Balak: intelligence

Balak: intelligence

 

 Bilam is given two missions. Ta'or: curse and kavah: imprecate.

Much is made in the parsha of Bilam's inability to stray from the word of Gd.  So his curses turn to blessings, angering his employer Balak.

But ultimately, what Bilam is doing is gathering intelligence.  He is identifying the characteristics of the children of Israel that confer an advantage upon them:  Their  lack of idolitry, their mutual respect, their unity.

Ultimately, Bilam  and Balak use that intelligence to undermine them. They inject immorality into the camp which results in idolatry, envy and disunity. In the end, the children of israel are plagued and kill each other.

 

The kava is related to the serpent in Eden. ( Berashith 3:15) ... Vi'atah tishuphenu okev; and you will bite his heel.  Yaakov is named for holding onto the heel of Esau.  This is the Achilles heel that Bilam finds. Look also at the next to last verse in today's parsha ( Bamidbar 25:8) 

 

 

ח  וַיָּבֹא אַחַר אִישׁ-יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל-הַקֻּבָּה, וַיִּדְקֹר אֶת-שְׁנֵיהֶם--אֵת אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאֶת-הָאִשָּׁה אֶל-קֳבָתָהּ; וַתֵּעָצַר, הַמַּגֵּפָה, מֵעַל, בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from

 

Kav appears twice.  Here it means chamber:the room into which the couple go  and the womb. Places of vulnerability.

 

The Quba Mosque (Quba' Masjid or Masjid al-Quba, Arabic: مسجد قباء) just outside Medina in Saudi Arabia, is the oldest mosque of Saudi Arabia. Its first stones were positioned by the prophet Muhammad on his emigration from the city of Mecca to Medina and the mosque was completed by his companions. Muhammad spent more than 20 nights in this mosque http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quba_Mosque

 

 

last year

 

2008

 

2007

 

 

 

 

Chukas: the stick

Chukas: the stick

 

The  stick appears in various roles in this weeks parsha.

 

 Cedar wood is burned with the remains of the red hefer to contribute to the ashes that are placed in the living water for purification the corpse contaminated.

 

 Moshe misuses the staff ( which he removes from its place before Gd, as he is commanded) to strike the rock form which water gushes to quench the thirst of the people, a fatal error.

 

Moshe places the copper snake ( seraph) on a stick ( nes) to cure the people who have been bitten by the venomous snake(s)  sent to punish the people for their rebellion.

 

The stick is the instrument of discipline.  It is burned to ashes in the purification  that is mourning and regret; it brings death to those that use it, even the most careful; it supports the cure that comes from repentance.

last year

 

2007

 

 

Korach:

Korach: danger

 

A theme that swims through Korach is the danger of approaching the sanctuary of the holy.  Approaching the holy is a great temptation but it is lethal if not done properly or by a person that has not been chosen for it. Yet, Korach, Dathan and Aviram want to take that chance and, true to the rule, die the attempt. They die in a manner that demonstrates that the rules of nature do not apply when dealing with the sacred.

 

The people are horrified and a plague begins.  Moshe tells Aaron to charge the sensor and that stems the plague.  Aaron stands between the living and the (grateful?)dead.  Perhaps it is the recognition that Aaron is qualified to intercede with the divine that saves the people.

 

The people have been forced to deal with the divine, with absolute justice.  Hesitation in entering the Promised Land, otherwise normal fears, now cost them their opportunity. They need a better deal! Perhaps Moshe is too close to Gd.  

 

It is wonderful that the creator of the golden calf becomes the high priest.