Category Archives: Balak

5783, Balak, Bat Ayin, Numbers, Parsha

Communal Israeli Embassies (Balak)

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Communal Israeli Embassies (Balak)

Embassies, as strongholds of home, carry its spirit across borders, offering a haven where nationals find support, guidance, and belonging. -ChatGPT

The nation of Israel is on the border of Canaan, getting ready to conquer the Promised Land. They had sought free passage through the kingdom of Sichon. Sichon in response attacked Israel, only to be soundly defeated, even though Israel had no designs on his land. The kingdom of Og is likewise conquered by Israel. King Balak of Moab is petrified by the prospect of Israel conquering his land also, though not only did Israel have no such interest, but God had also commanded Moses that they shouldn’t fight with Moab, their distant cousins, descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot.

Being on the border between what would become the Land of Israel and the Diaspora, the Bat Ayin on Numbers 22:2 explores some of the differences between being inside the land and outside of it. He states that the characteristic of falsehood will take hold and be stronger outside of Israel. He also discusses the distinction and great merit of speaking words of truth, in Hebrew, the holy language, in Israel, the holy land. Prayer in particular is most effective in that combination of being in Hebrew and being in Israel.

However, he adds an important caveat to this principle, based on the Talmud (Tractate Berachot 6a) that a person’s prayers are primarily heard when they are made in the synagogue. There is a power and an urgency that is harder for God to ignore when heartfelt prayers are prayed in the synagogue. The Bat Ayin connects this power of the synagogue to another Talmudic statement (Tractate Megillah 29a) which predicts that all synagogues of the diaspora will somehow be transported at some future date to the land of Israel. That somehow, a synagogue is an extension of the land of Israel, a divine embassy available in every community in the world.

That is why synagogues are exceptions to the rule. That is why prayers outside of Israel are heard with great power and efficacy in the synagogue, because the synagogue is an extension of Israel. That is why, in the future, the synagogues will return to their origins, to their physical roots – the land of Israel, together with our diaspora.

May we take advantage of our local Jewish embassies to make sure our prayers are more forcefully transmitted.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the first cohort of incredibly talented Sacks Scholars. Good luck with the program!

5782, Balak, Chidushei HaRim, Numbers, Parsha

Enthusiastic Evil versus Lethargic Good (Balak)

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Enthusiastic Evil versus Lethargic Good (Balak)

Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin. -Victor Kiam

The nation of Israel, nearing the end of their desert journey, are encamped on the eastern shore of the Jordan River, near the lands of Moab, with the intention of crossing to the land of Canaan. King Balak of Moab hires the evil sorcerer Bilaam to cast a fatal curse upon the Israelites and drive them from the land. Bilaam was so eager to embark on his malevolent mission that the Torah points out how Bilaam arose first thing in the morning and rushed to saddle his donkey personally as opposed to letting his servants handle such a menial task.

The Midrash states that centuries before Bilaam’s enthusiastic awakening to curse Israel, someone else awoke with great alacrity to saddle his own donkey: our forefather Abraham. He too awakens first thing in the morning to saddle his donkey to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah as per God’s command. The Midrash explains that Abraham’s awakening was a protection and counteraction to Bilaam’s awakening.

The Chidushei HaRim on Numbers 22:21 asks why such a protection is needed in the first place? Why does the zeal of an evil man need the remedy of Abraham’s enthusiasm? The Chidushei HaRim explains that without the counteraction, Bilaam’s fervor was particularly dangerous, given the nation of Israel’s lethargy, resistance, and procrastination in following God’s directives.

The Chidushei HaRim expands that unfortunately such a phenomenon is ingrained in human nature. In general, we are much faster to pursue efforts of self-gratification and even sin than we are to perform more altruistic and selfless deeds. If we would solely compare Bilaam’s evil enthusiasm to Israel’s lethargic and grudging pursuit of God’s will, it would represent disaster for the Jewish people. Hence the need for Abraham’s passion to give us a fighting chance. Abraham models for us that it is both possible and ideal to be enthusiastic in our service of God; that we should rise with energy every morning, thankful that we have another day to understand and pursue God’s will; that we can do good with excitement as opposed to just out of a sense of duty or obligation; that we can overcome our very strong human tendency to seek self-gratification, sometimes in the wrong ways; that we can be happy and joyful in doing good and being selfless.

