Rabbi Erica Steelman
This week’s Torah portion is Balak: Numbers 22:2 – 25:9
Dear Mother,
I just returned home from a rather strange experience. I hope by writing to you I can make sense of it.
I thought I had a great gig. You know my sorcery and prophetic skills have been in high demand. You can literally hear folks on the streets repeating my tag line, “The people Bilam curses are cursed, and the people Bilam blesses are blessed.” So, when several emissaries of King Balak son of Zippor showed up at my door, I didn’t bat an eye. The messengers conveyed the king’s request for my services to curse a certain group of people, who, as he put it, came out of Egypt and were about to overtake his kingdom. This seemed like a straightforward job with excellent remuneration to boot.
I followed my usual protocol. I contacted God directly, explained the assignment and asked for God’s approval. So far nothing struck me as unusual.
I’ll save the details for when I see you and Dad in person. (I may need to move in if my business, Blessings and Curses for Hire, takes a hit from King Balak’s review). Let’s just say things did not go as planned. I ended up blessing this multitude! The king hired me to curse them and instead I did the opposite — not once but three times! As you can imagine, King Balak was not pleased with my performance.
But ma, what I saw, with my own eyes standing on that mountain when I set my face towards the wilderness — it is hard to put into words.
I raised my eyes and beheld a vast array of tents.
The tents themselves weren’t exceptional. Nothing stood out in terms of their material or size. They were nice, but nothing to write home about (despite my doing just that).
The way the people arranged their tents, however, was striking. First, they were grouped by tribes. Furthermore, they assembled their tents such that the opening of no two tents faced one another. Imagine that! Despite close quarters, they figured out a way to give one another privacy!
While all of this is noteworthy, this alone does not explain what came over me in that moment of profound awe. What really blew me away? It was the fact that all these people, this motley multitude, were traveling and living together as a community, a moveable village of sorts. It was breathtaking.
Granted, I looked on from a distance, so I know there is much I did not see. Still, even from a distance, I observed squabbles break out, hands thrown up into the air in desperation. I could see that they were not all sitting around holding hands and singing hinei ma tov u’manayim. And yet …
I kid you not, I lifted my eyes toward the wilderness, and I could see individual parts, the people, the tents, the tribes. I felt the Ruach Elokim come upon me and suddenly I saw and felt all those parts connecting and creating something greater together with God.
They are a motley group. How are they managing to make it work? I’m dumbfounded. This people, ma, I saw something … I saw and felt something … It was … good. … And then it happened. I spoke directly to them. Out of my mouth emerged a personal blessing: “Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov, Mishkanotecha Yisrael,” How Good are your Tents, O Jacob, your Sanctuaries, O Israel. …”
I found myself wanting to join them and now I still think about them, all those individuals, and families, and tribes journeying together … finding their way … how messy and ordered at the same time. I close my eyes and picture the encampment and again the words flow through me: “Mah tovu … !”
Please give my love to Dad and the cats.
Love,
Bilam
Rabbi Erica Steelman is a health care chaplain, consultant and educator.