Khukat – Balak 5760

Khukat 5761

This week's Torah portion is Khukat, Bamidbar (Numbers) 19 - 22:1. It begins with the following passage: "And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the Torah which the Lord has commanded, saying, Speak to the people of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, which has no blemish, and upon which never came yoke; And you shall give it to El'azar the priest, that he may bring it forth outside the camp, and one shall slay it before his face; And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle of its blood directly before the Tent of Meeting seven times; And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; its skin, and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn; And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening. And he who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the people of Israel for a water of sprinkling; it is a purification offering. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be to the people of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, for a statute forever." [Num. 19:1-10]
What is this passage all about? It is a ritual for the purification from sin. How do you go about purifying? You begin with Consecration - a High Priest who has been commissioned to serve God, and a pure animal, "a red heifer without spot, which has no blemish, and upon which never came yoke" - from which the stuff of purification will be made. You slaughter the heifer, which becomes a dead carcass, unholy and unclean - and renders the priest unclean. Another person, who is clean, will burn the carcass in its entirety to ashes - and he will become unclean in doing so. Still another person, who is clean, will gather the ashes and put the ashes in a special place outside the habitation of the Israelites, to serve for purification. And that person, who gathered the ashes, will also become unclean in the process. Then will the Israelites have "a water of sprinkling; it is a purification offering." Yet, every step of the way of preparing this "purification offering" renders one unclean.
This is a very important lesson about life, private and public. We need to remember that holiness is achieved by "getting one's hands dirty." Then I was raising my children, whom I love and of whom I am so proud, I soiled my hands aplenty! I did not mind it, and even if I had - I would have had no choice. To make an omelette, the saying goes, you needs must break some eggs. To make worthy adults from infants you must change diapers, wash clothes, and be prepared to mete out punishment for infractions of discipline.
The people Israel were dispersed throughout the world for two thousand years. We were persecuted and hounded, exploited and expelled from practically every country in Europe and the Middle East. At the beginning of the twentieth century we made up our mind to "come home" to our ancient homeland, which, much against the writing of the "new historians," was practically empty of inhabitants. The Arabs that lived in the land were joined by others who came to exploit the opportunities that evolved around the return of the Jews. However, as we became more successful, the Arabs became more hostile. They forced us to learn to defend ourselves, and they forced a century of war upon us.

