Shabbat Thoughs-Parshat Balak- July 21, 2016

My grandfather, Ed Leyton, used to say ”sweets only go in the mouth when sweets come out of the mouth.” As a child not always interested in being courteous to my younger sister but motivated by sweets, I did my best to speak politely. Obviously, I was interested in having sweets and desserts more than speaking respectfully for its own sake.

     Poppa’s goal of encouraging kind speech may have been limited to his two arguing grandchildren or it may have been broader in scope. Could he have anticipated that 35 years after he began to share this message with his grandson those very words would be transmitted to future great-grandchildren as well as members of a Shul in Mobile, AL? I wonder if Poppa, z”l, had any inkling that his simple and true message would extend beyond his grandchildren to many other people.

      Every one of us has a choice to make. Every moment of our lives, as we open our mouths, we can choose to insult and ridicule, to comfort and love, to offer emotional support or hateful insult. The choice is ours. It may be that during a business meeting or telephone call we not receive instant encouragement to speak politely in the form of a candy bar. Maybe while schmoozing with friends the conversation takes a turn and we don't have a piece of cake prompting us to speak courteously about so-and -so. It’s tempting to mock someone and to feel superior for a few moments. But, part of being grown up is knowing when and how to speak.

      In this week’s Torah reading, a man named Bilam is not offered sweets to speak politely. Instead he is offered great wealth, prestige and a seat at a king’s table in exchange for cursing people. As Bilam steps forward enjoying a beautiful mountaintop view, the choice is upon him. Shall he be carried away by the beauty of a view overlooking the tribes of Israel and wax poetic or will he succumb to the draw of wealth and fame?

     According to the Torah it appears that he is about to make the wrong choice and to sell his soul at the expense of cursing defenseless strangers. At the very last moment words of beauty and poetry emerge instead of insult and criticism.

     From the point of view of the Israelites who were not cursed it is a happy ending. They were saved from insult by God’ s prompting Bilam to speak differently.  However, the text indicates that Bilam did not alter his own behavior. If indeed he had opened his own mouth and cursed the Children of Israel for the sake of gold and a star on Hollywood Boulevard, what would have been gained and what would have been sold?

     These are difficult days for us all. Our national leaders hurl insults and allegations against one another; tweets and posts on social media ridicule children and adults alike and Person X’s brand of self-righteousness is better than Person Y so X feels he is allowed to shoot Y.

Shall we not learn to be more careful with the words that come forth from our mouths?

Shabbat shalom.

Rabbi Steve Silberman

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