by Kim S. Ettlinger
(Originally published in Ten Minutes of Torah and Reform Voices of Torah)

Numbers 22:12, "But God said to Balaam, 'Do not go with them. You must not curse that people, for they are blessed.' "

When God says these words to Balaam, God tells him that the Israelite people are blessed and that no matter the curse that Balaam utters, it is in vain. This begins another paradox like those Rabbi Frishman discussed: can an eternally blessed people truly be cursed? For another interpretation of these words, we might consider who has asked for the curse and who is meant to be the recipient of the curse? We know Balak asked that the Israelites be cursed and so we ask, why? There are two reasons: first, because of fear and second, because of jealously. Balak was scared of the Israelites as they were numerous, strong, and victorious. He was jealous for the same reason: they were so numerous, the earth could not be seen (Number 22:5), and they were strong and victorious. Things were going well for the Israelites and this scared Balak.

All too easily does this relate to our lives! When things don't seem to be going the way we envision or if, quite simply, we are having a tough time with work, our family, or our community, we tend to see the negative, we may see ourselves as cursed. Our mindset changes from seeing the good and the beauty in life to seeing only the difficulty and the darkness or the pain. And recently, this is very true for many of us. We may not see the blessings in our own lives, our world view may have become skewed. We may find that we become jealous of others' successes, their wealth, and relationships. We may criticize them rather than praising them and "patting them on the back" because we feel insecure and unsure of ourselves. At times, we may feel lost and find it difficult to espouse a positive attitude. The antidote can be relatively simple if we stop for a moment and reflect on our lives and open ourselves to look inward and to see our blessings. Then it won't be long till we will see our successes, the goodness within our lives and our relationships. It won't be long till we find ways to mend what is broken. We all have our share of blessings; let's see them, for they are most-certainly present.

Rabbi Kim S. Ettlinger is a rabbi at Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame, California.

Print

Email

Comment

Post a comment