Some people still don't like Jews. Some are still biassed against us. Thus, the BBC, who gave us so many lovely TV shows that we all love, is also one of the worst offenders in reporting about the Arab-Israel conflict. Last week, their news magazine program, Panorama, advertized the following: "Nearly 20 years ago the man who is now Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, sent Lebanese militiamen into the Palestine refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla. When they left 36 hours later at least 800 people lay dead after a rampage of murder, torture and rape. The massacre provoked international outrage. In Israel itself 400,000 people took to the streets in the largest demonstration the country had ever seen. Ariel Sharon was forced to resign as Israel's defence minister. But he has maintained that he could not have foreseen the danger of a massacre in the camps. Fergal Keane investigates this claim, and talks to key witnesses and survivors of the massacre. In the light of developments in international war crimes prosecutions the programme asks whether the evidence should lead to indictments for what happened in the camps."
And guess what happens the very next day? Some survivors of those massacres had lodged a suit in Brussels, demanding Mr. Sharon be indicted under a 1993 law that allows Belgian magistrates to try war-crimes cases no matter where they were committed. Now there's word that Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused a meeting with Mr. Sharon in London next week, possibly for fear of the unsavory impression that might create with the British public.
Look at the case against Mr. Sharon. In 1983, a legitimately constituted Israeli commission of inquiry, known as the Kahane Commission, determined that Mr. Sharon, as Minister of Defense, should have known better than to allow the Phalangists to get near the Palestinian camps. For what amounted to a charge of negligence, Mr. Sharon was forced to resign and face widespread public opprobrium that nearly ended his political career. The Kahane Commission was scrupulous and fair. Thus, in 1985, a New York jury determined that Time magazine had defamed Mr. Sharon when it alleged that he had known in advance that the Phalangists would carry out a massacre and, furthermore, that he had granted them permission to do so. Time was forced to run a retraction. The only reason they did not have to pay damages was because it could not be proven that they printed the erroneous report out of malice. For years, Mr. Sharon's political opponents, in Israel and abroad, along with a host of Arab leaders, have exploited Sabra and Shatila to score moral points against Israel -- even as Syria made an ally of Eli Hobeika, the Phalangist personally responsible for carrying out the massacres. Now the BBC has piled on with its smartly made documentary, which in tone and thrust, and through the omission of such details as the findings of the New York court, re-indicts Mr. Sharon for the crimes of which he has already been cleared.
Yes, a massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila camps back in 1982, and it is a matter of public record who were the instigators and perpetrators. This was not the first massacre in Lebanon and probably not the last. That same Palestinian side that filed a complaint against Ariel Sharon in a Belgium Court is to blame for murders, distortion, and massacres, in Lebanon. A Lebanon that welcomed the Palestinians with open arms ended up a victim of the Palestinian gun and Palestinian terror.
It is the PLO, and all the Palestinians armed gangs that started the killings in Lebanon, establishing roadblocks, killing Christians during confession in Beirut, raping young girls in the fallen Christian town of Damour, Beirut, and Mount Lebanon. Where was the the BBC and the Belgium Court then? Why was the BBC not covering Arafat and his murderers slaughtering Lebanese Christians, women and children? The whole world was silent in witnessing the massacre of the Christians in Lebanon. No one stood with them - not France, not the Vatican, not even Israel in general; however, the late Menakhem Begin and Ariel Sharon did so on a personal, courageous base. The Christian Lebanese are not murderers, they reacted to extreme violence perpetrated upon them by the Palestinians, supposedly peaceful guests in a country that welcomed them in 1948. This was a time when the Christian militias acted independently of the Lebanese State in order to protect the existence of the Christian community in Lebanon. Why did the Belgium Court not defend the Christian community in Lebanon from Palestinian gangsterism?
Publicizing the name of Ariel Sharon in such an affair is nothing more than political blackmail from a respected country in Europe. For a man who fought and won brave wars in the Middle East defending Israel and the other minorities of the region, Ariel Sharon is no terrorist nor evil. He is not Yasser Arafat who ordered the slaughter of the American diplomats in Khartoum, or the shootings at Italy's Airport, or the Achile Lauro affair, to the various bombing in Paris, and the assassination policies in London. The Palestinian terrorist list is very long, ranging from Leila Khaled, to Okamoto in Lod, to Carlos in Beirut and Damascus, and many others areas.
Europeans have shown that they can responsibly serve, and elevate, the cause of human rights. But they had better be careful in distinguishing genuine war criminals from those whom they dislike politically, lest they discredit themselves and abase the cause of human rights. By taking sides in a case like Sabra & Chatilla, Belgium is playing with fire by allowing this affair to take place on its soil and blaming Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. It is important for all to understand that if Belgium is opening this effort for political purposes, it is making a dangerous move at a wrong time of history, at the wrong place, with the wrong victim. In fact, Sabra and Shatilla was instigated and perpetrated by Elias Hobeika, a ruthless murderer working for Syrian Intelligence. Today his profession is giving Scuba lessons in a little seaport called Dbayeh 20 miles north of Beirut. If the Palestinians really want to see justice, the road within Lebanon is a much shorter road than the one of Brussel's. Hobeika is responsible for a long list of massacres and murders against the Christians in Lebanon, the Muslims, the Druze and the Palestinians included. Yet, he does not fear justice as he is under the protection of his Syrian friends. The Kahane Report details his involvement.
The History of the Middle East was filled by massacres, some real and some imagined. You can bring all those cases to justice or you bring none. Start with Saddam Husayn murdering and gassing Iraqi Kurds, to the perpetrators of the massacre of Hama by Syria in 1982, to the massacres of Black September in Jordan. Look into the massacre of over a million Christians by Moslems in Sudan, and don't forget the Munich Olympic massacre of Israeli athletes, the children killed in a school in Ma'alot, Galilee - and so recently tyhe twenty victims of an Arab "martyr" in the Dolphinium in Tel-Aviv.
Before indicting a brave General defending the only democracy in the Middle East, facing a fundamentalist Islamic enemy striking out with no mercy, indict the ruthless Islamic despots that are using terrorism as an effective diplomatic weapon against Israel and America. These Islamists use the tactics of Yasser Arafat that made him a master terrorist, torching Embassies in the world, targeting US, Israeli, and foreign diplomats, destroying and hijacking airplanes, and planting terrorism as a policy of his regime. BBC better see what you be!

