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Let There Be LightCantorial Soloist Marjorie HochbergSermon for Parashat Balak, 5764July 2, 2004There is a story of the Kotzker Rebbe, a Hasidic rebbe who, due to the efforts of his detractors, was arrested and jailed. His non-Jewish jailer was drawn to the quiet piety of the rebbe, and one day the jailer approached him to ask a question. "Tell me Rabbi," the jailer said. "There is a story in the Bible that has always puzzled me. The Bible says that, after Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he hid himself in the Garden. It says that God called to Adam, 'Where are you?' What I don't understand is, why would God have to call? Shouldn't God know where Adam is?" The Rabbi answered, " God is asking Adam to be accountable for his life. He is saying, 'You are forty-six years old. Where are you in your life?'" The jailer, hearing his own age mentioned, said, "Praise the Lord!" but his heart trembled. In Parashat Balak, God again uses the device of the rhetorical question to bring light to a situation. Towards the beginning of the Parasha we read that the seer Balaam is wooed by the agents of the Moabite King Balak. He sends distinguished messengers to Balaam who promise money and power if only he will curse the Israelites. The Torah says that when their meeting is over, God asks Balaam, "What did those people want of you?" Surely, just as God knew where Adam was in the garden, God knew what those men wanted of Balaam. The real question seems to be "What do you want of them?" For the messengers played to Balaam's vanity and greed, and the second time he was approached, Balaam agreed to go with them. One gets the distinct impression that unlike Moses, who went to Pharoah to confront the evil of slavery and to advocate for the Israelites, Balaam traveled to Balak to attempt to collude with evil… if he only could have gotten away with it. If his plans could have remained secret and hidden from view, he could have cursed Israel , placated Balak, and left a wealthy man. However, wherever Balam went, whatever hidden corner he sought, God sent an angel with a flaming sword, made a donkey speak, and finally, made Balaam speak words of blessing instead of curses. God illuminated the words, replacing every evil thought with light. In the Torah, light is often a metaphor for truth. As Beresheet/Genesis begins, the universe was in a state of indescribable disorder the Torah calls tohu v'vohu. This is an onomatopoetic phrase similar to "topsy-turvy" that indicates jumbled disorder, chaos, a mess. Usually, tohu v'vohu is translated "chaos and darkness", and in Beresheet, the God ends the darkness by saying, "Yehi or:" "Let there be light." In the Torah, light not only obliterates darkness, but also chaos. Light reveals the secrets otherwise hidden in the dark corners of the universe and allows unknown elements to be labeled, ordered and understood. So our tradition calls upon us to bring light to the world in the form of love, justice and truth. The rabbis recognized that, in the world and in our individual psyches, evil and societal dysfunction are closely linked to darkness and secrecy. Whether the subject is a secret addiction to Haagen Daas or the mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Graib prison, the pull to do the wrong thing is always stronger in the dark, and often the most powerful words of coercion, or collusion are, "I won't tell anyone." One of the reasons for public worship is that in a public setting, we are pulled out of our private darkness and are reminded that we share the collective challenge of bringing light to the world. This means unflinchingly revealing hidden abuses, confronting oppression, and illuminating all our relationships with love and truth. May all of our endeavors bring more light to our lives, our communities and our world. |
