■ Spring Into...

>> Torah portion

Balaam's
Blessings

Full Service Auto Repair & Maintenance

Kenny the Car Guy" Walters, owns t e award-winning auto shop

Mufflers and More

at 490 N. Pontiac Trail in Walled Lake

T

Email Kenny the Car Guy at
Kenny@mufflersandmore.net

248.668.1200

For years, Mufflers and More has provided neighbors with HONEST, DEPENDABLE,
QUALITY information, repair and service! They live here and it shows!

Parshat Balak: Numbers 22:2-25:9;
Micah 5:6-6:8.

his week's Torah portion
is named after the wrong
person. It is called Balak,
referencing the king who ordered
curses on the Israelites. But really, it
should have been named
after Balaam, the pagan
prophet who is the main
character in this portion.
Even our ancient rabbis of
the Talmud understandably
called this section of the
Book of Numbers the "Book
of Balaam." Regardless of
what it is called, it is in this
week's Torah portion that
we find a most bizarre and
very entertaining story.
We are told the extraordi-
nary tale of the prophet Balaam, who
is hired by King Balak to curse the
people Israel. Balak worries that the
Israelite people will attack his nation,
and that they will be far too numer-
ous for him to defeat. Balaam is hired
to curse the people of Israel, because
whomever Balaam blesses is indeed
blessed, and those whom Balaam
curses are cursed (Numbers 22:6).
As Balaam heads out on his don-
key, intending to fulfill King Balak's
request, the donkey sees an angel of
God standing before her and refuses
to go forward. After Balaam beats the
donkey, and the donkey protests the
harsh mistreatment, Balaam himself
sees the angel standing in their way.
Fearful, Balaam wonders if he
should turn around and go home. The
angel, however, tells him to continue
on his journey, warning him that he
is only to say what God commands.
On three occasions King Balak asks
Balaam to curse the Israelites, and
each time he instead blesses them.
Who is Balaam? Is he an enemy
of the Israelites? A friend? Our well-
known Torah scholars disagree on
what his motive and his true character
were. Talmudic Rabbis Eliezer and
Yochanan agree that Balaam's bless-
ings are not his own, but put into his
mouth by God. Rabbi Yochanan sug-
gests that the words are extracted by
a hook —Balaam speaks them against
his will. Other scholars argue that
Balaam is a schemer who manipulates

www.mufflersandmore.net

SERVICE DISCOUNT (labor only)

$10 OFF $50 u ' I MS
$20 OFF $100
$30 OFF $250 or more

U

the truth for his own financial gain.
Yet, there is another, far more
positive understanding of Balaam.
Nehama Leibowitz explains that
Balaam may have begun with sinister
intentions, but he evolves
into a man whose faith
in God increases with
experience. As his faith in
God transforms, Balaam
becomes more open to
hearing and fulfilling God's
will.
Perhaps it is because we
see how Balaam's character
and faith may have evolved
that we have taken of his
blessing and included it
in our liturgy: "Mah tovu
ohalecha Yaakov — How beautiful
are your tents, 0 Jacob/Your dwelling
places Israel!"
His words of curse became a beauti-
ful blessing that we sing regularly in
our worship services. These words,
meant as praise for the ancient
Israelite community, have come to
embody the love we, as Jews, feel
for our community, our synagogues,
our schools and our institutions.
Though Balaam tried to curse what
was strange to him, what he didn't
understand, his words of curse were
repurposed, becoming our words of
blessing.
On this Shabbat, as we read this
remarkable story, let us take our
curses — our strange, unpleasant
or uncomfortable experiences —
and repurpose them, making those
encounters moments of blessing.

Full Service Auto Repair & Maintenance

Fu: ServicelAuto Repair & Maintenance

1926390

BARRY BRICKNER

*ENDORSED BY*

* Member of Adat Shalom

www.BricknerForStateRep.com

STATE REP. VICKI BARNETT
HANNAN LIS MANY MORE

1929970

`ONE OF THE FINEST Ell o Rs e rT E IAI NIIi141:1S IN RECENT MEMORY."

"BRACING, BEAUTIFULLY WROUGHT AND PROVOCATIVE'

-1. HOBERMAN, TABLET MAGAZINE

"ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR.
NOT TO BE MISSED!"

-GEORGE ROBINSON, THE JEWISH WEEK

"A MASTERPIECE!"

a film by

PAWEL
PAWLIKOWSKI

F M A UC S

M/MUSICBOXFILMS

NOW PLAYING

-DAVID DENBY, THE NEW YORKER
-DAVID THOMSON, THE NEW REPUBLIC
-JOE MORGENSTERN, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

0 SOUTHPORT MUSIC BOX CORPORATION

BOX

FILMS

THE MAPLE THEATER
4135 W. Maple Rd, Bloomfield (248) 855-9091

1929870

❑

Rabbi Arianna Gordon is the director of
education and lifelong learning at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.

Conversations
• How do you understand who
Balaam was and what his moti-
vation was?
• How can we find goodness in
what is strange to us? How can
we turn curses into blessings?
• Balaam had unique experiences
with God. How do we experience
God's presence in our lives?

FREE

DELIVERY

FREE

MEDICATION

CONSULTATION

NOW OPEN!

Your

NEW

Neighborhood Pharmacy

Frankli
►
(2 ) Discount
Pharmacy

Franklin Discount Pharmacy

20% OFF

ALL CASH
PRESCRIPTIONS!

291 13 Northwestern Hwy.

Southfield

248.355.1910

OTC Medications I Blood Pressure Monitors I Diabetic Supplies I Immunizations I Medical Equipment

1929830

July 3 • 2014

23

