Voices of WRJ: Parashat Balak

by Ellen Petracco In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9), Balak is the King of Moab, and the Israelites are camped on the border of Moab on their way to the Promised Land and are prospering. This worries Balak as he is afraid the Israelites, who are growing in numbers, will rise up and conquer his people and his land. Balak sends messengers to Balaam, a pagan prophet of great renown, asking him to put a curse on the Israelites to defeat them and drive them out of Moab. But before Balaam will do that, Balaam needs to talk to God. That night, he has a dream in which God tells him, "Do not go with them. You must not curse the people, for they are blessed." Balak then sends more messengers to Balaam, offering him riches if he will curse the Israelites. Balaam replies that regardless of the riches he is offered, he cannot do anything against the command of God. God appears again to Balaam during the night, telling him that he can go with the messengers but that he must do whatever God tells him to do. In the morning, Balaam saddles his donkey and goes to the Israelites’ camp. Instead of cursing God's "chosen people," Balaam blesses them, reciting the phrase, "Ma-tovu oha-leicha Yaakov (How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!),” which we recite whenever we enter a shul to pray. Rashi interprets the verse to mean that Balaam observed that the openings of the Israelite tents did not face each other, therefore giving credit to the Israelites for respecting the moral principle that everyone deserves privacy (Baba Batra 60a). As important as it is to protect one another’s privacy and secure our individual ‘sacred tents,’ it is also necessary to remain open to the world around us. It is important that we open the sides and step outside to embrace the many offerings in the broader world, like WRJ. In 2008, I became president of my local sisterhood and I attended our District’s biennial and the WRJ Leadership Conference in New Orleans. I found other women like me, who were looking for a way to give back. WRJ gave me the opportunity to go beyond the four walls of my temple’s sisterhood and start getting involved with WRJ on a district level and eventually on the North American board. I was apprehensive at first as I had so much going on with my life as well as inside my temple. I was afraid I would give up too much personal time, which is scarce to begin with. As a businesswoman, my time and space are very special to me. Yet I gave up some of that "special time," because I quickly discovered that the WRJ is a special group of women with a unique mission statement: “Women of Reform Judaism, an affiliate of the Union for Reform Judaism, is the collective voice and presence of women in congregational life.” This year is a special year for WRJ as we are celebrating our Centennial. In 1913, our organization was founded and it’s still growing 'stronger together.’ I was so fortunate to be able to join WRJ and go on the Centennial trip to Israel and Berlin where I was given the opportunity to see first-hand where the fruits of our labor go. There, I saw how important the YES Fund is and how appreciated those who have received our help were to us. That was one of the many highlights of our trip. There is still time for you to take part of this once in a lifetime celebration. As sisters, the upcoming Assembly in San Diego is our special place to meet and congregate. It’s our time to grow and prosper just like the Israelites in Moab. The biennial conference will certainly give us the tools to take back to our sisterhoods and congregations that will make our special places continue to prosper. This will be your chance to find your space with your sisters from all across North America. Ellen Petracco is a WRJ Board Member, WRJ Southeast Vice President, and Immediate Past President of Temple B'nai Israel Sisterhood in Clearwater, FL.