of us! And yet, no one is willing to budge, and no one is willing to put down weapons or building plans or UN resolutions or curses in the interest of compromise. No one. So here we are.

Lives are being ruined. It was true when the Israelites first conquered Canaan and fought with every neighbor in the region; and it remains true today, where peace is a rarer commodity than water. Three 

Israeli teenagers were brutally murdered in cold blood, and retaliations have led to at least one Palestinian teenager being equally brutally murdered; and countless others - on both sides - suffer today, tomorrow, and for years to come. There are no easy solutions, and that sometimes leaves us speechless, unable to think about anything at all, least of all peace or negotiations. But it is also true that no one is going anywhere. Israelis and Palestinians both consider this same plot of land home; so who is supposed to leave and set up camp elsewhere? We ignore this truth, and instead invest in the latest technology to hurt one another. It began with the greatest cursing-prophets money could buy, and has evolved (devolved?) into tanks, concealable explosives, and anti-aircraft missiles.

Tragedies always have two levels to them; the personal and the universal. In this case, the personal level is the devastation we feel for the families of Naftali Frankel, Eyal Yifrach and Gilad Shaar, whose lives will never be the same. Please click on this sentence to send a condolence letter to the families of Naftali, Eyal, and Gilad. They are victims of 

a terrible war being fought on TWO sides, and by two peoples who often refuse to see the humanity or rights of the other. And on a universal level, we have to keep asking ourselves - and refuse to STOP asking - how this can ever end. It's not by fighting harder, or pummeling the enemy more resoundingly, or by refusing to apologize or back down. It's hard to hear in the aftermath of such terrible tragedy, but we must work WITH the Palestinians, even in a moment like this. As President Obama said in a speech to young Israelis in Jerusalem last year, 'we must try to see the world through the eyes of the other side. That does not mean accepting their narrative and abandoning our own. But it does mean abandoning the “we’re always right and they are always wrong” view of the conflict and trying to find a solution that begins with mutual compassion.' 

Otherwise, I can't see any way out of this conflict. Without understanding or admitting fault, we're all just donkeys cursing one another blindly, hoping it will somehow lead to real results. And on one level, it's almost comedic to see us going around in circles over and over. But in reality, it's just one of the saddest things imaginable.

Photos in this blog post:

1. CC image courtesy of Adamt on Wikimedia Commons

2. CC image courtesy of MaikMeid on Wikimedia Commons

3. Image of the three Israeli teenagers who were killed - May their memories be for a blessing, and may they rest in peace.

4. CC image courtesy of דוד on Wikimedia Commons