American Airlines were left feeling rather embarrassed this week when it emerged that the guns belonging to the bodyguards of their prominent passenger, Benyamin Netanyahu, were lost during his flight with them into Washington. The search for the four 9mm semiautomatic Glock 17 pistols is priority No. 1 in American law enforcement. It is also being investigated by the FBI, Secret Service and Israeli authorities.
Personally, I thought the story could not have happened at a better time as its direct connection to the Parsha of this week is almost uncanny. The villain who takes center stage in Parshat Balak is the notorious mystic Bilam. The Torah describes how together with King Balak of Midian, Bilam devised a plan to annihilate the Jews in a never-before-attempted feat - instead of using traditional weapons against the chosen nation, they decided to tackle the Jews using classic Jewish weapons: prayer, or in this case, curses. The plan was a pretty smart one, only Bilam didn’t count on G-d intervening by controlling his words, which, against his will came out as one of the greatest blessings the Jewish people have ever received. The narrative has a fairytale ending as the Jews are commanded to take up swords and smite Bilam together with the rest of the offenders.
The survival of our people throughout the last thousands of years can only be attributed to a miraculous element. The pages of history have been filled with the persecution of countless nations, yet it is the Jewish nation alone who, against all odds, has survived everything that’s been thrown at us. It makes no sense that we have outlived great civilizations like the ancient Egyptians or powerful empires like that of the Romans. There has got to be a secret, a special something that allows us to endure the endless persecutions. And indeed there is - the Torah.
Obviously this is not to say that a physical army is unnecessary. But as Jews we need to understand that our power lies not in weapons of steel but in weapons of words. Yes, we need to fight with tanks and planes, but without the observance of Torah our victory is limited. Perhaps Bibi’s missing guns is a lesson for us to stop relying only on guns and start praying as well?