Balak

Bilam is a fascinating character, reviled in the Midrash and yet described as a prophet of the nations of the world. On the face of it, he has a relationship with the Divine which seems to be a positive one. When Balak sends representatives to ask him to go and curse the Children of Israel, he makes it very clear that he must get permission first. God appears to him and has a conversation. Asks who the visitors are and tells Bilam not to go with them. It looks as though there is a pretty close relationship. And Bilam does as he is told.

Then more important messengers come back with a higher offer and again Bilam demurs and goes even further, "Even if Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold I could not go against the word YHVH, my God." Seems pretty conclusive. Indeed, he uses the name YHVH unlike Melchizedek who used EL ELYON.

That night God appears again and this time tells Bilam to go with the messengers, but only to say what is put into his mouth. Bilam gets up to go, but on the way an angel blocks the road, and only Bilam's donkey can see it. Bilam can't see the angel, so he doesn't know why the donkey has stopped. Finally, the donkey opens its mouth and explains why it can't go on. This time it appears the donkey is closer to the forces of Heaven than is Bilam.

The angel finally appears to Bilam and tells again to go on but only to speak as he is told.

On he goes. He gets to Balak, he asks for seven altars to be built and sacrifices offered. God puts words into his mouth that praise Israel rather than curse. Later on God appears to Bilam directly (using a rare word VAYIKAR which could also imply ACCIDENT) and again tells him what to say.

Finally, "Bilam saw that it was good before God to praise Israel, so he no longer turned to the spells he had before…and the Spirit of God rested upon him."

Here lies the clue to Bilam's negative side. To begin with, God was just one of the "forces" he used, related to, or served. God played with him the way he played with Pharaoh, and finally Bilam was able to see the difference.

Chukat

The notion of purity in the Torah is a very complex one. In Western Society we associate notions of purity with physical purity. Impure means "dirty", pure means "clean". But this is not how the Torah sees the idea. After all, in this week's reading the agency of purity is the ashes of a red heifer and yet anyone involved in preparing them becomes impure. This doesn't make sense.

Firstly, it must be said that the purity we are talking about is simply being in an appropriate state to participate in Temple ritual. In the ordinary way of things, most Jews would have carried on a perfectly normal existence throughout the year and across the world while being in a state of "ritual impurity". This would have had no effect whatsoever on, say, the daily life of say a rabbi in Babylon or a rebbetzin in Rome or a Dayan in Worms. The fact is that most humans are in a state of ritual impurity all the time, and indeed at one stage the rabbis actually made a law to the effect that the soil of the Diaspora was ritually impure. (Louis Finkelstein argued that this was to protect the Israeli pottery industry! Reminds one of current commercial practices.)

It was only if one were a priest that this would be a daily problem, because you couldn't eat tithes or other sanctified food in a state of impurity. But for the common and garden Israelite it was only relevant if you wanted to go and visit the Temple. Yes, three times a year there were mass pilgrimages, and tourism existed in those days too. So the real issue was not a negative one of suggesting that we were all dirty, but rather a positive one that suggested that if one wanted to elevate oneself, to go up to the Temple, then one had to go through a very serious process of preparation and purification. Perhaps "elevation" would have been a better word to use, but the effect is the same. The symbolism is what really counts.

Korach

Most people remember the Korach story for the earth opening up and swallowing up the protesters. The "grave" consumed them, and I guess this must be one of the origins of the notion of Hell being a place down in the pit of the earth where bad people end up.

But there is another amazing event associated with the rebellion. One of the objections was that Moshe had given the best jobs to members of his closest family. So Divine instructions were given. Every prince of each tribe was given a wooden staff and the name of each tribe was written on the staff. Aharon presented the staff on behalf of the tribe of Levi. The staffs were placed in the Tent of Assembly overnight. The following day only the staff of Aharon had sprouted blossoms and almonds. The idea of the supposedly dry and "dead" wood coming alive, so to speak, was confirmation that Aharon's appointment had a higher authority than Moshe. Of course this would not have completely satisfied Korach, because he too was from the tribe of Levi. Nevertheless it was a pretty impressive confirmation.

This image of the "shoot" sprouting is used much later on in the Bible by Isaiah in Chapter 11: "And a branch shall sprout from the stock of Yishai and blossom from its roots." Here of course he is referring to the House of David whose father was Yishai. He is looking forward to a new king emerging who will impose justice and fair government. The quote goes on with the famous phrase, "And the wolf will live with the sheep and a leopard will play with a kid."

Jewish commentators always assumed this was a reference to King Hezekiah, who brought about a religious revival not, as Christians suggested, to someone coming six hundred years later. Virtually all prophetic predictions were relatively short-term. The wolf and the lion are symbols of aggression, and the sheep of a passive or quieter person. No one was expected to believe that lions would actually change their eating habits to consume straw. But, differences apart, the flowering staff became a symbol of Divinely approved leadership. Perhaps this where scepters originated.

Shelach Lecha

The signs of trouble were there all along. Everyone has been organized in marching formation ready to invade. We know soon they are going to panic and ask Moshe to send in spies. But at this moment there is no challenge to the invasion scenario. Moshe asks his father-in-law, Yitro, to come with them into the new territory and to merge; the famous phrase that is used in our synagogues when we open up the Ark, is the signal to advance.
Then things go wrong.

People start complaining and fires start burning around the edge of the camp. They cry out to Moshe and in he steps as the fire chief to damp things down. Then they start grumbling about their diet and get nostalgic for the wonderful food they had back in the Egyptian work camps. This time Moshe has had enough. Public office in the Jewish community is getting to him. He calls on the seventy elders to help. Eldad and Medad start prophesying independently and then Miriam and Aaron complain as well.

Clearly morale is low. It is not surprising that they want reassurance. God’s word is not enough. However religious we may sometimes feel, we are practical people. The project of the spies was doomed from the start because the circumstances under which they were sent were unstable. The people needed reassurance. But the reassurance they needed was that they would have an easy ride, no hassle. And life just isn’t like that; even the easy things need working at.

So if you are thinking of going on aliyah, you’ll get help and some very favorable concessions. But don't assume it will all go simply and easily without a few hitches. All good things are worth fighting for and it helps if you have the right attitude, a positive one, before you go.