Balak (Numbers 22:5-25:9) Is It Destinay To Be A People Apart?

A curious portion this week. A talking donkey, blessings and a strange and frightening, in a way, ending. This is the portion where we meet Bilaam, who is asked by Balak, the King of Moab, to curse the Israelites. Eventually he blesses them with the famous line found in prayer books “mah tovu”. (24:5) Yet there is another verse in the portion that jumps off the page considering current events. In 23: 9 we come to a place where Bilaam observes the Israelites. In the text, God intervenes on Bilaam’s behalf (23:4) and, as he observes, he states that: “As I see them from the mountain tops, gaze upon them from the heights, there is a people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations.”
It is interesting that different Torah commentaries translate the key phrase differently. The Plaut from Reform Judaism has “hein am l’vadad” as “a people that dwells apart”. The newer Etz Haiim from Conservative Judaism has the same and the Art Scroll from Modern Orthodox has that phrase as “a nation that will dwell in solitude.” Is there a nuance between “that dwells” and “will dwell”. Is Bilaam’s statement a fact of his observance in that context (the Israelites were together as a separate group of tribes) or is it a prediction of Jewish futures and life?
This verse is very meaningful now. I imagine that many of us have had discussions with friends in recent months that speak to the challenge, given the war and the huge rise in antisemitism, of just how “different” the Jewish community is. The dream of fitting in and being just like everyone else seems to have been dashed. Are we destined to a people alone, apart, and forever seen as the “other”? This conversation around the limits of assimilation and the desire to become more “parochial” has captured the imagination of many in our community given the events of the past year. The world seems to keep reminding us that we are “apart”, despite our wishes, in many cases, to fit in. Will we see a return to a more observant and public affirming Judaism, or will there be, in this “free” society a continuation of a gradual drift from identification and observance? This issue is becoming more of a challenge for all of us. How we as a community respond to this challenge will go a long way in shaping what kind of Judaism evolves.
And there is yet another way to look at the phrase in question, a way that sees the key work not as “apart” or solitude” but “alone”. So, we can see in this translation, a statement of moral principle as the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote: “What does this phrase “a people that dwells alone” mean? It means a people prepared to stand along if need be, living by its own moral code, having the courage to be different and to take the road less travelled”
Do you feel part of a people “apart”? What would it mean to be a people that will dwell “in solitude”?
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address

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