Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah
July 18, 2024
12 Tamuz 5784
Parashat Balak
Perhaps, you were interested in watching Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby on Monday when country singer Ingrid Andress stepped up to the microphone to sing the national anthem. If not, perhaps you saw a video of her singing the national anthem the next day when it went viral. Either way, you likely wondered to yourself how this person could have gotten a recording contract or how she was ever nominated for a Grammy award.
It might have been the worst rendition of the national anthem ever (and yes, I remember Roseanne Barr’s attempt at singing it). If you didn’t turn it off, all you could do is laugh at how bad it was.
I admit that I thought it was funny. But then I read an article the next day in which Ingrid Andress admitted to being drunk when she sang the anthem on national TV. She has a problem with alcohol. So, she has canceled her upcoming shows and checked into a rehab facility. All of a sudden, it wasn’t so funny anymore.
It’s a reminder that there is truth behind the old saying that we should be kind to other people because we have no idea what they are going through in their life.
In this week’s Torah portion, we get a comical reminder of this very principle in the story of Bilaam and his donkey.
Bilaam was what I like to call a freelance prophet. He was able to communicate with God, but he was not the official prophet of any particular nation or people. He was available for hire. So, Balak—who was the king of Mo’av—tried to hire him to curse the Israelites, who had just had a string of military victories and were headed Balak’s way.
As Bilaam was en route to Mo’av to meet with Balak, a crazy thing happened. God sent an angel to block Bilaam’s way, but the angel was invisible to him. Strangely, Bilaam’s donkey could see the angel even though Bilaam could not. So, the donkey shied away from the angel and crushed Bilaam’s leg into a wall. In response, Bilaam started hitting the donkey. So, God gave the donkey the power of speech (take that, Walt Disney!!). The donkey complained about the beating she was taking. Eventually, God allowed Bilaam to see the angel in the path as well.
It's okay to laugh at this story—arguably, the funniest story in the Torah. Bilaam had no idea what his donkey was going through.
When people around us act out or fail in a sensational way, it’s easy to laugh. After all, we all recognize that it could be us one day. So, maybe we laugh nervously. The harder thing to do—but also the more compassionate thing to do—is to reach out to that person and find out what they’re going through. Then, maybe we can help them get the help that they need. We have no idea how much we can help a person in difficult times.
Shalom,
RAF.
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