Amen

Khukat-Balak 5762

This week's Torah portion once again is a double portion, parashat Khukat-Balak, which includes chapters 19 to 25 of the book of Bamidbar, Numbers. It is interesting to note that in Israel they read Khukat last week, and they read Balak this week - and next week we will be united in reading the same portion. ANYHOW, The portion begins with the account of the red heifer, the holocaust sacrifice done in the Tabernacle and the Temple, the ashes of which were used to purify the high priest who made atonement for Israel.
The second part of the portion deals with the king of Moab, which is where Jordan is these days, Balak, who had heard about the coming Israelites, and knew that these people were a real threat to his kingdom. He called for Balaam, a "prophet for hire" who would go with anyone who paid his price, to come and curse the Israelites because he knew of the mighty victories that they had scored, "This nation is too powerful for us alone, so if you would, come and curse this nation for us. Then, we may be able to defeat them and drive them from the area. I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed." What Balak failed to realize was that the Lord God, Master of the Universe, had already promised to, "Bless those who bless thee, and curse those who curse thee" -- to Abraham and his seed!
Balaam should have stayed home, for God had told him that He personally blessed and protected they Israelites. However, Balak insisted, and Balaam was tempted by the offer of reward and fame - and he proceeded. However, again and again he failed to curse the seed of Abraham. He asked Balak to take him to a place where he can overlook the Israelite camp, and there he proclaimed, "Ma tovu ohalekha ya'akov, mishkenotekha yisra'el" - Most often we read these words as the "tents and tabernacles" being the habitations of the people. So the Hebrew translates to "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel! Like winding brooks, like gardens by the river's side, as aloes which the Lord has planted, and like cedar trees beside the waters." But the Hebrew "ohalekha" also can be a reference to "ohel Moed" -- the Tabernacle, the place that Moshe built at the command of the Lord in the desert for the Israelites to worship in, and "mishkan" is related to "shekhina" -- God's presence. Thus, Balaam's words can be read to mean "How goodly are your shrines, O Jacob, and the presence of your God, O Israel!" That gives us a clue to what was unique and different about the Israelites. They had Torah, they had a monotheistic faith, they restricted their ritual to one place -- first the Tabernacle, later the Temple in Jerusalem. And they proclaimed the universality of their God and of His teaching. They celebrated the Shabbat, but they extended the blessing of the Shabbat to all who lived with them; they performed acts of loving kindness to Israelite and gentile alike.
And so it is to this day. If Israel wants to be "chuckhole hago'yim" -- as all the nations, than they shall lose their "chosen-ness" and their unique character. If we choose to remain the people who were blessed by Balaam in spite of himself, we must maintain our connectedness with our history and our heritage. It is a balancing act that is not easy -- but it is what makes us unique. We must realize that we dare not, ever, relinquish our distinguishing dedication to the principles of our Torah. We value Torah above all else in the world, because Torah is the Revealed teaching of the God of creation. Torah teaches us the sanctity of life and the equanimity of our God. He has chosen us to be His messengers of his Fatherhood - and the brotherhood of human-kind.
This message is not as simple as one might think at first glance. It is not a license to raise oneself above others, as "God's favorite." Quite the contrary - it is a challenge and an obligation to be worthy of His love and His protection by extending our love and our protection over His creation. The Torah reading for this Shabbat is augmented and made more meaningful by the Haftarah - the words of the prophet Micah, where we learn, "O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab planned, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal; that you may know the righteousness of the Lord. With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with one year old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? It has been told you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord does require of you - only to do "Mishpat" - justice, and to love "Khessed" loving mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." [Micah 6:5-8]
So it is that the lesson of this week must be understood and made a part of our foundation of faith. Do good, rather than preaching good. Engage in society rather than philosophize about it. Make a commitment of your time rather than of the fruit of your labor. Gift giving is good - and the eternal lamp must be filled with oil to burn - but the lamp will burn for nothing in the sanctuary is empty, and all the adornments of the Torah will not amount to anything if the people are so burdened with their troubles and travail to be able to come and celebrate in love and peace their own connectivity to God. Therefore, "Mishpat" is the justice of God, His sentence - not the word of a judge of flesh and blood. "Kessed" is a list of activities that are done for social justice, such as feeding the hungry, educating the young, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and burying the dead.
Above and beyond all else, one needs to know how to interact with others in such a way as to be an influence for good and not a show-off. "Walking humbly with God" is an act of supreme balance and beauty akin to the wire-walker in the circus. Except it is ten times more difficult, and a hundred times more rewarding to the one who knows how to perform the deed. The most wonderful thing is that it is within each and everyone's ability to achieve. And when we learn to do it - and when we do it all together, we will transform the world!
May that day arrive soon in our times.
Amen.
Shabbat shalom.

