The Torah Portion of this week is named after a wicked person, Balak, while we normally see such naming as a homage. How can this be?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet II, ii, 1-2) cannot be a Jewish quote. In the Holy Tongue, every name, word and letter has deep significance.
When the election of the Person of the Twentieth Century drew to a close, it became clear that Hitler was going to win. His wicked leadership had marked the previous century as no one else’s had. With a lot of last-minute campaigning, the embarrassment was prevented with Einstein coming out the winner.
(Isn’t it amazing how Jewish that epoch was, with eternal Jewish world-leaders like Einstein, Freud, Marx, Herzl, Frank, Ben-Gurion, and one anti-Jewish one: Hitler and hardly anyone else?)
The valid question could be asked how wicked Balak merited to have a Weekly Torah Portion named after him. He’s not even the main character or hero of the story as the great Prophet Balaam is.
The Sages suggest that his merit was that he was an “honest” Jew-hater. The merit of honesty is so great that even abuse of it cannot totally eclipse its value. Yet, I want a simple explanation to start with.
These are the six people who have a Weekly Torah Portion named after them: Noach, Sarah, Jethro, Korach, Balak and Phinehas.
- Noach – He on his own walked with G-d – no small feat.
- Sarah – She was a greater prophet even than Abraham.
- Jethro – As Gentile, he adopted Judaism and even advised Moses!
- Korach – He showed his wickedness but still repented – a bit late.
- Balak – First of all, this was to slight the real “hero” of the story, dishonest Balaam. The latter wanted to use G-d but he was used by Balak and G-d. Balak is prominent because also his (failed) wicked leadership hallowed G-d’s Name. (See below.)
- Phinehas – He showed that if one is humble and in-tune with what’s True, one can go even beyond than what has been clear until today and come out being contracted by G-d retroactively.
No portion is named after Moses, but his glory fills every letter of the Torah. However, he is called the most humble on earth (Numbers 12:3) because Korach was even more humble(d) – after the earth swallowed him up. And Moses is called the all-time greatest among the Jews (Deuteronomy 34:10) because, among all people, Balaam was actually greater. But greatness doesn’t equal holiness automatically.
If Balaam would have walked with G-d, he would have been greater than Moses, but since he only wanted to use G-d, G-d used him – the fate of all totally wicked people.
Many times, we all have a choice to team up with the Creator and put in some effort, or to feel free to do anything in the book, go with the flow, take it easy, be comfortable, justify ourselves, only chase short-term pleasures and feel completely unrestrained, in which case G-d will use us with our predictable “natural” behavior as pawns to further His goals.
(Actually, we do not have a choice like that. Rather, Free Will is that we are commanded to put in the effort and free (elevate) ourselves.)
We can’t go against G-d. We either diligently and meritoriously cooperate with Him or He’ll use our undeserving shameful indifference to holiness to further His Plot. G-d always wins.
All the name-givers to the Weekly Portions hallowed G-d’s Name. Most of them by being holy and some of them by being wicked.
Prominent people will be remembered. But it is their choice how they want their lives eternally to stand out: as friends to people, to the Jews and to G-d or as their enemies.
MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. *
As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. *
This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. *
Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. *
Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. *
He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. *
He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. *
He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. *
His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. *
His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1
