Walk!

The last generation of exile has been compared by our Sages as the “heels of Moshiach.” Our generation is paradoxically the lowest generation of history, being the farthest removed from the defining experience of Sinai. It is also the most powerful generation that can uplift and bring fulfillment to all the preceding generations; the hearts and heads of our nation.

Coming and Going

One of the things we take for granted (besides breathing and the like) is our ability to walk. Walking is one of the great gifts given to us by G-d that we often don’t appreciate.

What does all this have to do with this week’s parsha that deals with the failed attempts of Bilam, the heathen prophet hired by Balak the king of Moab, to curse the Jews?

One of the themes subtly couched in the narrative of Balak and Bilam is walking, or going from one place to another.

Repeatedly the Torah speaks of how the “elders of Moab went… to Bilam…”; G-d said to Bilam don’t go with them…”; “Bilam arose in the morning and said to go to your land…”; “And the ministers of Balak arose and came to Balak, and they said, ‘Bilam refuses to go with us.’”; “..and they came to Bilam and they said to him, ‘so spoke Balak the son of Tzippor, please do not refrain from coming to me,’” etc.

Throughout the parsha, we read of Balak telling Bilam to go with him to one place or to a more appropriate place from which he might be more successful in cursing the Jewish people.

To these evil people, moving from one location to another had meaning.

The Virtuous Walking

And on the positive side of things we also find a reference to the virtue of walking as well in this week’s parsha:

When Bilam was riding on his donkey the donkey pressed his leg against the wall because it saw an angel standing in the way. Bilam then struck the donkey three times, whereupon “G-d opened the mouth of the donkey” and it complained to Bilam: “Why did you strike me three times?”

Now, in Hebrew the standard word for “times” in this context is p’amim. Yet, here the Torah uses the word “regalim,” which actually means legs. Rashi explains that G-d (through the medium of the donkey) was, in effect, scolding Bilam by telling him why do you wish to harm the Jewish people who go by foot on their pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year?”

Indeed, the Biblical word for Holidays is regalim which means feet because it involved the process of traveling, specifically by the mode of walking.

What is it about walking from one place to another that features so prominently in this week’s parsha in both the realm of evil and good?

Leaving the Gulag

To understand the spiritual quality of walking the following story will help to illustrate the point.

A prominent rabbi was held captive in the Soviet Gulag for many years. At one point the rabbi felt that he could not survive much longer. He then thought of sending a telepathic message to his Rebbe, his spiritual mentor who lived thousands of miles away from the Soviet Labor camp, to pray to G-d on his behalf. Obviously, this was in addition to his own heartfelt prayers to G-d in the spirit of the Talmudic dictum: “When one has a sick person in their family they should go to the sage of the town and ask him to pray for them.”

However, before the Rabbi “sent” his message he snuck out of his barracks and walked towards the gates of the camp. When he reached the gates that were obviously locked and well-guarded—that involved no small risk to his life—and he could walk no further, he dispatched his telepathic letter to his Rebbe.

To many the behavior of this rabbi would appear bizarre, not because he believed that he could communicate with someone thousands of miles away. That makes much sense if one believes that there are more connections in our universe than just the physical. And people whose spiritual makeup dominates their lives are capable of picking up these signals. But what does seem bizarre is that he walked to the gates of the camp to send that telepathic letter. If he believed that there are spiritual connections that defy the parameters of the physical world why did he half to walk to the gates? Couldn’t he as easily send his letter from his barracks?

The answer is that before one wants to travel from one place to another in the spiritual realm they must first make every effort to move towards their destination in the physical world. Once we make the physical move by literally walking in the direction of our goal, we can then attempt to reach our destination in the spiritual sense as well.

A Holiday Mode of Transportation

Every holiday required that Jews travel on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Even if they traveled by horseback or the like, the last “legs” of the trip (pun intended) involved walking. Indeed, the reason holidays are called regalim in Hebrew, which means feet, is because a holiday is all about traveling to a different realm in the spiritual vein. This required that we first travel to Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the physical and literal sense of the word.

A Holiday is when we move from one state of mind to another. To achieve the movement from one spiritual state to another one must first make a move in our physical plane of existence from our location to a better and holier location.

Moving Towards the Burning Bush

When Moses saw the burning bush and the Divine manifestation it represented he said: “I will move away from here to see this great vision…” Rashi comments on the words “I will move away” and adds the phrase “to get closer to there.”

Why was it so important for Moses to step a few feet closer to see the vision? Fire is something that can be seen from afar as well.

However, Moses realized that this vision represented a major change in his awareness of G-d. He had never before been exposed to the Divine power that allows for a bush to burn and not be consumed at the same time. Moses felt that for his to perceive this sight and awareness and become more receptive to it he had to move away from where he was in the spiritual sense. Moses had to change himself first. And in order to do that, Moses actually attempted to physically move in the direction of the place where the Divine presence manifested itself.

Walking is the natural ability to move from one place to another. Walking that involves the lowest part of our bodies can transport our heads as well.

A Kabbalistic Axiom

One of the axioms of Kabbalah and Chassidic thought is that everything that exists in the physical plane is paralleled in a higher spiritual realm.

In truth, this axiom is a threefold one:

First, every physical thing has a spiritual counterpart.

Second, the physical thing actually derives from the spiritual. That means that the spiritual plane existed prior to the physical and is the force that generated the emergence of the physical.

Third, and conversely, whenever we engage in a physical activity it impacts the spiritual plane and helps to activate it.

Accordingly, when one walks from one place to a better and holier place, that exercise does more than just strengthen the muscles of our legs and heart. It actually activates the spiritual mechanism that helps us get to the next level. Moreover, the act of using our legs and feet to walk to a good place for a good cause can actually enhance the spiritual state of our minds and hearts as well.

The Heels of Moshiach

Concerning the Messianic Age the prophet Isaiah states that G-d will split the river and help us walk through it in our shoes.

The last generation of exile has been compared by our Sages as the “heels of Moshiach.” This means that our generation is paradoxically the lowest generation of history, being the farthest removed from the defining experience of Sinai, when G-d made His connection to us, and it is also the most powerful generation that can uplift and bring fulfillment to all the preceding generations that are likened to the heart and head of our nation.

The reference to walking can be understood in light of the above analysis. When we want to make the transition from one state to another, there is a need to make whatever physical effort in that direction. Going from the Diaspora to the Land of Israel, from exile to Redemption is primarily a spiritual transition. But to facilitate that move from one space to another much higher space, one needs to do their part, very literally.

For one Jew it can mean making the move to the Land of Israel. For another it can be making an effort to walk to the synagogue. For a third person it can be walking to visit someone in the hospital or any other act of kindness that requires one’s physical movement from one place to the other.

Moreover, the metaphor of walking is that it involves action not emotion or intellect. Precisely those people whose dedication to G-d is based on simple faith and devotion to G-d’s will that transcends understanding are the ones that will march at the front of our people into the Age of Redemption. Their simple marching song will inspire all of the other more intellectual souls to make the inexorable move from exile into Redemption.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Balak by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.