One of the highlights of my week (aside from spending time with my lovely Staines community!) is my walk home from Shul along The Thames Path.
As
I amble along the walkway, I admire the flora and fauna, particularly at this time
of year. A few weeks ago, I was treated to
the wonderful sight of a pair of swans carefully guiding their cygnets in a straight
line across the middle of the river. Nearby,
a brood of very young ducklings were learning how to navigate the water under the
watchful eye of their proud mother.
I
recently saw some surfers gliding past, which is a change to rowboats with their
audible Coxswains who guide the crews. It
is a bit of balancing act because whilst admiring the natural views, I am mindful
to stay out of the way of cyclists and runners who share the pathway with pedestrians
such as myself.
Last
Shabbat, as I was making my way back to the house, basking in the warm sunshine
and looking for ‘my swans’, I passed a runner who wished me Shabbat Shalom which,
as you will appreciate, is not something I hear that often in this part of the world!
Sensing the opportunity to recruit a potential
new member of our community, I decided to find out a little bit more about him. For reasons of anonymity, let’s call him ‘Dan’.
Dan
is Jewish and has been running for a long time.
On 8th October 2023, he decided that he would run a marathon to
honour each hostage held in Gaza until every single one had returned home, dead
or alive. Having served in both the British
Army and the IDF and having been involved in theatres of war, he is very aware of
what is currently taking place in Gaza.
Each
week, he travels to Staines from his home in northwest London and runs a marathon
alongside others. He told me that he has
presented Israel’s case to the runners and that they are extremely supportive with
‘not a single antisemite amongst them’ (these are his words, not mine).
When
I asked him whether he’d be interested in joining our community, he politely declined
telling me that he is a ‘bad Jew’ who doesn’t ‘do’ Shul. I of course disagreed and told him that I don’t
believe in the idea of a ‘bad Jew’ and that it is not our place to judge others.
My
brief chat with Dan left me feeling impressed and most of all inspired. To take on such a feat, which tests his powers
of endurance week in and week out, is truly remarkable. To do so as a Jew in support of our brothers who
are suffering in the hellish conditions under Gaza is simply indescribable in its
magnanimity. If that’s a definition of a
‘bad Jew’, I cannot perceive of its antonym.
This
week’s Parasha of Balak focuses on the actions of the evil Bilaam, a ‘sorcerer for
hire’, whose goal was to curse the Bnei Yisrael. However, Gd had different plans for him which
resulted in him blessing them instead.
Frustrated
by his inability to curse the people through Gd’s intervention and by extension,
not having been paid his wage by the disgruntled Moabite King Balak, he decided
to wreak his revenge on the Bnei Yisrael by hatching the plot to entice them through
the harlotry of the ‘daughters of Moab’ (and Midian - see Rashi 25.1). This resulted in the deaths of 24,000 Israelites
(through a plague) along with the prince of the tribe of Shimon and the daughter
a tribal Midianite leader, who were killed by Pinchas, the grandson of Aharon.
These
two sides to Bilaam demonstrate the power of blessings and curses. When he wished to actualise the latter, this resulted
in the carnage at Shittim located in Moab opposite Jericho, whilst the former constituted
some of the most beautiful prose in the entire Torah.
When
Bilaam was deciding on whether he should accompany Balak’s messengers, Gd came to
him and said:
“Do not go with them…Do not curse this people, for they
are blessed.” (19.12)
And
blessed we are indeed.
I
thought it was fascinating that when Israel launched the extraordinary attack on
Iran last month, the name of the operation was derived from one of Bilaam’s blessings:
“See what Gd has done.
A people – see – rises like a lioness, lifts itself up like a lion.” (20.24)
The
simile of a lion and the Jewish people stretches back to Yaakov’s blessing to Yehudah
in Parashat Vayechi:
“Yehuda is a lion’s cub. From the prey, you have risen. Like a lion, he crouches, lies down like a lioness;
who dares to rouse him?” (49.9)
This
idea was concretised through the shape of the Heichal, the central building in the
Beit Hamikdash complex. The Mishnah in Middot
(4.7) states:
The Hekhal was narrow behind and broad in front, resembling a lion, as it says, "Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped" (Isaiah 29:1): Just as a lion is narrow behind and broad in front, so the Hekhal was narrow behind and broad in front.
Sadly,
we are witnessing thousands of proto Bilaams who try their best to curse us in the
streets of our cities, in social media and in parliaments around the world. Gd deflects their curses and turns them into blessings
as we have seen with the astonishing victories of the IDF against our enemies over
the last year-and-three-quarters. Dan, our
Lion of Judah, blesses our people through his physical efforts to raise awareness
of the plight of the hostages.
Far
from being a ‘bad Jew’, he embodies everything that constitutes a hero in our eyes
(although it would be lovely if he stepped into our shul every now and again
and helped to make up that elusive minyan!)
We
need the Dans of the world to remind others about how blessed we are to be the descendants
of Yaakov Avinu. How the promise that Gd
made to Avraham has been realised with the establishment of Medinat Yisrael and
how He protects our nation day in and day out.
We are experiencing deep pain and many our brothers and sisters have fallen
but, like a lioness, I am in no doubt that we will rise again and eventually defeat
our foes.
May
Gd continue to protect and bless us and may we witness the return of our hostages
to their families in the very near future. Finally, may He give Dan, our ‘Lion of
Staines’ the strength and resolve to continue his athletic journeys along the Thames
River Path until that day arrives.
Amen.
Shavua Tov
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