Mitzvah d'var

While sometimes my voice is pretty quiet, and people can’t hear me well, I still have a voice, and thoughts to share. Having a voice and being heard is something that, most of the time, we probably take for granted. But as you will soon hear, it is worth reflecting upon having a voice, being heard, and listening to others whose voices are not being heard.  

My parsha is called Balak. Balak is the king of Moab. The Israelites (the people who later become Jews) are traveling on their way to the Promised Land. King Balak was scared of the Israelites and asked the prophet Balaam to put a curse on them. I’m focusing on what happens next – a story about Balaam, his trusty donkey, and the messenger of God who tries to stop Balaam from cursing the Israelites.

Balaam set off to curse the Israelites in Moab, riding on his donkey. But on the way, his donkey sees a messenger of God standing in the path and waving swords and she reacts. At one point she runs off the road into the field. Balaam doesn’t see the messenger. He is annnoyed and resorts to beating her to get her back on the path. A little later, she veers off a narrow road, crushing his foot against the fence. Angered by her behavior, he beats her again. Eventually, she lies down in the road and refuses to move. Balaam is furious and confused that he can’t even control his donkey (and here he is being asked to perform a magic curse on an entire people)!

AND THEN Adonai opens the donkey’s mouth, and suddenly she begins to speak! The donkey questions why Balaam — her faithful master— has been hurting her, when she was only trying to protect him. Balaam is confused and has no idea what his donkey means.

AND THEN Adonai opens Balaam’s eyes. He sees the messenger, melach Adonai, standing in the way, a drawn sword in their hand. He immediately bows down, suddenly realizing he hadn’t understood the entire situation.

The messenger said to Balaam: Why did you beat your donkey three times?! I was the reason she stopped. I was blocking the path because cursing the Israelites is foolish. If she hadn’t stopped, I would’ve killed you and saved her! 

Balaam begs for mercy. The messenger responds, telling him he must do and say only what God permits.

Balaam and his donkey continue toward the Israelite camp, joined by King Balak. When they arrive, Adonai puts a blessing in Balaam’s mouth and he blesses the Israelites, instead of cursing them: “Ma tovu-o-ha-lecha Ya-akov- how beautiful are your tents, O Jacob.”

What are the lessons this story is trying to teach us about communicating with each other?

Why can’t Balaam see the messenger? Is he not listening, not focused on what is right in front of him?

The donkey can see the messenger. But the donkey can’t communicate in a language that Balaam understands. So, she uses her body to stop Balaam from proceeding closer to the messenger. Balaam responds in anger, striking the donkey, instead of trying to understand her actions. We learn here that fully understanding a situation takes both a listener and a communicator. If both people try to communicate, neither is listening to each other so they won’t get anywhere.

God steps in and gives the donkey a voice. She defends herself with her words. Then Adonai uncovers Balaam's eyes, and the messenger speaks directly to him.

Here, we learn that we can’t always understand the full situation when we do not understand another’s experience. We each create our own understanding from what we see and hear. If we are all seeing different things and creating our own understandings, then it’s difficult to understand one another, unless we are intentionally taking the time to listen and understand another person’s full experience.

Sforno, an Italian biblical commentator who lived from about 1470-1550, wondered about why the donkey spoke. He commented on the line:

ויפתח ה' את פי האתון “God provided the donkey with the ability to speak”

In the verse in Psalms 51:17, which is recited daily before the Amidah prayer, we ask God “ה' שפתי תפתח, Adonai, open up my lips.” God went to all these lengths for Balaam’s sake – in order to provide Balaam with yet another opportunity to apologize and change his ways.

I’m intrigued that Sforno brings in this line that we say before the Amidah. Perhaps, because it’s a line that we say so often, which we chanted earlier together, it is meant to make us pay special attention to this moment when the donkey is talking. It’s a good move, Sforno! Sforno seems to be saying that the donkey has an important role to play. But maybe her speaking is less about Balaam (as Sforno says) and more about the donkey’s opportunity to speak up and defend herself. Her speaking offers opportunities for both her and for Balaam.

