Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Do you ever think of God as a friend?
לֹא הִבִּיט אָוֶן בְּיַעֲקֹב וְלֹא רָאָה עָמָל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
ה' אֱלֹקָיו עִמּוֹ וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ׃
God does not see sin in Yaakov, nor does God see anything wrong in Yisrael.
God their Lord is with them,
and the teruah of the King is with them.
“Teruah” usually means a blast from a horn or shofar. But some of our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) say that, in this pasuk from Bilam’s blessing, the word “teruah” is connected to רֵעוּת (re’ut), which means friendship.
לֹא הִבִּיט הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אָוֶן שֶׁבְּיַעֲקֹב–כְּשֶׁהֵן עוֹבְרִים עַל דְּבָרָיו אֵינוֹ מְדַקְדֵּק אַחֲרֵיהֶם, לְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּאוֹנִיּוֹת שֶׁלָּהֶן וּבְעַמְלָן שֶׁהֵן עוֹבְרִין עַל דָּתוֹ....
"וּתְרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ"–לְשׁוֹן חִבָּה וְרֵעוּת
The Holy Blessed One does not see sins in Yaakov. When they go against God’s commands, God doesn’t scrutinize them too closely to try to understand what they are doing wrong….
“The teruah of the King”—This is language of love and re’ut (friendship).
אֵימָתַי "ה' אֱלֹקָיו עִמּוֹ"?
כְּשֶׁ"תְּרוּעַת מֶלֶךְ בּוֹ"–כְּשֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶם דְּבֵקוּת עִם הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְהוּא מִלְּשׁוֹן רֵעוּת.
When is it that “God their Lord is with them”? When the people have “the teruah of the King with them”; when they cling in friendship to the King.
According to Rashi, God acts as a friend to Benei Yisrael, not looking too closely at our flaws. This is what friends do; they see the best in each other.
According to Rabbeinu Bahaye, Benei Yisrael act as a friend to God. And when we show our love and friendship to God by clinging to God, then God responds by being with us.
- What does it mean for God to be a friend of yours? How does it change the way you think about God to know that God is your friend?
- What does it mean to be a friend to God? What’s the behavior of a person who is acting like God's friend?
- Can both be true? How?
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