A thought on פרשת בלק
"...ta'mos nafshi mos y'sharim...""...let me die the death of the upright..." (23:10)
In one of Bila'am's visions, he uttered his awe of the Jewish nation, even wishing that his own death would be "the death of the just" or the "upright ones."
We are described here as "y'sharim." What does it mean to be "upright" and "just."?
The Recanati offers two thoughts. It may be that the word refers to the Jews, since we are also called, as a nation, "Yeshurun." That name only appears three times, later on in the Torah. The Recanati suggests that Bila'am intended the same meaning, referring to the Jewish people as a nation of straight, honest upright people. This is what he longed to be, at least during that moment of spiritual vision.
The Recanati offers a second possibility. He notes that Dovid HaMelech declares in Tehillim (33:4) "Ki yashar d'var HaShem v'kol ma'aseihu be'emuna" - for the word of HaShem is upright and all of His actions are reliable. What does this mean?The D'var HaShem - the word of HaShem - "appeared" to our prophets. However, the only one to whom the word of HaShem was actually spoken was Moshe. We find the expression "va'yidaber" to Moshe whereas to the other prophets we generally read about how "d'var HaShem" appeared or came to them. It as if Moshe heard the word of HaShem "straight", whereas the prophets "picked up" the messages through a more covert internal process.
The Jewish nation trusts in HaShem. We put our faith in Him. We made that choice, and are in turn chosen by Him to receive His word, and carry it out. This includes our accepting and receiving the Torah, the D'var HaShem given through Moshe. In that sense, we chose and were chosen to be the receptors and containers for the Torah. Because of this wonderful consequence of our faith, we also are chosen to put into action the D'var HaShem. This is what the Psalm's words declare: "the Word of HaShem is given directly to Moshe and to us, and we who have faith in Him enact its words." (Remember this interpretation every day when you sing those words during morning pesukei d'zimra.)
This is what Bila'am was feeling and seeing in that vision. The Jewish nation is Yeshurun and we are Yisharim - we get the message straight from HaShem and put it into action. We are called the "straight" (or upright, or just) ones according to this second interpretation because we have received "the straight talk" and put it "straight" into action. This is what Bila'am envied about us at that moment.
The question we must ask is, do we appreciate this ourselves? Do we recognize that having the role as holders of the straight truth and being chosen to fulfill those truths is an enviable role?
Ya'shar ko'ach. Greetings from Jerusalem where D'var HaShem continues to emanate, ki mi'Tzion tetzei Torah u'D'var HaShem mi"Yerushalayim.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
In one of Bila'am's visions, he uttered his awe of the Jewish nation, even wishing that his own death would be "the death of the just" or the "upright ones."
We are described here as "y'sharim." What does it mean to be "upright" and "just."?
The Recanati offers two thoughts. It may be that the word refers to the Jews, since we are also called, as a nation, "Yeshurun." That name only appears three times, later on in the Torah. The Recanati suggests that Bila'am intended the same meaning, referring to the Jewish people as a nation of straight, honest upright people. This is what he longed to be, at least during that moment of spiritual vision.
The Recanati offers a second possibility. He notes that Dovid HaMelech declares in Tehillim (33:4) "Ki yashar d'var HaShem v'kol ma'aseihu be'emuna" - for the word of HaShem is upright and all of His actions are reliable. What does this mean?The D'var HaShem - the word of HaShem - "appeared" to our prophets. However, the only one to whom the word of HaShem was actually spoken was Moshe. We find the expression "va'yidaber" to Moshe whereas to the other prophets we generally read about how "d'var HaShem" appeared or came to them. It as if Moshe heard the word of HaShem "straight", whereas the prophets "picked up" the messages through a more covert internal process.
The Jewish nation trusts in HaShem. We put our faith in Him. We made that choice, and are in turn chosen by Him to receive His word, and carry it out. This includes our accepting and receiving the Torah, the D'var HaShem given through Moshe. In that sense, we chose and were chosen to be the receptors and containers for the Torah. Because of this wonderful consequence of our faith, we also are chosen to put into action the D'var HaShem. This is what the Psalm's words declare: "the Word of HaShem is given directly to Moshe and to us, and we who have faith in Him enact its words." (Remember this interpretation every day when you sing those words during morning pesukei d'zimra.)
This is what Bila'am was feeling and seeing in that vision. The Jewish nation is Yeshurun and we are Yisharim - we get the message straight from HaShem and put it into action. We are called the "straight" (or upright, or just) ones according to this second interpretation because we have received "the straight talk" and put it "straight" into action. This is what Bila'am envied about us at that moment.
The question we must ask is, do we appreciate this ourselves? Do we recognize that having the role as holders of the straight truth and being chosen to fulfill those truths is an enviable role?
Ya'shar ko'ach. Greetings from Jerusalem where D'var HaShem continues to emanate, ki mi'Tzion tetzei Torah u'D'var HaShem mi"Yerushalayim.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 4:32 PM
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