d’var torah
Could that have been
Elijah? RABBI ERIC YANOFF
O Parshat Balak
ne of my teachers, Rabbi Burt
Visotzky, tells the story of
meeting Elijah the Prophet
while on a mission meeting refuseniks
in the Former Soviet Union: Th ey were
advised that they would be followed by
the KGB.

In order to bolster Jewish life of
the refuseniks without exposing and
endangering the group, they had to
take special care in getting to their des-
tination. It was not safe to take a taxi
directly there, and so they got turned
around and lost. Rabbi Visotzky tells
the story that as they wandered, look-
ing for the meeting of refuseniks, a
man appeared suddenly, led them to a
non-descript doorway, and before they
could turn back to thank him, he was
gone. Rabbi Visotzky, a master storyteller,
calls that man “my Eliyahu.” In Jewish
tradition, Elijah oft en appears out of
context, unexpectedly and ahistorically
to off er support. I recalled this a few
summers ago when my family were
among several families on a day off
from Camp Ramah. We had planned to
meet up with a few other minivans of
camp families and go on a hike, but we
got separated and had no cell service.

I walked from the trailhead back to
the road, and aft er some time holding
my phone at diff erent angles in futil-
ity, a cyclist came by, off ered us some
fresh milk (a random detail, but true),
and encouraged us. He disappeared as
quickly as he had come, and just min-
utes later our friends arrived; they had
encountered him on his bicycle, and he
somehow “knew” that they were the
friends we sought. He led them in the
right direction… but again, our friends
barely saw him cycle away. We called
him “our Elijah.”
Have you ever encountered an Elijah
– unexpected support from a random
encounter? Perhaps more importantly,
did you recognize that unsolicited, out-
of-nowhere help as extraordinary?
Parashat Balak challenges us to open
our eyes, our ears and our voices to
appreciate that support sometimes
comes in the most surprising of places.

Th e story itself, of the Moabite King
Balak seeking the help of the faraway
prophet Bilaam to curse the People
of Israel, reads like a random inser-
tion into the Torah’s narrative; indeed,
some ancient sources viewed it as its
own “book” of the Torah. Aft er mul-
tiple entreaties, God assents to Bilaam
going on Balak’s quest – on the condi-
tion that Bilaam only prophesize using
the words God gives him.

What happens next is almost comi-
cal in its caricature of Bilaam’s obtuse-
ness: Riding on his donkey, Bilaam gets
increasingly frustrated as the donkey
strays from the path, scrapes Bilaam’s
leg against brush along the side of the
path and then sits down in the path –
all to keep Bilaam from harm. Finally,
with Bilaam enraged and beating his
animal, God opens the mouth of the
donkey and enables Bilaam to under-
stand the donkey’s noble intentions
to save the prophet from an angel of
death. All along, the narrative seems to
mock Bilaam’s absurd inability to
appreciate the help he is receiving from
an unlikely source. Th e caricature is
laughable in its irony: Bilaam, a noted,
sought-aft er prophet and seer, cannot
see the help off ered, even by a lowly
ass. And given Bilaam’s inability (or
perhaps biased refusal) to see the don-
key’s unexpected support, who then is
the true ass in the narrative, and who
is the better seer and orator of blessings
and curses?
On the other end of the spectrum of
unseen, miraculous support, Bilaam is
also not even receptive to the support
that God gives him, as God places
words of blessing (instead of curses)
into the prophet’s mouth. True, the
blessings enrage Bilaam’s contracted
employer (King Balak), but more nota-
bly, it takes Bilaam multiple attempts
to recognize God’s supporting role, just
as he could not see the donkey’s saving
role. Finally, in the end, he full-throat-
edly embraces God’s words in his
mouth, and off ers his most famous
blessing that begins our morning ser-
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vice: “Mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov,
mishkenotecha Yisrael – How good
are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, O
Israel!” (Bemidbar 24:5).

Th e story of Bilaam reminds us that
help can come from the most surpris-
ing sources – from a lowly donkey, or
from the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Our role is twofold: First, we must
recognize that support as miraculous.

Don’t be the guy in the joke who is des-
perate for a parking spot for an import-
ant meeting and makes an impulsive
promise: “God, if you help me here, I
pledge to become more observant…”
– and when two parking spots imme-
diately open up directly in front of him,
quickly reneges, saying, “God, forget
it – I found a spot myself.” My rabbi
growing up, Rabbi Sidney Greenberg
z”l, said memorably, “Coincidence is
God’s way of staying anonymous.” We,
however, should be in the business of
uncovering God’s “cover” or anonym-
ity, and giving God – or whomever
comes to our aid – full “credit” in those
moments. Second, our role is to BE that unex-
pected, unsolicited and even unde-
served help for someone. It is a mitzvah
to recognize someone’s “Elijah” – but it
is an even bigger mitzvah to BE some-
one’s “Elijah.” I have seen it hinted and
off ered online and in-person – and so I
challenge us: In a world with plenty of
reasons for darkness, uncertainty and
fear – how might we step into that role,
light the way and become someone
else’s Elijah? JE
Rabbi Eric Yanoff , one of the rabbis
at Adath Israel in Merion Station, is
immediate past president of the Greater
Philadelphia Board of Rabbis. Th e
Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
is proud to provide diverse perspectives
on Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. Th e opinions expressed in
this column are the author’s own and
do not refl ect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. nmls
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