What is the importance of using your voice or words? There is a line about the power of speech to create worlds, that we said in the morning service: Baruch she’amar ve’haya ha’olam – blessed is the One who spoke and the world was created.

If the donkey had not been able to speak up about the injustice of Balaam’s actions, they both likely would have suffered worse consequences. By speaking up, the donkey has an opportunity to be listened to and to improve an outcome.

Even if the response is not what you want, or you don’t think you can speak up, it’s important to at least try because of the possibility that it could make a positive change. If we don’t use our voice – or our power – to speak up for what we think is right, how can we improve the situation?

When you put your ideas out there through words – when you give voice to them – you can make a difference.

Sometimes, we need some help to bring people together and make them interested in learning each other’s stories. Sometimes, it takes hearing someone’s voice in a different way, through music or the arts, for a connection to be formed. 

My dad, brother, and I were doing errands. We were at a shopping center in Williston, and we were driving from one store to another, when we saw a man playing his violin on the corner, collecting money to support his family. My dad pulled into the nearest parking space and we walked back to the corner. My dad put money into the box. The man stopped playing and thanked us. Not many cars were passing, so dad and him started chatting. Eventually dad mentioned that I played the violin and the man asked if I wanted to play a song. He was playing an electric violin but had an acoustic violin and handed it to me. 

Normally, I wouldn’t have wanted to play in public for strangers, but that day I played. When I was finished, the man played another song and asked if I knew it. I didn’t. But maybe because they saw us connecting with the man, a bunch of cars had stopped at the intersection for him. The music helped us stop, take time to listen, and learn from this man who was using music. The music brought people closer to read his sign, to hear his story, and to connect with one another. Just as the donkey tries to communicate without speaking, in this instance, we communicated through music. To me, that interaction was a powerful connection through voice and music. Music can connect people on a human level, allow for shared experiences, and leave a lasting impression on a twelve year old, and hopefully others too. From this story, you can observe there is more than one way to communicate than just speaking.

How does this parashah connect to the greater world? Having become familiar with this parsha, I know how important it is to speak up about social issues, especially to support those who are marginalized and unheard.

For example, there are about 3,000 people in Vermont who are un-housed but were sheltered through a State-funded hotel/motel program. Through camping out on the Statehouse lawn and holding press conferences, unhoused activists were able to raise awareness and extend the program until June 1, 2023 (and even a bit later for the most vulnerable of the residents). This is an example of those who are marginalized in our society using their voices to effect change.

However, on June 1st, approximately 700 people had to leave their hotel and motel rooms. When I wrote this, today, July 1st, is when an estimated 475 households would have had to leave. After months of searching, families with rental assistance vouchers in hand were still struggling to find affordable apartments where they can use their vouchers. 

NEWS FLASH: As of last week, the Vermont legislature voted to continue funding the Motel Housing Program, to about 1,200 households that are currently in the program. The goal is for everyone to find long term housing before the program ends, in April, 2024. More affordable housing for families needs to be constructed, and soon. 

Balaam did not listen to the donkey, but did listen to the powerful messenger. Often marginalized people have strong voices, but not as much access to power or the ability to be heard by those in power.

Having a voice, regardless of how much power we have, means we should listen to and use our voices to speak up for those who haven’t been heard.  For my mitzvah project I organized a food drive for the Richmond Food Shelf. I presented to a Richmond church about the Hunger Crisis in Vermont and collected donations. The voices of the hungry are not often heard. This may be because people are so busy trying to come up with their next meals. Also, some might be ashamed that they are not able to provide enough food for themselves and their families, and so they don’t speak out.

"Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18)

The people who are un-housed and/or un-fed are our neighbors. They have every right to be heard. Now is the time for us to speak up with them and  in support of them, as people are being evicted from their shelters this summer.

In parting, here are my wishes for you:

I hope that this story has given you a chance to realize that just listening and understanding matter. 

I hope that the next time you are in a kerfuffle like Balaam, you will try to understand the experience of others around you.

And, be on the lookout for opportunities to speak up with and in support of those who haven’t been heard. Let this always be a guide to you in life.

Shabbat Shalom!