Balak - No Hocus Pocus; FAITH!

Balak - No Hocus Pocus; FAITH!

July 3/4, 2015   Tammuz 16/17,5775

If/when you daven/pray each morning, you recite the verse from Parsha Balak (Torah Portion) sung to a melody of “Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov, mishk'notecha, Yisrael, "How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel."   This prayer is part of our Morning Blessings, and the portion tells the story of Balak, king of Moab, and Balaam, a sorcerer/magician. When Balak sees the Israelites' victory over the Amorites, he is alarmed; fearing that the Israelites are way too powerful to defeat, so he sends for Balaam and tells him to curse the Israelites!   At first, G-d forbids Balaam to accept this mission, but later G-d allows him to go forward if he agrees to obey God's instructions in detail. In Moab, Balaam tells Balak to build him 7 altars and he doe, as Balaam wishes, and they sacrifice a bull and a ram on each altar. Then Balaam speaks with G-d and proceeds to bless Israel. Enraged and upset, Balak takes Balaam to two other places and repeats the sacrificial process each time. But in each place and time, when Balaam opens his mouth to curse the people of Israel, only blessings come out!

So why did G-d prevent Balaam from cursing the Israelites? Why was it necessary to turn the curse into a blessing? Maybe, as some rabbinic scholars feel, to teach him a valuable lesson, and no magic ‘hocus pocus’ could prevail over G-d; he had no choice but to utter the words G-d had put into his mouth. Another reason for God's turning the curses into blessings was to benefit Israel thankfully!!!   Since the Israelites grew up in Egypt, where there was considerable superstition and sorcery, they might take Balaam's curses seriously and be demoralized and down, and obviously might also feel uplifted by his blessings!  G-d also showed his sincere care, love and concern for Israel, and when they heard how G-d had turned them into blessings, they would then realize who the almighty, G-D was!!!!!! . . . And therefore would lose all desire to fight HIS people.

The blessing was redundant — G-d had already blessed — and the curse was ineffective. Why then did G-d prevent him from cursing? Because having foreseen Israel's future sins and punishments, G-d did not want the nations to say, 'It was Balaam's curse that caused it,'" The Babylonians believed in the power of curses and relied on professional sorcerers to curse their enemies before battle. The Israelites also believed in curses. If ALL parties believed in the curses and the manner of ill delivery, then Israel would not have a strong stance with her surrounding neighbors.

 When we hear/recite/sing Mah Tovu during our morning prayers, it should remind us of Balaam's blessings of the Israelites. As a result, we might think of the curses and dark spells, and start with a heavy heart, but thru our sincere prayer, feel G-d’s blessings!   May we be like Balaam and hear God's words so that we, too, may turn our curses into blessings!!!!!