Weekly Torah portion: Balak

By Rabbi Joshua Dorsch

SAN DIEGO — This week, in Parashat Balak, Bilam is sent by the Moabite King Balak to curse the Israelites. After a series of rather peculiar events, instead of cursing them, Bilam offers the Israelite camp what traditional biblical commentators consider to be a blessing. He says “How goodly are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel.” Today, we have embraced this blessing, which we know as the Mah ToVu.

While Bilam’s statement most definitely doesn’t seem to be a curse, the Mah ToVu actually doesn’t really seem to be a blessing either. It reads as more of a compliment, praising the Israelites tents and encampments, praising them for the beautiful community that they have created. Nevertheless, I think that the rabbinic commentators and Jewish traditions insistence on understanding the Mah ToVu as a blessing teaches us a very important lesson on the very nature of blessings. Blessings are subjective; they are all a matter of interpretation and dependent on perspective.

We have the opportunity to look at the world and see it full of curses, filled with terrible things and insurmountable challenges. But we can also look at the same world and see it filled with blessings, as a world filled with beauty, and with opportunity. Like the Mah ToVu, it is all a matter of perspective. Like Bilam and our rabbis, it is my hope that we can look at the world as it is and appreciate the beauty and blessings around us, and take advantage of the many opportunities to make the world a more beautiful place.

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Rabbi Dorsch is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego.