Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 14 Tammuz, 5784
Parsha Balak: (Numbers 22:2 – 25:9)
Seventh Portion: Numbers 24:14 – 25:9

Shabbat Shalom!  This is an amazing day for us! The fullness of the moon is upon us tonight/tomorrow morning. It was BEAUTIFUL last night seeing the sun’s reflection at night.

The moon Is a beautiful image for us to “see in the darkness.” The moon reflects the light of the sun – it is not a source.

Let’s rest today – enjoy our peace. And just be!  Time to dig in!

14And now, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you…what this people will do to your people at the end of days.”

Balaam is telling Balak it is time to go.  And before he does? He’s going to tell Balak his future:

15He took up his parable and said, “The word of Balaam, son of Beor, the word of a man with an open eye.

16The word of the one who hears God’s sayings and perceives the thoughts of the Most High; who sees the vision of the Almighty, fallen yet with open eyes.

Balaam here acknowledges his eyes are fallen. He’s not a child of Israel. And he perceives Hashem!

17I see it, but not now; I behold it, but not soon. A star has gone forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel which will crush the princes of Moab and uproot all the sons of Seth.

18Edom shall be possessed, and Seir shall become the possession of his enemies, and Israel shall triumph.

19A ruler shall come out of Jacob, and destroy the remnant of the city.”

20When he saw Amalek, he took up his parable and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, and his fate shall be everlasting destruction.”

21When he saw the Kenite, he took up his parable and said, “How firm is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in a cliff.

22For if Kain is laid waste, how far will Assyria take you captive?”

23He took up his parable and said, Alas! Who can survive these things from God?

24Ships will come from the Kittites and afflict Assyria and afflict those on the other side, but he too will perish forever.”

Basically, Balaam told Balak – Israel is going to be big and win. Everyone else? Not gonna make it.

25Balaam arose, went, and returned home, and Balak went on his way.

So this seems like a GREAT way to end the parsha, right? And? We get more:

1Israel settled in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of the Moabites.

Awwwwe Shittim.

So we just get done focused on Balak. Hashem is protecting us as Israel – He sees no wrong. He kept us safe.

And immediately? We are transported to Shittim. Where harlotry happens. The Children of Israel were consorting with the daughters of the Moabites.

2They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and prostrated themselves to their gods.

3Israel became attached to Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord flared against Israel.

My first reflection here is around balance. We can get in our egos – think “we are Hashem’s chosen – we can do things, and Hashem forgives us! We good!”  And? We need to be reminded – we are also humans and make mistakes and Hashem gets angry.

4The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang them before the Lord, facing the sun, and then the flaring anger of the Lord will be removed from Israel.

5Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you shall kill the men who became attached to Baal Peor.

Whoa. This is pretty harsh.  And we need to remember – death is different. It’s a beginning not an end. And. Hashem decides. Not us.

6Then an Israelite man came and brought the Midianite woman to his brethren, before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of the entire congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

7Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen saw this, arose from the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.

8He went after the Israelite man into the chamber and drove [it through] both of them; the Israelite man, and the woman through her stomach, and the plague ceased from the children of Israel.

So it got so bad, the Israelite brought the Midianite woman to the Tent of Meeting.

And Phinehas (who our next portion is named after) killed them both. And the plague stopped.

9Those that died in the plague numbered twenty four thousand.

24,000 died in this debacle.

And yet? Israel was not cursed.

The takeaway for me?  Trust things to unfold. We should concern ourselves with what is in our current reality (what happened when settling in Shittim) vs. what is happening behind the scenes.  So often it seems we get sucked into what is happening beyond us – we lose sight of what is happening within.

This seems to be the takeaway. What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Tamuz, 5783.

Shabbat Shalom!

Today’s portion has a lot. It’s messiah. It refers to immorality and poop and bare anuses.

I want to focus on Messiah.  Because I feel like across the various religions, this is a great source of controversy.

Balaam tells Balak a parable that basically refers to the Messiah.

“The word of Balaam son of Beor. the word of a man with an open eye. The word of the one who hears God’s sayings, and knows the thoughts of the Supernal One, who sees God’s vision lying down, yet with open eyes.

I see him, but not now. I perceive him, but he is not near.

A star will shoot forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel. He will crush the princes of Moab, he will devastate all the descendants of Seth. Seir, his enemy, will be possessed, and Israel will grow strong.

A ruler will come from Jacob, and destroy the remnant of a city.”

Keep in mind.  Balaam is NOT a member of the tribe of Israel.  And yet he connected with Hashem.

First key point: ANYONE CAN CONNECT WITH HASHEM

Jews don’t have exclusive connection with Hashem. Yes, we are chosen by Hashem – to be set apart.  But this doesn’t mean we are “better” than anyone else.  Balaam heard from God.

