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torah portion

That Still Small Voice

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26

June 28 • 2018

jn

S

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

ometimes wisdom comes from
the voices we least expect. In
Balak, it comes from an ass.
Sometimes wisdom comes from
the voices we hold close to our
hearts. In my life, that voice is often
my late father-in-law, Robert Long.
Th ese vastly disparate voices
come together for me in
the story of Balaam and his
wisdom. For the ass is not
donkey. At the request of
only able to speak, she is
Balak, king of Moab, Balaam
able to see what a prophet
is sent to view the Israelite
could not.
camp in the desert and to
My father-in-law taught
curse them. Balaam initially
me about positive pre-
hesitates, but eventually God
sumption, the idea that
gives Balaam permission to
when someone you trust
go, provided Balaam follows Rabbi Ariana
is disappointing you, fi rst
God’s instructions upon
assume that the cause is
Silverman
arrival.
something you would fi nd
So Balaam sets off on his
forgivable. For example, if
donkey, expecting a smooth
your friend is late or your
journey. Suddenly, the ass
colleague’s response to a
swerves from the road, and we learn request is delayed, fi rst assume that
from the text that the ass is able
your friend was obstructed by an
to see (while Balaam does not) an
unpredictable traffi c accident or
angel of God standing in the way,
your colleague has a sick relative. Or,
holding a sword. Balaam beats the
perhaps, if your donkey is refusing to
ass to get her back on the road. Th is
move forward, it is because there is
repeats three times — the ass sees
a menacing angel of God that could
the menacing angel while Balaam
kill you.
does not; the ass shies away from
In our everyday lives, positive
the danger, and Balaam beats her.
presumption can reduce our stress
Finally, God “opened the ass’s
( forgiving and positive thoughts
mouth,” and she is able to plead to
cause much less anxiety that nega-
Balaam, “Look, I am the ass that
tive ones) and improve our relation-
you have been riding all along until
ships. And, you may discover that
this day! Have I been in the habit
more often than not, it turns out a
of doing thus to you?” (22:30) Th en
disappointment does stem from a
God allows Balaam to see the angel,
forgivable cause.
and scolds that “If [the ass] had not
As we journey through life, may
shied away from me, you are the one we hear the voices we least expect,
I should have killed, while sparing
and the voices that come from deep
her.” (22:33)
within us, that encourage us to
Th ere is certainly an irony that
presume the positive when we can.
discernment comes from an animal
Doing so may ultimately lead us
considered to be unintelligent. Th ere down the unexpected path toward
is also great signifi cance to this
blessing. •
voice. Th e only other time that an
animal speaks in the Torah is when
Rabbi Ariana Silverman is the rabbi of the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue. She lives in
the snake speaks to Eve. Th ere it
provokes harm, and here it provides Detroit with her family.