The next parashah on the Hebrew calendar, Parashat Chukat-Balak, offers profound modern lessons about overcoming collective trauma and the danger of unseen prejudices.
While Chukat introduces the ritual of the Parah Adumah (Red Heifer), designed to purify the community after the trauma of death, the Balak portion centers on a pagan prophet named Balaam, who is hired to curse the Israelites but ends up blessing them. God intervenes to force blessings. Balaam is ultimately unable to curse Israel because God is protecting His people and has already declared them blessed.
A grandson of Rabbi Nathan Mileikowsky, who is part of the Jewish Community of Porto, often says that God only acts as a last resort. Until that moment, for the Jewish people to be respected, they must be able to cut the throats of their enemies if necessary. Rabbi Mileikowsky was a prominent Russian-born Zionist activist, educator, writer, and the paternal grandfather of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A renowned orator, he traveled extensively across Europe and the United States to raise funds for the Jewish National Fund and promote the creation of a Jewish state.