Next. When it comes to Messiah, one of my favorite unifying ideas around messiah? We are ALL messiah.

Second key point: WE ARE ALL MESSIAH

From my commentary last year:

Kabbalah talks about this passage from Balaam as a story about Messiah. It asks the question: “Who is the Messiah?”

Here’s the answer:

It’s you.

At least that was the conclusion reached by Rabbi Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl (1730-97) in his work “The Light of the Eyes.”

Of course, Judaism always maintained that there will be a particular Messiah, a man descended from King David who would bring about the political restoration of Biblical Israel. What Rabbi Menahem Nahum added to this idea is that the global change in consciousness necessary to make this possible depends not only upon the Messiah himself but on the individual too. Each one of us, he argued, contains a spark of the Messiah (what the Torah refers to here as a “star”), an inner sanctum of the very purest spirituality which it is our task to “locate” and make an active part of our lives.”

Maimonides writes about two messiahs in reference to the star and staff:

In the Torah passage of Balaam, he prophesies about two Messiahs-the first Messiah, David, who saved Israel from her oppressors; and the final Messiah, who will arise from his descendants and ultimately save Israel.

There it is written, “I see him, but not now” – this refers to David;

“I perceive him, but he is not near” (verses 17-18)-this refers to the King Messiah;

“A star will shoot forth from Jacob”- this refers to David;

“And a staff will arise from Israel” – this refers to the King Messiah;

‘He will crush the princes of Moab”-this refers to David, as the verse states, “He smote Moab and measured them with a line” (Il Samuel 8:2);

“He will devastate all of the descendants of Seth”- this refers to the King Messiah, about whom it is written, “He will rule from sea to sea (Zechariah 9:10);

“Edom will be possessed” – this refers to David, as the verse states, “Edom became the servants of David, etc.” (Il Samuel 8:6; ibid.,14);

“Seir.…. will be possessed”- this refers to the Messiah, as the verse states, “Saviors will ascend Mount Zion to judge Mount Esau” (Obadiah 1:21)

Some really interesting thoughts here on Messiah. I’m curious to know your thoughts!

I think about other perspectives on Messiah.  Even in Christianity, there is a concept about “Jesus being in you.”

This relates (in my opinion) with this idea;

“Each one of us, he argued, contains a spark of the Messiah (what the Torah refers to here as a “star”), an inner sanctum of the very purest spirituality which it is our task to “locate” and make an active part of our lives.”

All of us have the opportunity to locate this messiah within us.  And if we do that? We can change the collective consciousness and messiah would be more present here on earth, right?

I love that Jewish thought engages with the collective consciousness.  How our consciousness can connect with others’.

Think about it.  What are you conscious of? We have power. I can be conscious of my feet touching the ground if I choose. I can be conscious of the tree on my walk if I choose. Understanding we have control of our consciousness? That is the beginning of spiritual liberation and freedom.

Are we looking for the messiah within?  Or are we looking externally for our “salvation?”  These are the questions (in my opinion) that can bring us TOGETHER instead of arguing over who messiah is.

I am curious on your thoughts on this.

Finally.  Let’s talk about Angel Poop.  Yes. Literal Angel poop.  From my commentary a year ago:

Hasidic thought teaches that the angels too have “waste matter.” Just like the digestive system gradually sifts out the nutritious elements of the food, eventually leaving nothing but waste, the angels “sift out” the most lofty and pleasurable Divine emanations, which they transfer to the Garden of Eden (Paradise), and allow the “wastage” to fall to earth. The spiritual wastage is the source of all physical pleasures found in this world.

The pursuit of physical pleasures (spiritual wastage) is thus a subtle form of “Baal-peor.”

For it is fitting for man who is made in God’s image, to focus primarily on filling his life with more lofty spiritual pleasures.” (End quote)

Think about this.  The physical pleasures of THIS world is the Spiritual Waste in paradise.  Now. Initially, this may seem like something “external.”  But if you think about it, if messiah is us, when we tap into that spiritual spark inside of us (Our Neshama), we will experience joy and pleasure far beyond the moments of physical pleasure we normally experience.

I have experienced this myself.

Third Key Point: PHYSICAL PLEASURES ARE GOOD. SPIRITUAL PLEASURES ARE EVEN BETTER

Because even the poop from angels? That is probably better than anything found on this earth.

How do we navigate this? To me? It’s balance.

George Mumford speaks about balance – Too much Wisdom, we become cynical.  Too much trust? Pollyanna.

We need to balance our spiritual journey and our physical ones.  Yes, we are messiah. No, we cannot live fully in a spiritual realm because we are at the same time here on earth.  We are grounded in this realm.  So how do we balance this?

By spending time in all of these realms. Engaging physically with the world around us.  Grounding ourselves in this reality. AND spending time within. Searching for the spark within us that is pure and spiritual. Our souls.

