The enormity of the pain of losing a child, the added hurt of the abruptness of his murder and the questions that surround it, should signal to all of us the eloquent restraint of Aharon Hakohen when he suffered the sudden double death of Nodov and Avhiu. Indeed there are times when words are at best meaningless.
The forceful counterbalance to that silence for us is the fear that without words, the "powerful stream of life" that Prime Minister Netanyahu referred to in his eulogy yesterday could move us on and return us to routine, without moving us inside and without forging a singular memory within.
This fear threads its way throughout the story of Bilam as we will read this Shabbos. "And Hashem became angry because [Bilam] went, and Hahsem's angel stood on the road to be against him. And Bilam rides on his donkey and his two servants were with him" (22:22.) The hanging redundancy that closes the pasuk - "and bilam rides his donkey" - begs comment.
I believe the Torah wants us to appreciate that life was screaming out to Bilam, Hashem was distanced and close all at the same time, an angel was literally in front of his nose, Bilam was en route to the event that ultimately would bring about his failure and death, "and Bilaam rides on his donkey" in total obliviousness. To him it's another day, another mission, another stroll on his donkey.
Rav Schwab z"tl points out (Mayan Bais Hashoeva p. 355) that Bilam had become entirely unimpressionable. Nothing, not even his talking donkey, could cause him a moment's pause. How does a person remain saddled, maintain total composure, and simply respond to his talking donkey without missing a beat and without any question or curiosity? How does a person see with his own eyes the people who miraculously thrived in the desert with the manna and the well and all the while remain unmoved, totally unimpacted, and ready to deliver the very same curses he had prepared earlier? "And Bilam rides on his donkey."
Bilaam's folly charges us with the mandate to maintain open, sensitive and responsive hearts. This week we are reminded of that, in the face of the ongoing drumbeat of disappointments, fears and tragedies that could so easily numb all feelings and stymie any empathetic outreach.
Indeed this week's breathtaking outpouring of concern, sympathy, and generosity of heart and soul that knew no geographical or philosophical distance should undoubtedly find its way into the fiber of every Jew.
Consoling? Hard to imagine. An instructive memory? To be sure.