Chukat - Balak
This week we read the double portion of Chukat–Balak. While each portion contains powerful lessons on its own, together they reveal the complete spiritual consciousness and Light available to us this week.
The Law
Secret of the Red Heifer
The portion of Chukat commences with a discussion about ritual cleansing and the red heifer – a young cow that has not given birth. G-d instructs Moses and Aaron to tell the Israelites that a perfectly red heifer, one that is blemish-free and without yoke, should be burned, mixed with hyssop and wool and the ashes mixed with water. This mixture of water is to be used to purify anyone that has come in contact with a corpse or has otherwise become ritually impure from connecting to death or a dead person.
Death, or the energy of death or end, can be manifested on both a physical or spiritual level through connection with a dead person, business, or relationship. By hearing the reading this week, we can connect to cleansing and eliminate the energy of death from our lives.
The key to curing any dis-ease or purifying ourselves, is to restore balance. We find this process within the story of the red heifer. Spiritual balance is achieved when there is an equal measure of mercy and judgement. The Kabbalists refer to this as balance between Chesed and Gevurah or right and left column energy (the right being mercy / Chesed and the left being judgment / Gevurah). A red heifer represents judgement for several reasons. First, red is the color of blood which symbolizes judgement. The heifer also represents judgement as the Ox was on the “left-side” of the chariot in the vision of Ezekial.
Also, the word for heifer in Hebrew is “Parah”. The root of the word – Pei Reish – has a numerical value of 280. The number 280 represents the 280 “dinim’, or strict judgments, the sum of the numerical values of the five “final” Hebrew letters (mem, nun, tzadi, pei, chaf). These “final” letters change form when found at the end of a word and signify end – also representative of judgement. When the red heifer is burned, its ashes are mixed with water, which represents mercy and right column energy. By mixing the judgment of the red heifer and the mercy of the water we achieve balance – the secret to purification and the elimination of the energy of death. Similar to how the Kabbalists create balance with the red heifer, we can similarly eliminate the energy of death in our lives by finding and striving to maintain balance. Balance is maintained through restriction, the elimination of ego and by providing equal measures of mercy and judgement to ourselves and others.
Water from a Stone
The portion continues with Miriam’s passing. This results in a water crisis as the well which had existed in her merit throughout the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert was now dry. After the community rallied against Moses and Aaron, complaining about the lack of food and water, G-d tells Moses to take a staff and “speak” to the rock in Miriam’s well. Moses and Aaron assemble the people, but when they could not find the right stone to “speak to”, the people began to mock them. Moses raised his staff and hit the rock two times which produced a steady flow of water.
The physical action of hitting the rock, as opposed to simply “speaking” to the rock lowered everyone’s consciousness. As a result, G-d tells Moses and Aaron that they will not accompany the congregation into the Promised Land – Israel. The lesson here is one of certainty. G-d punished Moses and Aaron because they did not maintain certainty in their ability to make the water flow using their words alone as instructed. As soon as the people became impatient, they lost certainty in the spiritual act of speaking and resorted to the lower, physical act of hitting the rock with the staff. This act reduced the consciousness of the entire community from “seeing it when they believed it” to “believing it when they would see it”.
The lesson for us is to try to connect to a higher level of consciousness by having certainty in the result – not having to see the physical act as a prerequisite to our beliefs. This subtle change of consciousness is so critical that it prevented Moses from entering Israel. We should strive to maintain the consciousness of certainty whereby “we will see it when we believe it” in all aspects of our lives.
Stop Complaining
As the Israelites continued their journey through the desert, they encountered difficulties with various people that did not let them pass through their land. The people become demoralized and started to complain. They complained to Moses and G-d about being brought out of Egypt, the lack of bread and water, and that they were growing tired of the manna. As a result of the complaining, G-d sent fiery serpents that bit the people – many of whom died.
We can learn here that complaining is a losing proposition. It shows a lack of appreciation for what you have and a consciousness focused on lack – connecting to what you do not have. When you complain, you take on the role of a victim and become disconnected from the Light and your ability to create your own destiny. People who complain are typically those who do the least and look to blame their situation on others. People that succeed in life rarely complain and align their energy with that of the infinite. Instead of complaining, we should always share more with others and create our own reality – never blaming others for our predicaments.
Moses intercedes on the people’s behalf and G-d instructs him to create a brass serpent and place it on a tall pole for the people to see. If someone got bitten, they were to merely look at the serpent and they would live. We can learn two things here. First, by visually connecting and remembering our connection to a higher source, we can be protected. The people simply needed to look at the brass serpent and their connection to G-d saved them. Second, we see how a spiritual connection can provide us with healing – whether it is a visual connection to a brass serpent, a healing meditation or use of the 72 Names of G-d (http://www.thehealinggift.com/chart/). We see here how we can support and achieve healing with tools existing beyond the purely physical realm.
Trust Your Instincts
The portion begins with Balak, the King of Moab, growing fearful of the Israelites. He sends messengers to Bilaam, a famous wizard and expert in magic – and asks him to curse the people of Israel. Bilaam meets the king’s messengers and tells them he will do only as instructed by G-d. That night, G-d said to Bilaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people; for they are blessed.”
