Chukat-Balak
What is the gift of the sacred pause?
Reflection on parshiot Chukat-Balak, by Rabbi Ariel Hendelman, Or HaLev Teacher
"The parshiot Chukat and Balak are read on a different schedule in Israel and outside Israel this week. I want to connect them through a theme that I'm going to call the sacred pause.
We have these iconic scenes. In parashat Chukat, Moshe hits the rock as the people are crying out for water. Miriam has just passed. The people are thirsty. God tells Moshe to speak to the rock, and instead he strikes the rock in a moment of frustration and impatience.
In parashat Balak, the prophet Bilaam is on his way to curse the Israelite people. His donkey keeps turning around. He gets frustrated. He strikes the donkey.
Each of these scenes is an example of stimulus and response, with no space in between. For Moshe and Bilaam, the stimulus of frustration leads to a behavioral response with no space in between, and harmful consequences.
But we can come alive in that space. Our practice gives us the gift of that very space, between what happens to us and how we choose to respond. It is the gift of the sacred pause. If we harness the sacred pause, we have a moment to discern how to respond wisely to the present moment, even in the midst of frustration and difficulty.
May we be blessed with the sacred pause this Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom."