Have you ever seen those classic Roadrunner cartoons? You know, the ones where Wile E. Coyote tries again and again to capture and eat the Roadrunner, but no matter what—or how hard—he tries, he fails? If you haven’t, you don’t need to watch them to get the idea… you just need to turn to this week’s Parsha, Balak.
Balak is our title character in this week’s narrative, and he serves as our Wile E. Coyote stand-in. The Roadrunner, in this case, is our ancient ancestors, the Israelite people. However, instead of trying to set elaborate traps to ensnare and eat us (thankfully), Balak hires Balaam to go and curse the Israelites.
Unbeknownst to Balak, God forbids Balaam from cursing the Israelites and instead bids him to bless them. Balak does not accept this outcome and—just like the coyote—tries and fails again and again. Each time Balaam goes out with him to curse the Israelites, it comes out as a blessing! The Roadrunner gets away every time!
As we encounter this story now, I pray that God continues to turn the curses that are levied against us into blessings. May all of our enemies be just as Balaam, and may all of us be blessed as our ancestors. And let us say (as would the Roadrunner), “Meep Meep!”