A Different Kind of Nuclear Power

How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! (Numbers 24:5)

In Parshas Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9), the appointed Moabite king, Balak, joins forces with the Midianite powerhouse of prophetic impurity, Bilaam, to hatch an evil plot against the Jews. The goal? To somehow bring a Divine curse upon the Jews. The reason? Fear of annihilation after their defeat of Og and Sichon, two nations of whom Moav was a protectorate. The method? Hit 'em where it hurts, their purity.

Let us focus, if we may, on a practical application of Bilaam's maxim in a way that can pertain to our daily lives.

After the Moabite king relentlessly and unsuccessfully sends Bilaam to place a curse on the Jews, his final failure occurs when the Midianite prophet utters these words - "How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!" Rashi explains Bilaam's comment as:

"He saw each tribe dwelling by itself, not intermingling [with other tribes], and he saw that the openings of their tents did not face each other, so that they should not peer into each others' tents." (Bava Basra 60a, Midrash Aggadah)

I propose that we can extract and use lesson in a way that can improve our interactions with others. Not "peering into each others' homes" can be applied in our own lives as "giving each other privacy," on the interpersonal level, but specifically on the familial level.

That privacy is a holy abode that resides within each of our homes, and if preserved, can produce fantastic results in the lives of our spouses and children. It helps us turn our nuclear family into a "nuclear generator" of the safety and creativity required for healthy development.

As has been pointed out by many in the past and present, nuclear power can be a source of great curse, but of great blessing as well.

This is ever relevant as well on the technological front, where "windows" permit "virtual peering," i.e., "following" people and keeping track of their mundane activities. Obviously technology as well can promise much good, but the "how goodly" doctrine helps ensure that its capabilities doesn't overextend its designed reach into the most important private sector aside from our hearts, i.e., our homes.

See the following chilling social media experiment: