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Home -> 5776 -> Balak

מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5776

How goodly are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwelling places, O Yisrael. (24:5)

Chazal interpret the terms ohalecha, your tents, and mishkenosecha, your dwelling places, as allusions to the habitats, which house our spiritual heritage, namely our bais haknesses, shul, and bais hamedrash, study hall. The ohel is the ohel shel Torah, tent/study hall where Torah is studied; Mishkan is the place where the Shechinah, Divine Presence, reposes, the synagogue. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel elucidates the pasuk uniquely, “How goodly are your study halls, the place where Yaakov, your father/Patriarch, served/studied”. He makes a point of including an inference to our Patriarch for his devotion to Torah study and as the one who…

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Home -> 5775 -> Balak

ועתה לכה נא ארה לי את העם הזה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5775

So now – please come and curse this people for me. (22:6)

Humility is much more than a positive character trait. It is a characteristic which is absolutely vital to one’s success in life. It is an indicator of adherence to the truth. One who is arrogant is simply not a truthful person. Indeed, life is one long lesson in humility, without which life would be a sham, with the greatest fool being the one who lords himself over others. At the end of the day, he knows that he is only fooling himself. Having said this, we turn to the Haftorah in Parashas Balak, which recalls Balak’s attempt to curse the…

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Home -> 5775 -> Balak

הנה העם היצא ממצרים ויכס את עין הארץ עתה לכה קבה לי אתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5775

Behold! The people coming out of Egypt has covered the surface of the earth. Now go and curse it for me. (22:11)

In Parashas Balak, we are introduced to a new type of enemy, and, consequently, a battle which is of a completely different nature. Our standard classical enemies, such as Egypt, Amalek and others which followed them, came out to annihilate or persecute us with soldiers, weapons, and a battle plan. Balak and Bilaam did no such thing. Theirs was a battle waged on spiritual terrain, a battle between: the forces of tumah, spiritual defilement, and taharah, spiritual purity. It was the base, immoral Bilaam, a degenerate of epic proportions, who was hired by Balak, an evil misfit in his own…

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Home -> 5775 -> Balak

וישב ישראל בשיטים ויחל העם לזנות את בנות מואב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5775

And (the) Yisrael dwelled in Shittim, and began to sin with the daughters of Moav. (Bamidbar 25:1)

One of society’s more difficult anomalies is interfaith marriage. We live in a time when even marriages which seem perfect on paper fail dismally. Why would anyone in his right mind start married life with someone who is of an opposing faith? I use the word opposing by design, since, for the most part, the Jews have been the world’s sacrificial lamb, having been abused, persecuted, tortured, hounded and murdered by anyone who felt they had the right to lord over them. Why would anyone marry into a religion whose elders and doctrine revile us? They say love conquers all…

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Home -> 5775 -> Balak

ויצמד ישראל לבעל פעור

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5775

Yisrael became attached to Baal Peor. (25:3)

The attachment of Klal Yisrael to the Peor idol is described by Chazal (Talmud Sanhedrin 64a) as k’tzamid pasil, “Like a lid clings to a jar.” They become one with the pagan god. This is highly unusual and something which we would never expect from an intelligent people. The worship of Peor was carried out by degrading oneself in its presence, such as relieving oneself in front of the idol. Is there anything more humiliating for the idol than this? A Jew who worshipped Peor in such a manner was liable for the death penalty. What kind of person would…

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Home -> 5774 -> Balak

וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם בן בעור פתורה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5774

He sent messengers to Bilaam ben Beor to Pesor. (22:5)

The parsha introduces us to Bilaam ha’rasha, the wicked, evil Bilaam, the prophet who was the designated pagan counterpart of Moshe Rabbeinu. While our quintessential leader certainly had no equal, Bilaam, as the Midrash explains, was the Heavenly response to the pagan world’s request for equal leadership. Although Bilaam could not have been less like Moshe, he did have within him the ability to rise very high in prophetic powers. As we mentioned, he was a degenerate; as such, he was precluded from rising to spiritual ascendency. In which specific aspects of his behavior did Bilaam manifest these shortcomings, which…

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Home -> 5774 -> Balak

וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם בן בעור פתורה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5774

He sent messengers to Bilaam ben Beor to Pesor. (22:5)

The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (5:22) distinguishes between the talmidim, disciples, of Bilaam ha’rasha, and those of Avraham Avinu. The three character traits which are the hallmarks of Avraham’s students are: ayin tovah, a good eye, ruach nemuchah, lowly, humble spirit; and nefesh shefalah, a meek soul. Ayin tovah is listed first – and rightfully so – because it plays a leading role in defining one’s character. Rabbeinu Yonah explains ayin tovah as generosity of spirit, a middah of the kindhearted person who goes out of his way to perform good deeds, to shower his benevolence on others. He cites…

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Home -> 5774 -> Balak

כי מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5774

“For from its origins, I see it rocklike, and from hills do I view it. Behold! It is a nation that will dwell in solitude and not be reckoned among the nations.” (23:9)

Rashi explains Bilaam’s description of Klal Yisrael as a nation whose origins are firmly entrenched and established as rocks and hills – the rocks allude to the Patriarchs and the hills to the Matriarchs. The nation’s loyalty to their illustrious forebears protects them, allowing them to remain firm and resolute in their commitment to Hashem. In his Simchas HaTorah, Horav Simchah Shepps, zl, observes that here Bilaam is revealing the secret of Klal Yisrael’s invincibility, their ability to withstand the tremendous external pressures and challenges that have beset them from their earliest moments as a nation. Their roots herald back…

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Home -> 5774 -> Balak

ויאמר אלקים אל בלעם לא תלך עמהם לא תאר את העם כי ברוך הוא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5774

G-d said to Bilaam, “You shall not go with them! You shall not curse the people, for it is blessed.” (22:12)

Bilaam really wanted to do his job, to carry out his mission to curse the Jews. Hashem told him that he should not go. Bilaam offered to send a curse via long distance from his home. Hashem reiterated His position: no cursing the Jews. Bilaam then offered (out of the kindness of his heart) to bless the Jews. Hashem replied, “They do not require your blessing. They are a blessed people.” Rashi analogizes this to a bee whose honey is very tasty and beneficial, but, accompanying procuring the honey, is the chance that one might get stung. We tell it…

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Home -> 5774 -> Balak

אם יתן לי בלק מלא ביתו כסף וזהב לא אוכל לעבר את פי ד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5774

“If Balak were to give me his houseful of silver and gold, I cannot transgress the word of Hashem.” (22:18)

Rashi notes that by speaking of silver and gold, Bilaam revealed his true character: a greed-filled desire for money and the power that accompanies it. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avos 6:9, relates that the Tanna Rabbi Yose ben Kisma once met a Jew from another community who offered the sage the opportunity to move to his city where he would set him up with whatever material needs he would require. Rabbi Yose replied, “If you were to give me all the silver, gold and precious stones in the world, I would only make my home in a city of Torah.”…

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