If more of us did this, our collective consciousness could “move mountains” as Jesus wrote about. Wise Jewish Middle-Eastern dude he was.

So those are my thoughts.  What are yours?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 17 Tamuz, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!

Today is an interesting day on the Hebrew calendar. In a normal year, 17 Tamuz begins “The Three Weeks” which is a period of mourning of the destruction of the first and second temple. It would start today and end on Tish’a B’Av (the ninth of Av).

But because today is a sabbath and we are not supposed to mourn on the sabbath, we delay until tonight at sundown. Tisha B’Av also gets delayed a day as well.

There are four levels of mourning – tonight will begin the first phase of mourning- until the end of the month of Tamuz. The second level is from Rosh Chodesh Av, until the week in which Tish’a B’Av falls. The third is the week in which Tish’a B’Av falls until the 8th of Av. And the fourth is Tisha’a B’Av.

It’s an interesting foundation for this period of time to put things Into perspective.

Let’s dig into todays portion!

So – three times Balaam has blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them as Balak requested.

Balaam tells Balak he is going home. He tells Balak before he goes that the way to bring about Israel’s downfall is to tempt them to immorality with Moabite women. But then he tells Balak, here’s the catch though. “Let me tell you what this people will do to your people at the end of days.”

Then he goes into a parable that’s pretty interesting:

“The word of Balaam son of Beor. the word of a man with an open eye. The word of the one who hears God’s sayings, and knows the thoughts of the Supernal One, who sees God’s vision lying down, yet with open eyes.

I see him, but not now. I perceive him, but he is not near.

A star will shoot forth from Jacob, and a staff will arise from Israel. He will crush the princes of Moab, he will devastate all the descendants of Seth. Seir, his enemy, will be possessed, and Israel will grow strong.

A ruler will come from Jacob, and destroy the remnant of a city.”

Kabbalah talks about this as a story about Messiah. It asks the question: “Who is the Messiah?”

Here’s the answer:

It’s you.

At least that was the conclusion reached by Rabbi Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl (1730-97) in his work “The Light of the Eyes.”

Of course, Judaism always maintained that there will be a particular Messiah, a man descended from King David who would bring about the political restoration of Biblical Israel. What Rabbi Menahem Nahum added to this idea is that the global change in consciousness necessary to make this possible depends not only upon the Messiah himself but on the individual too. Each one of us, he argued, contains a spark of the Messiah (what the Torah refers to here as a “star”), an inner sanctum of the very purest spirituality which it is our task to “locate” and make an active part of our lives.”

Maimonides writes about two messiahs in reference to the star and staff:

In the Torah passage of Balaam, he prophesies about two Messiahs-the first Messiah, David, who saved Israel from her oppressors; and the final Messiah, who will arise from his descendants and ultimately save Israel.

There it is written, “I see him, but not now” – this refers to David;

“I perceive him, but he is not near” (verses 17-18)-this refers to the King Messiah;

“A star will shoot forth from Jacob”- this refers to David;

“And a staff will arise from Israel” – this refers to the King Messiah;

‘He will crush the princes of Moab”-this refers to David, as the verse states, “He smote Moab and measured them with a line” (Il Samuel 8:2);

“He will devastate all of the descendants of Seth”- this refers to the King Messiah, about whom it is written, “He will rule from sea to sea (Zechariah 9:10);

“Edom will be possessed” – this refers to David, as the verse states, “Edom became the servants of David, etc.” (Il Samuel 8:6; ibid.,14);

“Seir.…. will be possessed”- this refers to the Messiah, as the verse states, “Saviors will ascend Mount Zion to judge Mount Esau” (Obadiah 1:21)

Some really interesting thoughts here on Messiah. I’m curious to know your thoughts!

But Balaam isn’t done. He also gets word about the future of Amalek. Basically, Amalek was the first to fight Israel and his end will be eternal destruction.

Then he gets word about the Kenites, and honestly? I’m not sure how to read it:

How firm is your dwelling place: Your nest is set in stone. ” For even if the Kenite is laid waste (and exiled), how far will Assyria take you captive?

That seems to indicate the Kenites might be more stable.

Balaam makes one more parable about the Assyrian exile. Assyria will see destruction.

Then, Balaam got moving and went home. Balak went on his way.

And this ends the Torah part where we are not with the Jewish people. The story of Balak and Balam is told from outside the camp of Israel. It’s interesting writing in the middle of books that is grounded in the experiences of the Jews.

We close this week’s Parsha and today’s portion back with Israel.

We see that Israel settles in Shittim; and the people began to be immoral with Moabite girls. The moabites invited Jews to their feasts that they made to their gods, and the Jewish people are and prostrated themselves to the Moabite gods. This is how (as the Torah says) Israel became attached to the deity Baal-peor.

Full stop. Let’s investigate Baal-peor. Rabbi Shneur Zalman wrote this. (Warning: it’s a little graphic)

Peor was so named because its worshipers would bare (po’arin) their anuses before it and defecate. That was the way they worshiped this idol (Rashi)

The idol “Baal-peor” was worshiped in an extremely crude fashion, by depositing the body’s waste matter before it. Its worshipers made the unimportant, important.

Hasidic thought teaches that the angels too have “waste matter.” Just like the digestive system gradually sifts out the nutritious elements of the food, eventually leaving nothing but waste, the angels “sift out” the most lofty and pleasurable Divine emanations, which they transfer to the Garden of Eden (Paradise), and allow the “wastage” to fall to earth. The spiritual wastage is the source of all physical pleasures found in this world.

The pursuit of physical pleasures (spiritual wastage) is thus a subtle form of “Baal-peor.”

For it is fitting for man who is made in God’s image, to focus primarily on filling his life with more lofty spiritual pleasures.” (End quote)

Wow. That’s just something to chew on!

Back to the passage. God is furious with Israel and sent a plague upon them.

It gets ugly.

God tells Moses to take all the leaders of the people to judge those who worshipped idols and hang them before God, in view of the sun so everyone can see. Then God’s fury will withdraw from Israel.

Moses said to the 88,600 judges of Israel, “each of you should kill two men who became attached to Baal-peor.”

Then. Moses got shook. An Israelite brought a Midianite woman to his brothers and took her into a tent in full view of Moses and in full view of the congregation of Israel.

Moses was indecisive because he could not recall the law in this case. People were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Why was this happening? Well the Talmud and Rashi had some things to say:

Zimri said to Moses, “ls this Midianite woman forbidden or permitted?” And if you say she is forbidden, who permitted you to marry Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, when Jethro was a Midianite?”

At that moment, Moses forgot the law and all the people burst into tears. With the Golden Calf, Moses had stood up against six hundred thousand people, yet here he seemed helpless!

But all this was orchestrated so that Phinehas could come and take the reward that he deserved (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 82a), In fact, there was an important distinction between the two cases. Moses married Jethro’s daughter before the Torah was given, when the children of Israel were permitted to intermarry with non-Israelites. Zimri’s actions, on the other hand, took place after receiving the Torah which forbade such relationships (Rashi, 11th century).

The last part of the portion has Phinehas whose father was Eleazar who’s father was Aaron. He saw what was going on, and Moses hesitating. He stood up from the congregation, grabbed a spear and killed the man and the Medianite woman. The plague then ceased from the children of Israel. 24,000 died in the plague.

According to Rabbi Isaac Meir, “After Phinehas saw what was happening and “remembered the law” he consulted with Moses (see Rashi). Before we do something, even if it is correct and according to the law, we must first turn to a higher authority for guidance.”

Wow. What a way to end the portion. One of the only named after a non-Jew.

One final Kabbalah note. It is believed that Phinehas would be reincarnated as Elijah the Prophet.

Interesting stuff!! What are your thoughts.

As always on Shabbat, Haftorah thoughts in comments below

Todays Haftorah is Micah 5:6-6:8

It mentions Balak and how God confounded his plot to curse the Jews. Micah tells us this prophecy. He was a contemporary of Isaiah the prophet. And this was told during the time Assyria was rising to power. Micah’s focus was on social issues like the corrupt influences of the wealthy elite. *cough* sound familiar *cough* *cough*

Micah talks about the time preceding the future redemption. He starts by talking about the “remnant of Jacob.” Because the Jews trust God, they will be like a lion among the animals of the forest. They will be small in number, but mighty.

Micah tells us “on that day” the day Israel destroys their enemies, that God will eliminate our reliance on horses and chariots so that all we can rely on is Him.

Basically Israel won’t have any weapons. But God will destroy the nations who were enemies of Israel.

Then God asks Micah to debate with the Jews:

“My people! Remember all the good that I have done for you. How have I wearied you to accept

My yoke? Testify against Me! For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of your slavery, and I sent you great leaders, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. My people! Remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him. From Shittim where you sinned with Baal-peor, I nevertheless took you into the land of Israel to Gilgal on the other side of the Jordan, so that you may recognize the righteous deeds of God”

And impassioned plea for sure, to trust in God.

But the people will respond with “you ask too much of us. How many animals would we need to make peace with you? How many sacrifices? It’s too much!” (Paraphrasing there)

Micah though pushes back. He ends this Haftorah with this:

“He has told you, O man, what is good, and what God demands of you:

“Simply to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God when observing His commands.”

That’s it. That’s what God wants from us.

Do Justice

Love kindness

Walk humbly

With God.

What are your thoughts?