May we turn the human tendency around and be quick to do good and very slow to do wrong.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

On the birth of our first grandchild, son to Elchanan and Zahava Spitz. Name to be determined. Mazal Tov!

5781, Balak, Bechor Shor, Numbers, Parsha

The Destiny of Nations (Balak)

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The Destiny of Nations (Balak)

A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests. -Aristide Briand

The Torah reading of Balak contains an almost comical story about the sorcerer Bilaam, attributed as possessing the power to curse people and nations, who is hired by King Balak of Moab to curse the nation of Israel. God warns Bilaam that he won’t succeed in cursing Israel. Bilaam nonetheless proceeds. To his great chagrin and embarrassment, Bilaam tries three different times, from three different places to curse Israel, but instead, some of the most beautiful and poetic blessings that have ever been declared about Israel come out of his mouth.

What is perhaps less noticed is that after the three different blessings that Bilaam pronounces, after his embarrassing failure to perform the job he was hired to do, he does continue to tap into that divine power clearly operating through him and utters prophecies about some of the other nations in the ancient Near East.

Two of the nations which he discusses in quick succession are Amalek and the Kenites. He sees that Amalek “the leading nation” will eventually face complete oblivion, but about the Kenites, he proclaims “your abode will be secure and your nest set among the cliffs.”

The Bechor Shor on Numbers 24:20-21 explains that the contrast of the two nations is purposeful and ironic. Amalek and the Kenites lived together, but beyond their physical proximity, they were on opposite poles in their relationship with Israel. Amalek was the first to confront, ambush and attack the nation of Israel, shortly after Israel’s miraculous exodus from Egypt. In response to their savage and cowardly attack, we are commanded to obliterate them, to which God also promises that “I will wipe the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.”

However, the Kenites, under the leadership of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, reached out to Israel in peace, friendship and love, and were even the conceivers of the justice system which Moses and the nation of Israel would adopt and implement. They merited a secure and prosperous existence, eventually joining the Jewish nation. Where Amalek was the first nation to fight us, the Kenites were the first nation to reach out to us in friendship.

May our friends and allies always be blessed.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Yehoshua and Yehuda Spitz on graduating high school and to all graduates this year. Congratulations!

5780, Balak, Meshech Chochma, Numbers, Parsha

God’s Time Versus Human Time (Balak)

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God’s Time Versus Human Time (Balak)

It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is rather a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves. -Thornton Wilder

In the Torah reading of Balak, the anti-hero, the sorcerer Bilaam, famously sets out to curse the nation of Israel. Bilaam also famously fails, but his failure created some of the most beautiful and poetic blessings to be bestowed upon Israel. Out of his flowery language, the Meshech Chochma on Numbers 23:21 teases out a profound understanding of time, both from a human as well as from a divine perspective.

In our current “scientific” linear thinking, when we think about the passing of time, we typically think in terms of Past, Present, and Future. First is what came before, then we reach our present time and finally, time leads us into the unknown future. However, there are some common patterns in the description of events which can be found in biblical and liturgical verses that differ from our modern way of thinking about time. One pattern can be described as “Present, Past, and Future.” A good example is the well-known liturgical verse from our daily prayers: “God rules, God ruled, God will rule.” First, we see the present, then we look back at the past and only at the end do we look forward to the future.

The Meshech Chochma explains that according to human nature, we first deal with what’s in front of us, the present. After that, we examine our memories of the past, a record of which we may find in our minds. Finally, we may look to the future, a hazy and unclear vision that our imagination might conjure. The progression is from firm sensing to memory to tenuous imaginings.

