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Newsletter                     July 3, 2014, 5 Tammuz, 5774

 
        

  Without Comparison   

He must have been mesmerized by the sermons. That is the only way I can understand why Balak, King of Moab, who hired Balaam to curse the Children of Israel, allowed Balaam to complete any of his homilies. Balaam's words of blessing so completely held Balak's attention that the king waited until the prophet finished speaking before voicing his rage.

 

Cardinal Newman too was mesmerized as he listened to Balaam's speeches. The great religious teacher heard, "a high principled, honourable, conscientious man. He obeys as well as talks about religion; and this being the case, we shall feel more intimately the value of the following noble sentiments which he lets drop from time to time (Obedience Without Love)." However, Newman declares, "But if scripture be our guide, it is quite plain that the most conscientious, religious, high-principled, honourable men may be on the side of evil."

 

We need not turn to Newman to discover how great is the evil found amongst the most conscientious, religious, and high-principled people; we face that evil this week as we mourn the savage murders of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel at the hands of deeply devout, and self-declared high-principled, monsters.

 

We also witnessed great beauty in the words and faces of the parents. We saw it in the unified prayers of an entire country. We relish the beauty of the triplets born yesterday named for the three young men. I also hear and read that many see beauty in the awareness that our religious principles never allow such cruelty.

 

Balaam was so mesmerized by something he saw, that he spoke and held the attention of the angry Balak, the wise Cardinal Newman, and our prayers that begin with Balaam's, "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel (Numbers 24:5)." Rashi teaches that Balaam was moved by how the tents were strategically placed so that one entrance never faced another, to protect the privacy of other families.

 

I can't imagine that there was meaningful privacy in the camp. I find it difficult to imagine it possible for one to walk anywhere in the camp without passing an open tent. The positioning of the tents served as more than privacy protection. They were a reminder to look for the beauty inside each tent, and to never find our beauty only in comparison with others; other people, other families, other countries, other religions. We have surely seen this week how such beauty contests can result in hatred sufficiently powerful to justify murder.

 

We must certainly honor and celebrate the dignity of the bereft parents and our unified prayers. We must find the beauty within our tent, not by comparing ours to the ugliness of others. We must find the beauty in our families, and celebrate the beauty of each family member. We must find the beauty in our synagogues, and in the behavior of each person joining us in prayer.

 

The prophet was mesmerized by a nation focused on nurturing and protecting the individual beauty of each tent. And, as both Balak and he could not fail to notice, it is the nation that focuses on honoring the beauty of each person that will overcome the hateful curses of our worst enemies.

 

I wish you a Shabbat that is beautiful without comparison, mesmerizing to God.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Rabbi Simcha L. Weinberg 

President 
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