Hukat-Balak
Jews in the Diaspora have this week the opportunity to read together the Parshiot of Hukat and Balak. We thus join one of the most mysterious mitzvot in the Torah, that of the Red Heifer, with Balaam's blessings of the Jewish people he wanted to curse. Can one find a connection between the two? Balaam was someone that feared and hated the Jewish people until his eyes were opened and he understood their greatness. A lot of this fear is based on the fact that Jews are different and seem not to make sense. Like the Red Heifer, that purifies the impure while defiling the pure, the Jewish people and Judaism seem to be full of paradoxes and contradictions. And like, in the case of the Red Heifer, this causes the other nations to mock us, so too, the distinctiveness of Judaism causes Jews to be misunderstood and feared. One of the greatest paradoxes of Jews that non-Jews puzzle over is whether the Jews are a people or a religion. In some ways we act as a religion, able to exist anywhere; yet we also claim to be a people, with our own need for a homeland. As with the Red Heifer, which both purifies and defiles simultaneously, people don’t get it. But as in the case of the Red Heifer, of course, both are equally true. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, and one cannot exist without the other. Jews are both a religion and a nation simultaneously. That makes Jews different, which can lead to hostility, yet in fact it is our great advantage and a lesson to the world. Because Judaism is the religion of the Jews, it can be both a universal religion and be tolerant of others. Because, while we believe that the G-d of Israel is universal, we equally believe that the religion of Israel is for Jews alone. We therefore, unlike Christianity and Islam, have no pretentions to convert everybody or create a world where everyone is Jewish. ( A concept most Jews would regard with horror). Balak and Balaam, of course, misunderstood this concept and saw it as dangerous particularism. They thought that it meant a threat for them, and sought to counter it. They failed to understand that a universal religion of a particular people is the least threatening type of religion and in fact a model for a world of religious diversity and tolerance. Only at the end did Balaam understand that ‘a nation that dwells alone’ is in fact a blessing for themselves and everyone else.
ALIYAH BY ALIYAH SYNOPSIS
Rishon |
The Mitzvah of the Red Heifer. Laws of corpse defilement. Miriam dies and the people complain about lack of water |
Sheni |
Moses hits the rock and is barred from the Land. Edom refuses to let the people pass through. |
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Shelishi |
Aaron dies and the Aradites attack and are defeated. The people complain and are attacked by serpents and healed by looking at a bronze serpent. The song of the well. |
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Revi’i |
Israel defeats Sihon and Og and take their land. The Moabites frightened of Israel ask Bilaam to come and curse them. |
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Chamishi |
Bilaam agrees to go with them but is confronted by an angel and saved by his talking ass. |
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Shishi |
Bilaam blesses Israel rather than cursing them. |
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Shevi’i |
Bilaam looks to the future. The Israelites sin with the daughters of Moab and Pinchas takes direct action. |
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Haftorah |
Micah: 5;6-6;8: Israel should remember G-d‘s love to them as demonstrated in the story of Bilaam. |
Sidra Statistics
Parshiot Hukat-Balak
· have 87 + 104 = 191 verses;
· are the 6th + 7th in Numbers, 39th + 40th in the Torah
· 9th + 8th longest in Numbers, 42nd + 36th longest in the Torah
· Hukat has 3 pos mitzvot.
PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE
250 + 2.
Those that offered the insense.
PARSHAH PUZZLE
Longing for death.
WEEKLY HALAKHA
Cohanim even today are forbidden to touch a dead body or be in proximity to a grave; except for close relatives.