However, God’s perspective on time vis-à-vis humans is entirely different. God created Time. God is beyond Time. It is ultimately incomprehensible to try to describe Time from God’s point of view. Nonetheless, the prophets, when they deliver God’s messages, are attempting just that, and their description of God’s time is indeed different. One example is from Isaiah 44:6: “I am First (Past), I am Last (Future), and besides Me, there is no god (Present).” God’s time refers to the Past first, the Future second, and the Present third.

The Meshech Chochma describes that for God, Time is one tapestry. He sees in one glimpse, if you will, a timeline that for us mortals stretches into eternity in both directions. God mentions the Past first, which stretches backward into infinity. He then moves on to the future, which ventures forwards into infinity. Finally, He mentions the Present, that infinitesimal slice of reality suspended between the two poles of eternity.

May we, mere mortals, seize the present, appreciate the past, and look forward to the future.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Technion’s discovery of the “branched flow” of light. Illuminating.

5779, Balak, Berdichever, Numbers, Parsha, The Times of Israel

The Lion’s Advancement (Balak)

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The Lion’s Advancement (Balak)

Make progress one time and it makes you happy. Make progress day after day, week after week and it makes you a champion. -Greg Werner

The Torah portion of Balak is unique in the sense that it is an account of the history of the young nation of Israel from the perspective of an enemy. It tells the tale of King Balak of Moav, who is fearful of the encroaching Israelite nation. Balak hires the sorcerer Bilaam to curse the nation of Israel during their wandering in the desert, before their entry into the Promised Land.

While Bilaam was known to be a powerful wizard capable of casting effective and destructive curses, in the Torah reading of Balak we have the almost-comic scenario of God forcing Bilaam to utter blessings over Israel instead of his intended curses.

Bilaam’s blessings are amongst the most graphic ones in the Torah and include the following:

“Behold, a people that rises like a lioness,

And as a lion lifts himself up,

Will not rest until it has feasted on prey,

And drunk the blood of the slain.” -Number 23:24

The Berdichever learns from the above blessing the importance of gradual improvement. The blessing starts off describing the rise of the lioness, but then shifts to the rising of the even more powerful lion.

Similarly, he explains, in our performance of commandments, we need to take them one step at a time. We may initially perform the commandments for selfish reasons, for expectation of some reward. Only after we’ve become accustomed to performing the commandments, after we’ve learned, understood and internalized their importance, can we hope to perform the commandments at the higher, more idealized level of doing them without any expectation of reward.

Hence the oft-repeated Talmudic maxim that one should perform the Mitzvot “not for their own sake (lo lishmah)”; for by doing them we will eventually come to perform the Mitzvot, as they should be done, “for their own sake (lishmah).”

The continuation of the blessing suggests additional levels of performance. “Will not rest until it has feasted on prey,” hints that once a person performs the Mitzvot for their own sake, they will encourage and raise other people to also perform Mitzvot, people who have previously fallen “prey” to their evil inclinations. And “drunk the blood of the slain,” alludes to fallen divine “sparks” that are like the “slain” that are raised and revitalized by the fulsome performance of the commandments.

May we continue on our paths of spiritual development, continuously learning and methodically doing what is right, and growing step by step as spiritual beings.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Rabbanit Dr. Avigail Rock z”l. May God comfort her family amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

5778, Balak, Numbers, Parsha, Rabbeinu Bechaye, The Times of Israel

Royal Frailty (Balak)

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Royal Frailty (Balak)

Don’t forget your great guns, which are the most respectable arguments of the rights of kings. -Frederick the Great

The nation of Israel was nearing the end of their punishment of forty years of wandering in the desert. They were ready to enter the land that God had promised them. Just a couple of kingdoms stood in their way. Moses sends messengers to the first king in their path, Sichon, king of the Emorites. Moses asks for safe passage and offers to pay for anything the people of Israel would consume on the way. Sichon answers by marching his massive, overwhelming army towards the Israelite camp. However, a one-sided battle ensues with Israel completely annihilating the Emorite army and conquering the entirety of Sichon’s kingdom. The same exact scenario plays itself out with Og the giant, King of Bashan.

