.
[Tal
Chermon]
Our first meeting with the Creator in the morning is the verse
"How goodly are your tents, Yaakov.”
This is how we begin our daily davening – with a verse that points to
Jewish modesty. How so? Because the entrances of Yaakov’s “goodly” tents did
not face one another, and thus prevented intrusions upon the privacy of other
families (Rashi on Bemidbar 24:5).
And yet the verse comes from the mouth of an evil person who was
completely corrupt: Bilaam. This is a person who had relations with his donkey
(Sanhedrin 105b), who was punished in Gehinom for his sexually activity (Gitin
56b) and who caused the Jewish People to sin with the daughters of Moav (Bemidbar
24:14 with Rashi) though he clearly knew that their G-d hated harlotry
(Sanhedrin 106a). But when Bilaam
experienced a spiritual elevation, through the hand of Hashem which rested upon
him, he clearly recognized the modesty which is deeply ingrained within the
Jewish nature. He was so amazed by it
that he began his third prophecy – the most elevated of all – with this
praising of their modesty. Recognizing and acknowledging our essential modesty
is how we meet our Creator each and every morning.
