Balak

6/20/2013

"There are three sides to every story, the prosecution, the defense and the truth"- Avi Goldberg

This week's parshah begins with the story of Bilam. The majority of the parshah is a narrative from the villan Bilam's perspective.

If the Torah is the story of the Jews why does it have this side narrative of Bilam?

Different perspectives on the same story add unseen layers, (the new Arrested Development season, Akutigawa - In a grove) each side to the story gives us not only more information,but more depth.

The added value of multiple narratives is not only the additonal facts, but in understanding the mindset of the charchters. Each person's emotions and motives contain truth.

An angel with a sword was blocking Bilam's path, Bilam could not see it but his donkey could.

A lesson of Bilam's side story is, don't discount anyones perspective when ascertaining the truth. Emotions contain as much truth as facts, the next time you are speaking with someone look them in the eyes the entire time and try and listen to not only the facts they are telling you but the deeper layer of emotions they are conveying.

2 Comments

Esther

6/20/2013 04:57:13 pm

That you would take into account emotion as part of the truth of a story strikes me deeply, in a positive way. We are not things or robots. We are humans with an unlimited capacity for perception, perhaps beyond our own recognition of it. We sense and at times this first gut feeling is right on the mark. Or it takes us time to realize until something feels just right. Whichever way it happens, the human being is fashioned with a gammut of freedom to serve, to enjoy and to live unlike any other beings created by HaShem. Bilam attempted a curse because of his own limitations which were in his mind and self-imposed. His heart knew better, and what came out of his mouth, "...how goodly are your tents, oh Jacob...", we recite upon arriving at the Chuppah, certainly a place of intense emotion, of transparency, truth.

ari

6/21/2013 12:46:14 am

If I understand you correctly, the story of Bilam and Balak helps us to complete our understanding of the greater truth by adding a third party perspective and that sometimes we are only aware of what's around us, but not how others perceive our own narratives. I guess this means that the message of the Torah is to tell us to open up our eyes (ironically bilam's lesson also) and see the world from new and different angles and that this way we will be closer to Hashem. If I understood you correctly, it was very interesting (and if I didn't it was still interesting)

Balak

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