Signs protect us and the things that matter most to us…
For us Jews, the Torah is our blueprint for living an authentic life. In this week’s parsha, we can glean the lesson of paying heed to the signs that are meant to protect us from the story of Pinchas.
After witnessing Zimri publicly defy Hashem, Pinchas takes matters into his own hands and kills both Zimri and the Midianite woman with whom he committed forbidden relations.
What the parsha doesn’t tell us explicitly is the backstory.
The Jewish people had just experienced one of the greatest salvations in their history. Bilaam had been hired to curse them, yet every attempted curse became a blessing. Four times Balak tried to destroy the Jewish people, and four times Hashem overturned the plan.
Imagine the relief.
According to the Midrash, it was precisely after that salvation—when the danger had passed and everyone relaxed—that the people let their guard down. They slipped first into immorality and then into idolatry.
“Bnei Yisrael camped in Shittim feeling secure and self-confident. G-d had repelled all their enemies, including the famous magician Bilam who had been forced to praise and bless them. A certain light-headedness pervaded the camp.”
They didn’t recognize the sign: overconfidence. Their guard was down, and they fell.
Recovery circles often teach that overconfidence and complacency are warning signs.
And they’re right.
It’s a truth that the Torah has been teaching us all along.
Signs protect us from drifting away from our true selves.
The work, then, is to learn our own signs, to notice the moments when we’re beginning to drift from our centered self, our values, and our best intentions. Because when we recognize the signs early, it’s much easier to return.
A prompt for this week:
A journal prompt for this week:
When I drift from the person I want to be, the first signs are…
The sign I most often miss is…
One way I can honor that sign this week is…