The messengers return to Balak who then sends higher ranking princes to Bilaam and promises him great honor and prestige if he were to curse the Israelites. Bilaam again responded that he would only do as G-d said and asks G-d again if he should curse the children of Israel. Bilaam starts to have a change of heart and travels to meet Balak. G-d is angered that he went and places an angel in the road, blocking the way for Bilaam’s donkey – creating an additional obstacle for him to curse the Israelites. When Bilaam finally meets Balak, he makes it clear he will only do as G-d says. Instead of cursing, he blesses the Israelites on three separate occasions. Balak is furious and sends Bilaam home without honor or riches.
The commentators reveal that Bilaam subsequently returned to Balak and shared with him how to ensnare the Israelites with the temptation of idol worshipping and sexual immorality. Essentially, this would have them curse themselves – and he would not be going against G-d’s word. Bilaam is later killed for his role in this series of events.
Often we know the right answer immediately. The challenge begins when we repeatedly seek permission to ignore our own inner knowing.
Protection from Curses
The majority of the portion discusses Balak and Bilaam’s attempts to curse the Israelites, yet the Israelites remained totally unaware that this was taking place. We can learn from this that there is the potential for unseen negative forces and people outside of our awareness that do not have our best interests in mind. In order to protect ourselves against the potential of “curses” in our lives – we must strive to be busy sharing and helping others. While most of us do not think in terms of curses, we all encounter negativity, criticism, envy, and unseen influences that can affect our consciousness.
The same way the Israelites were busy preparing to make a holy place in Israel after 40 years of wandering in the desert, we too must be busy looking at ways to find and reveal holiness in the world. If we focus on the Light and positive things in our lives, that is what we will draw into our lives. If we, G-d forbid, are busy with judgment and looking for negative things in others, we unfortunately will attract darkness. We can also learn from this story how despite all odds and how things may appear from the outset, we have the ability to convert curses to blessings.
Our Own Worst Enemy
The Zohar and Kabbalists share that after Bilaam blessed the Israelites, as opposed to cursing on three separate occasions, he was sent home. He returned however and shared with Balak that the people would curse themselves if presented with a strong enough opportunity to sin. A harlot named Kozbi was told to find Moses and tempt him into immoral sexual conduct. She mistook Zimri, the head of the tribe of Shimon, for Moses however and when the community saw Zimri’s inappropriate conduct, they all fell into a state of sin and began to idol-worship and act immorally. This led to a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites.
To be protected from external curses and negativity we must make sure that we maintain our personal strength to avoid selfish tendencies and the desire to receive for the self-alone. It is ultimately up to us, not an outside force, to be proactive and choose the higher road. If we are not aware of the various things sent to tempt us, we can potentially fall from a state of higher consciousness and engage in activity we will ultimately regret – becoming our own worst enemy.
Connection to Healing
There are two distinct opportunities to connect to healing in this portion. First, we find a letter “mem” at the top of a column in the Torah. Normally each column begins with the letter “vav” – except for 6 places. The mem connects us to one of the seventy-two, three-letter names of G-d associated with healing – Mem Hei Shin.
Second, the portion ends when Pinchas, the grandson of Aaron and a priest, sees Kozbi and Zimri having immoral sexual relations in front of the entire congregation. He rose up and put a spear through both of them – killing them and stopping a plague which had killed 24,000 Israelites. Through Pinchas’ merit of stopping the plague, we can connect to the energy of healing here in the Portion of Balak and next week in the portion of Pinchas.
Practical Tools for the Week
1. Restore Balance - Notice where you are operating from an extreme. Ask: "Do I need more compassion or more accountability in this situation?"
2. Replace Complaints with Gratitude - Every time you catch yourself complaining, identify one thing that is working. Shift your focus from lack to abundance.
3. Trust Your First Knowing - When faced with an important decision, pay attention to your initial instinct before fear, ego, or outside opinions enter the conversation.
4. Practice Certainty - Choose one goal, relationship, or challenge where you have been waiting for proof before believing. Act this week as if the outcome is already possible.
5. Become the Blessing - Instead of worrying about negativity around you, spend the week looking for opportunities to encourage, help, or uplift another person.The fastest way to attract Light is to become a source of it.
This week, strive to replace imbalance with balance, doubt with certainty, complaint with gratitude, and fear with trust in your inner knowing.
Resources & Credits
The Weekly Wisdom emails and the ideas presented herein are compiled from the following sources:
Gutnick Edition Chumash with Rashi's commentary, Targum Onkelos, and commentary anthologized from Classic Rabbinic Texts and the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Apples from the Orchard - Gleanings from the Mystical Teachings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria on the Weekly Torah Portion
Kabbalistic Bible - Kabbalah Centre International, Inc
The Zohar - Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, various translations
Mysteries of the Kabbalah - Marc-Alain Ouaknin
Wikipedia
Other online written and video content that discusses and shares Kabbalistic Wisdom