Rabbeinu Bechaya on Numbers Chapter 22 (Balak) explains that both Sichon and Og relied on their strength of arms and the size of their armies. They assumed that the smaller, less experienced Israelite army would be easy to destroy. What they didn’t take into account is that while the might of a mortal king is defined by the strength and size of his army, such military force is meaningless to God. God is not defined by any physical attribute. God is the cause of every physical attribute.

The massive armies of Sichon and Og basically evaporated in front of God’s wishes for Israel to win the battle. The Torah reports that Israel killed every single combatant without losing one person on their side. This unnatural victory had Balak, King of Moab, scared witless. He was depending on his bigger, more powerful neighbors to defend him from what he saw as the Israelite threat. He abruptly discovered that the monarchs he felt were so strong, turned out to be of no consequence when facing God’s plans. All those men, all those armies that defined the strength of those kings, proved to be ephemeral.

Balak understood that physical force would have no effect against the nation of Israel. He then went on to try non-military strategies with mixed results. He had learned that in a world where God intervenes, strength of arms does not a king make.

May we realize where our true strengths lie.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the World Cup players, with the exciting wins, upsets and perhaps some divine involvement as well.

5777, Balak, Hirsch, Numbers, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Well-rounded Blessings

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Well-rounded Blessings

The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life. -Albert Einstein

Balak, King of Moab, fearful of the Israeli nation’s proximity to his border, hires the famed sorcerer Bilaam to curse the people of Israel. Bilaam had a reputation for successfully cursing whomever he wished to curse. However, in what turns out to be a highly comic series of events, every time Bilaam opens his mouth to try to curse, and contrary to his own will, God has some of the most beautiful blessings in the entire Torah come forth from his lips.

Balak takes Bilaam to three different locations, with the hope that perhaps the differing vantage points will provide Bilaam a better chance of overcoming the divine insistence on blessing Israel as opposed to letting Bilaam curse them.

Rabbi Hirsch in Numbers Chapters 23 and 24 explains the deeper significance of each of the locations from the point of view of Balak and the three characteristics he sought to attack within Israel:

The first location, the high places of Baal represents the supreme “force of nature” and material prosperity.

The second place, the Field of Seers represents insight, prudence and foresight; intellectual and spiritual powers.

However, after neither of those attacks succeeded, after Balak and Bilaam understood that there was no chink in the armor of Israel in those attributes, they sought one last angle. In Rabbi Hirsch’s words:

“A nation may be blessed with every conceivable material and spiritual gift and still hasten headlong into ruin. Providence may shower upon it all the treasures, all the physical and spiritual wealth that heaven affords, and yet that nation may bear within itself a worm devouring it from within so that all its prosperity will be turned into adversity, and it will ultimately become not only unworthy but also incapable of receiving and retaining God’s blessings. This worm is called immorality; it is the shameless surrender to dissolute sensualism.”

That is what is represented by the third and final location, the Peak of Peor. At that point in time, Bilaam was not able to find anything amiss in the morality of Israel and hence the source of one of the most beautiful phrases that he utters, referring to Israel’s moral purity, and which have been made a part of our daily liturgy: “How good are your tents, Jacob; your dwelling places, Israel.”

Rabbi Hirsch adds that those people and nations that respect and promote the principles for which Israel stands, will themselves reap all the blessings of material abundance and a rich intellectual and spiritual life, based on a clear moral existence.

May we strive for and achieve those goals.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Budapest, a beautiful city, gifted with many blessings.

5776, Balak, Numbers, Parsha, Sfat Emet, The Times of Israel

Beware Instant Rewards

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Beware Instant Rewards 

 Those who give hoping to be rewarded with honor are not giving, they are bargaining. -Philo
rewards-just-ahead-sign

The concept of reward and punishment is a fundamental belief in Judaism. In multiple places in the Torah, God tells us directly, in no uncertain language, that we will be rewarded for our good deeds and we will be punished for our bad ones. We are encouraged to choose well, to choose the good, to choose life. We are recounted in detail the blessings we will receive for following God’s path, including health, abundance and peace.

Conversely, we are exhorted to avoid evil, to avoid sin, to avoid ignoring God’s instructions. Ignoring God and allowing ourselves to sin leads to death, deprivation and suffering. The Torah in two places gives specific, horrifying details as to the punishments that await us should we choose poorly.

The Sfat Emet on the reading of Balak in 5635 (1875) adds an interesting caveat regarding rewards. He explains that the evil person who does do good, but does so for the reward, will in fact receive his reward – sometimes immediately. But in fact the physical reward that he receives in this world is the extent of what he receives. His motivation is selfish, ignorant and short-sighted. He has his eye on the reward and nothing else. He doesn’t understand that we don’t follow commandments merely for the reward, but rather because it is the will of God.

When we approach the commandments with the correct motivation, it is a benefit to our soul and our eternal existence beyond this physical world. The physical reward in this world is a side-benefit, almost tangential to the reward in the spiritual plane.

May we perform commandments for the right reasons and enjoy their rewards in this world and the next.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

 To Rabbi Haskel Lookstein. A guide, a mentsch, a role-model.

5775, Baal Haturim, Balak, Numbers, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Perilous Roads

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First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/balak-perilous-roads/

Baal Haturim Numbers: Balak

Perilous Roads

Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations. -Oliver Goldsmith

dangerous road

 

Although ubiquitous and constant and despite the marvels of modern technology at our disposal, travel remains one of the most fatal human activities, with more people dying from transportation accidents then any other non-medical cause. The advent of smartphones has likely increased the dangers we all face.

The Baal Haturim on Numbers 22:22 states that all roads are to be considered a source of danger. It does not matter how accustomed to the road we are or how many times we’ve travelled it.

There is an ancient Jewish Law, that when one sets upon the road to go any distance outside ones city, they must say the Wayfarer’s Prayer. It is a short, simple, direct prayer, beseeching God to protect us from the dangers of the road and to insure we reach our destination safely. We are so concerned about the pitfalls of travel that there is another short blessing of thanks (Birkat Hagomel) which is required for sea and air journeys that must be stated in a Minyan (a quorum of ten men). This is the same blessing as for one who was freed from prison, traversed the desert or recuperated from a bedridden illness.

May we take all appropriate physical, mental and spiritual precautions as we travel from place to place.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To David Taragan, who would so expertly take me safely from place to place.

5774, Balak, Bilaam, Netziv, Numbers, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Beware the Curse

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First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/balak-beware-the-curse/

Netziv Numbers: Balak

Beware the Curse

“An orphan’s curse would drag to hell, a spirit from on high; but oh! more horrible than that, is a curse in a dead man’s eye!” -Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An enemy with a slightly greater understanding of God’s relationship to the Jewish people rises up against us. Balak the King of Moab, fears the Israelite approach to his kingdom. Though Israel merely wants to pass by peacefully and God has ordered Moses not to fight the Moabites, Balak nonetheless hires a powerful man to help with his struggle against Israel.

Balak understands that physical force cannot prevail against the Jewish nation. Therefore, he hires the sorcerer Bilaam, who is reputed to have the power to effectively curse whom he wants. What follows is an ironic, comical and embarrassing tale of Bilaam attempting to curse Israel and in three successive attempts, with God’s direct involvement – blessings come out of Bilaam’s mouth to the great chagrin of Balak.

The Netziv on Numbers 22:11 explains that the plan of this diabolical duo was faulty in its spiritual understanding. The Netziv states that curses only work where there is sin. At that moment in the desert when Bilaam set out to curse Israel, he could not see or find any sin. His attempts to curse would prove ineffective because there was no negative spiritual act for it to take a hold off.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali for whom we mourn deeply.