Torah Commentary - Balak

A wicked king, a talking donkey, a wizard whose curses miraculously turn to blessings - "Shrek Meets Harry Potter?" No! It's the Torah Portion, Balak.
Balak is one of my favorite Portions - both for its teachings and for some wonderful personal memories associated with it. Decades ago, in Israel, I had the pleasure of helping one of my daughters, then a third grader, with her Torah homework. The Portion was Balak and she was struggling to understand what it was about. We had recently made Aliyah, so her Hebrew skills were still developing and the ponderous English of our Torah Commentary was not much help, either. Together we read in both languages, line by line, until I thought I understood the "plot." I asked my daughter to play the role of Balaam and I was the donkey. She clung to my neck and wrapped her legs around my waist. I carried her down the "mountain path," straying off into the living room, squeezing against the walls in the hallway, and falling in a heap on the rug while braying that an angel was in my way.

My daughter is grown now with two daughters of her own, but we treasure the memory of studying Balak. Although we may not always realize it, Torah is meaningful on so many levels. While we stray and struggle on our journey, Torah wisdom, Torah teachings, and Torah themes are present in our lives, waiting, like the angel in Balak, to be revealed.

Years later, years during which I infrequently engaged in Torah study, Balak again intersected my life. As a gift for co-chairing a Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education (CAJE), I received a framed print by artist Bruce David. The print, entitled "Enlightened Eyes" depicts Balaam, the donkey, and the angel. The images in the print are formed by energetic swirls of vivid color: yellow-orange, rust, burnt umber, green, yellow, purple, turquoise-blue. The single large figure in the print melds the forms of Balaam and the donkey into one design. Within this dual design are multiple smaller images of Balaam, the donkey, and the angel with sword in hand. Radiating from the eyes of the central Balaam/donkey figure is a larger image of the angel. I interpret this intriguing print as representing Balaam at the moment described in Numbers 22:31. "And YHWH uncovered Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of YHWH standing up in the road, and his sword drawn in his hand..."*

The story of Balak and Balaam ends well for the children of Israel. Instead of cursing the Israelite camp as King Balak demands, Balaam can only voice the blessings which God "sets" in his mouth. "...Isn't it that whatever YHWH sets in my mouth, that is what I'll watch out to say?!" * (Numbers 23:12)
One verse of these blessings is recited in our prayer liturgy. "How good your tents are, Jacob, your tabernacles, Israel."* (Numbers 24:5)

Commentators write at length about the relationship between God and Balaam; about the literary elements in the text; and about sections of the text that echo verses from previous Portions.
But, for me, Balak stirs special memories of distant times, people, and circumstances. Torah has the power to impact our lives in multiple ways. At times, the meaning of a Portion may extend beyond the text and reflect the dynamics of one's life at a time when that Portion was encountered. We hope that with each yearly cycle of Torah study, our eyes are further "enlightened."

No matter where Balak placed Balaam to view the Israelite camp, Balaam pronounced a blessing.
No matter where we are in life when we engage in Torah study, it, too, is a blessing.

*From: Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman