"To be a teacher in the right sense is to be a learner.  I am not a teacher, only a fellow student."  (Soren Kierkegaard)

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A FEW PRE-SHABBAT WORDS FROM RABBI AARON

Making an Ass of Himself
This parasha contains one of the few texts that feel like farcical physical comedy. Here's a brief sketch of the plot: Balak, King of Moab, was afraid of the approaching Israelites. He heard stories of their dramatic redemption from Egypt. Balak called upon Bil'am, a Midianite prophet with a powerful reputation as a caster of spells ("... I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is, indeed, cursed!") 

God appears to Bil'am in a dream and tells him: you're not going to Moab to curse the Israelites. I have blessed them. Tell the king's emissaries: No Deal. Bil'am complies, but he clearly yearns for the handsome reward offered by Balak. Then God has another conversation with Bil'am. This time, God tells Bil'am to go to Moab, but to remember that God - not Bil'am - is in charge of the script. Bil'am is a vessel, not a free agent. For reasons not entirely clear, the text describes God as being furious with Bil'am for going to Moab [but didn't God give him the Green Light?!]. Here's the comedic moment: a rather menacing Angel of the Lord is approaching, sword drawn. The ass sees the angel and is (understandably) terrified. The prophet, the seer - who is so impressed with his own prophetic talent - is blind to what his ass clearly sees. As the angel closes in, the ass swerves, Bil'am finds his leg uncomfortably mashed against a wall, and, finally, the ass, facing down the point of a sword, sits down in the middle of the road. It's akin to a comedic nightmare of your car displaying a mind of its own, completely disregarding the intentions of the driver... A livid Bil'am begins beating his ass until "his eyes are opened" and he sees the angel in front of him, sword drawn. his utter humiliation in front of the "dumb" animal [she's wiser than her owner, though...], heightens the comedic effect. The joke is on Bil'am, whose arrogance has been brutally deflated. 

The joke's second part plays out at the expense of Balak, the eager king who will endure Bil'am’s poetically blessing Israel three times (including the famous "ma tovu ohalecha yaakov, mishkenotecha yisrael - How beautiful are your tents, O jacob, your dwelling places, Israel..."). The message  is clear: God runs the universe. No matter who you are - even the "great" Bil'am - you do not have some special "in" with God. You cannot manipulate God or even pretend to know God's will.

Fast Forward
American culture has known its share of televangelists; larger than life egos, easily caricatured, making a huge show of their special status. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart - no, not all of them have made absolute asses of themselves the way these particular men did. The scandals which marred their careers were different from Bil'am's comeuppance on the road to Moab, but the lesson of the parasha easily applies to them as well. Across the religious spectrum, certain people of exalted social status convince themselves that they have some exclusive connection with God, that they can know God's Mind. They should consider Bil'am's foolish pride and spare the rest of us from the shameless ongoing spectacle.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Aaron