9 July 2011 | 7 Tammuz 5771 | Numbers 22:2-25:9

There are moments when the Global Jewish community joins together to affect change.  Think of threats to Israel or the plight of Soviet Jewry; these all were times in our history when the Jewish people were unified, set into action and made change happen. It really is remarkable for such a small people to wield such remarkable influence.  This is the power of focus—a people’s focus—one people with one mission determined to make it happen.  

I am very grateful for these moments in our history. However, these moments, although glorious, are far and few between. Most of the time, we seem to be divided – whether two thousand years ago with the divide between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, three hundred years ago with the break between Hassidism and Misnagedim, or perhaps in our own time with Conservative, Reform and Orthodox. We are a people that spend more time divided than unified.   

Our Torah readings these past few weeks follow this sad trend. We recently read about two great rebellions. Early on in the book of Numbers we read about the spies sent to survey the land only to return with a 10/2 split (the ten bringing a negative report.) Last week, we read about Korach, Dalton and Aviram, their grumbling and grasping for power which ended in disaster. Inbetween these episodes we heard an awful lot of complaining and griping about all sorts of things which just goes to highlight my point: Jews are more often divided than united. It really is a shame because we can do incredible things when we are united and focused. This week’s parsha tries to highlight the power of Jewish unity from a different vantage point.  

In Parshat Balak, we briefly meet the Moabite King, Balak, and his trusted curse-slinger, Balaam. Our parsha begins by stating:

“And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites.” (Number 22:2)

Reading this verse, our sages asked an interesting question…in the previous parsha, didn’t Israel go to war against two kingdoms, The Amorites, ruled by King Sihon (Numbers 21:21) and Bashan, ruled by King Og? Why doesn’t Balak mention what Israel did to the Bashanites?  To answer this discrepancy, the Rabbis' focus on the verbs that describe the Israelites taking of the land after their respective battles. In reference to conquering the land of the Amorites, our Torah states, “Thus Israel dwelt (singular, third person) in the land of the Amorites.” (Numbers 21:32). When discussing Og, King of Bashan, the Torah explains, “So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him remaining; and they possessed his land.” (Numbers 21:35).

For our rabbi’s this change from singular (for the Amorites) to plural (for Bashan) language wasn’t simply a grammatical change but spoke to the people’s solidarity.  When the Israelites waged war against the Amorites, the Torah uses singular third person verbs but when talking about the battle against the Bashanites, it doesn’t say, “He, Israel, possessed the land;” instead it says “They possessed the land.” Therefore, our sages propose, when talking about the Amorite victory, the verb is singular because the people were united. Although both wars ended victorious for our people, the battle against the Amorites was a struggle where the entire people Israel were united as one.  This is why Balak failed to mentioned the war against Og, king of Bashan and focused instead on the Amorites’ defeat because the battle against the Amorites, when the people were united, was truly awe inspiring and worthy of mention.

We often hear people talk about Klal Israel, the community of Israel, encouraging the Jewish people to work together for the greater good of the Jewish people.  With such a diverse population, it is difficult for us to find unity all the time.  However, imagine what we could do if we came together more often. This is definitely a goal to aspire to, one that the people of the world would watch with awe and inspiration.

Shabbat Shalom