Khukat – Balak 2003

This week we read in the Torah a double portion, in the book of Bamidbar, 19:1 to 22:2. The name of the two portions are Khukat and Balak. In Israel, of course, they are reading just Balak, since they had an "extra" Shabbat on our second day of Shavu'ot. The sages taught, "Eyn medalgin baTorah – there is no ‘skipping' in the Torah, " and hence they had an extra Shabbat, and split this week's portion to "catch up" with the rest of Judaism. That means that you are not allowed to read some verse, skip some verses, and continue reading in another place in the text.
Up to this point in their journey towards the promised land, the Israelites avoided a confrontation with the Edomites, as we read the next historical event: "And when king Arad the Canaanite, who lived in the Negev, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atari; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners." [Num. 21:1] Israel's enemies interpreted the Jews peaceful passage from the border of Edam for weakness, and so they dared attack our people. the Canaanite were a small and weak people, yet they attacked the Israelite camp, and they drew blood. The Israelites resolved to punish their attackers, and we read, "And the Lord listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanite; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities; and he called the name of the place Khormah." [Num. 21:3] And again, when approaching the land of the Amorites, Moshe tried to avoid war, and asked the Amorites for safe passage. "And Israel sent messengers to Sikhon king of the Amorites, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land; we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well; but we will go along by the king's high way, until we are past your borders.' And Sikhon would not allow Israel to pass through his border; but Sikhon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness; and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. And Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon to Jabbok, to the sons of Ammon; for the border of the sons of Ammon was strong. And Israel took all these cities; and Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Kheshbon, and in all its villages." [Num. 21:21-25]
Generations later the Ammonites would attempt to pick a fight with the Israelites to recover their land, as we read in our Tanakh: "And the king of the Ammonites answered to the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up from Egypt, from Arnon to Jabbok, and to the Jordan; now therefore give back those lands peacefully." [Judges 11:13] And, of course, the Ammonites did not listen to Jephthah, and war erupted in the land once more.
Three years ago this week, there was a conference held in the hills of Maryland, where a new Jephthah, Ehud Barak – a man of war who distinguished himself in battle and was called to leader Israel to try and bring respite from their enemies all around them -- had to deal with another Ammonite, or Edomite or Philistine, Yasser Arafat, who refused to accept the fact that God had fought for Israel, wresting victory from the jaws of certain defeat when the Arab nations refused to allow the Jews to reestablish themselves once again in their ancient homeland, extricating the seed of Abraham from the pincer of enemy attack to show His glory and His faithfulness.
Last week we celebrated our national birthday,` the Fourth of July. This week we are back to the mundane chores of national existence. We live in an insecure life, unsure of what tomorrow brings. I was thinking of all that has transpired since those hopeful, bucolic days of Camp David in the year 2000. We have had the absolutely horrific experience the beginning of the second intifada, with mounting casualties both of Israelis and of Palestinians, and of innocent by-standers from other nations. After a year of this intifada, terror and violence arrived at our own shores – the fanatic Islamists who had been allowed to "sacrifice" themselves "for Palestine" without even a single unapproving blink from the international community have expanded the scope of their "sacrifice" to include innocent men women and children travelling in airplanes that were used to explode the suicide murderers and their thousands of victims in New York, the D.C. area, and the field of slaughter in Pennsylvania.
Since then we have gone to war. Our whole life style has changed, and we have given up some of our basic liberties to fight the enemy who wishes nothing less than to vanquish and erase forever all that we hold dear, all that we have achieved and take pride in establishing. We are in the midst of a battle that is both costly and critical. We must succeed in our battle. Balak has called on his priests and conjurers to invoke the powers of evil to destroy us.
Can we win the battle against them? The answer is in this week's portion, where we read that God will not allow curses to take effect. Only our own doubts, and our own transgressions, can place us in danger. Let us, therefore, redouble our commitment to our cause, to the teachings that come from Sinai , or that is inspired by Sinai, or that is derived from that which was taught at Sinai – and we shall surely be under His protection, and we shall fear no evil.

Amen

Shabbat shalom

Read previous Shabbat messages or read your choice of  Shabbat Offerings or Return Home

You can read the Rabbi's message as well as the messages of other Rabbis on the page of

The International Conference of Rabbis