{"id":48158,"date":"2019-01-24T16:44:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T14:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48158"},"modified":"2022-08-18T13:51:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:51:41","slug":"a-world-of-not-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-world-of-not-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"A World Of Not Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[652,442],"acf":{"old_id":"48158","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37918,"related_cahpter":"141","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Complacency and self-satisfaction have no place in the spiritual life","content":"

Balaam and Micah offer dramatically different assessments of the Israelites. The vast chasm between the two reveals a deep truth about Jewish theology and spirituality: We live, always, in a world of \u201cnot yet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Three times the gentile seer Balaam sets out to curse the Israelites, and each time his designs are thwarted: Again and again, God turns his curses into blessings. On the third occasion, Balaam declares: \u201cHow fair (<\/span>mah tovu<\/span><\/em>) are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!\u201d (Numbers 24:2,5). Modern interpreter Nehama Leibowitz goes further, insisting that \u201cthe plain meaning of the term [\u2018<\/span>tovu<\/span><\/em>,\u2019 fair] is perfection in all respects\u2014beauty and charm, simplicity and purity.\u201d On Leibowitz\u2019 account, then, Balaam looks out at the Israelites and sees perfection in all forms. <\/span><\/p>\n

The haftarah assigned to parashat Balak provides a subtle but striking contrast to Balaam\u2019s words. God brings a lawsuit against Israel, accusing it of having breached the covenant. The Israelites do not defend themselves against God\u2019s charges; on the contrary, they immediately acknowledge their wrongdoing and begin to ask, almost frantically,<\/span> how they can make restitution: \u201cWith what shall I approach the Lord,\u201d they ask, \u201cpay homage to God on high?\u201d (6:6-7). But the people focus exclusively on progressively more dramatic and excessive sacrificial offerings, never considering the possibility that what God desires is covenantal obedience and concern for the weak and vulnerable. The Israelite community is in fact light years away from the perfection Balaam attributes to it. Micah tells them: \u201cHe has told you, O mortal, what is good (<\/span>mah tov<\/span><\/em>), and what the Lord requires of you…\u201d (Micah 6:8). <\/span><\/p>\n

Balaam and Micah utilize the phrase \u201c<\/span>mah tov<\/span><\/em>\u201d in radically different ways: Whereas Balaam declares that Israel is <\/span>already<\/em> <\/span>good, Micah emphasizes what Israel must do to <\/span>become<\/em> <\/span>good. Whereas Balaam speaks in the indicative, Micah speaks in the imperative. Juxtaposed with Balaam\u2019s, Micah\u2019s words serve as a powerful reminder that a deep sense of \u201cnot yet\u201d ought to pervade our spiritual lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

The world is not yet as it could be, not yet as God intends it to be; and we, too, are not yet who we could be, who we are summoned by God to become. Complacency and self-satisfaction have no place in the spiritual life. There is still a commandment to fulfill, a road to travel, and a hope that will not die. This commitment to an ethos of \u201cnot yet\u201d is central to Judaism\u2019s vision of how we ought to live and serve God.<\/span><\/p>\n

image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":48160,"id":48160,"title":"num24-Ben Hamu","filename":"num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-world-of-not-yet\/num24-ben-hamu\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num24-ben-hamu","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48158,"date":"2019-01-24 14:50:02","modified":"2019-01-24 14:50:16","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":386}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A World Of Not Yet","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Complacency and self-satisfaction have no place in the spiritual life","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":48160,"id":48160,"title":"num24-Ben Hamu","filename":"num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-world-of-not-yet\/num24-ben-hamu\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"num24-ben-hamu","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":48158,"date":"2019-01-24 14:50:02","modified":"2019-01-24 14:50:16","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num24-Ben-Hamu.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":386}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48158"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107313,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48158\/revisions\/107313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}