JULY 18 • 2024 | 27
J
N
I
n youth group, we played a
game called Two Truths and
a Lie. Someone would make
three statements and the group
guessed which two state-
ments were honest and
which was an intentional
untruth.
In this last year of rising
antisemitism, I think that
the American Jewish com-
munity is playing the same
game; but we are confused
over which statement is
the untruth: 1) the Jewish
people feels profoundly
alone at this moment; 2)
We are deeply blessed
to be Jewish even in this
moment; and 3) One cannot feel
alone and blessed at the same
time.
This week, the Torah tells us
the story of King Balak, who
ruled over territories east of the
Jordan River during the days of
the Israelite Exodus from Egypt.
Balak saw the Israelites
coming and feared their
might and their military
successes even though the
Israelites sought only to
pass through Balak’s land
on their way to Israel.
King Balak refused to let
them pass unharmed, but
his army was no match for
God and our ancestors.
As such, King Balak sum-
moned the services of the
evil prophet Bilam, who
followed them and made
his way to a cliff, where he tried
to look down on our ancestors.
Gazing upon our people, the
evil prophet Bilam declared
two statements which define us
today. First, “It is a people that
shall dwell alone, and shall not
be reckoned among the nations”
(Numbers 23:9). Whether Bilam
uttered these words as a curse or
as a description is unclear. What
we do know, however, what
thousands of years of Jew hatred
affirms, when we are alone, we
are vulnerable.
Second, Bilam proclaimed,
“How goodly are your tents, O
Jacob; your dwelling places, O
Israel” (Numbers 24:5). Moved
by what he saw — perhaps the
joy we Jews experience in Jewish
living and the strength and sense
of safety that come from Jewish
peoplehood — Bilam could only
offer us praise.
Thousands of years later, we
are the inheritors of Bilam’s
declarations; today both of his
statements ring true. We are
alone and we are also incredibly
blessed; moreover, it is a lie to
think that we cannot be both at
the very same time.
As we march forward, we
must embrace both Bilam’s
truths about the Jewish expe-
rience. As a people, we are, by
and large, alone. But in our
aloneness, we have each other
and, therefore, we must invest
ourselves ever more deeply in
the joy of Jewish living and in
the strength and safety that come
from our identity as a “king-
dom of priests and holy nation”
(Exodus 19:6).
In our aloneness, we are still,
nevertheless, profoundly bless-
ed … so long as we choose to
accept the blessing.
Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader
of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield and author of the recently
published book Don’t Forget to Call
Home: Lessons from God and Grandpa
on a Life of Meaning.
Two Truths & A Lie
SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Aaron Starr
Parshat
Balak:
Numbers
22:2-25:9;
Micah
5:6-6:8.
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