Balak / With The Sword of Moshe
With The Sword Of Moshe
Poetic notes on parashat Balak*
Balak the King of Moab feared Moshe
more than he feared death
Bilaam did not even fear truth
He was well known as a spiritual hitman
who loved money more than life
Balak knew he was the perfect hire
Deeply grieved with Bilaam
HaShem allowed him to try his best
to earn the fee of a mystery harlot
to curse the people
who are God’s blessing for the world
On the top of Bilaam’s mind was a curse
but from the tip of his tongue
rolled off only blessing upon blessing
For God turned the world of Bilaam
inside out and upside down
Where Bilaam thought of raising up
the kings of Edom
HaShem raised up King David
right from the prophecy of Bilaam’s mouth
Where Bilaam thought
of making the king of Rome
to be the final emperor of the world
HaShem pulled the prophecy of Mashiach
the king of eternal Jerusalem
like teeth out of Bilaam’s mouth
Then the one eyed pirate saw
that the genius of evil
could never beat the children of Israel
The genius of evil could not beat them
Let it therefore join them
Bilaam whispered
If Moab could not assimilate them
Let Moab be a tribe among them
Then the daughters of Moab and Midian
approached the children of Israel
The daughters of the Moabites
who try to inherit the wealth of the promise
before the promise has its time of fulfillment
and the daughters of the Midianites
who attempt to know the creature
as if it were the Creator
approached the children of Israel, saying
Establish a dwelling place for HaShem among us
and among our children
and we will circumcise for you
all the families of the earth!
But Pinchas came
and plunged a sword of Moshe
through Bilaam’s scheme
Then King David also came
and pitched the tent of truth
over the corners of Moab
So also a son of David
will take the sword of Moshe
and pierce the dream of the mystery harlot
who rules the world with artificial truth
from the city built on the mound of Mammon
Then the soul of Balak will be freed from fear
and the soul of Bilaam will weep with Esau
Then the soul of Jacob will be strong and rule
through the covenant of his God
The Torah of peace shall shine
from Jacob’s anointed heart
The Land of Israel will receive all her Sabbath days
her Sabbatical weeks and Jubilee years
The Jerusalem of David will be built in glory
Through her mitzvot and her faith
she will conquer death
The joy of her nuptials will be forever
*Being a meditation on a Torah class based on parashah Balak delivered by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., based on the series, Torah Studies, by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post.