Balak – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

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

Chazal teach that the word ohalecha, your tents, alludes to the study halls, and mishkenosecha, your dwelling places, alludes to the shuls. The similes of tents and dwelling places have found fertile interpretation among the Torah’s commentators. We will cite a few before suggesting our own. The Shearis Menachem (Parashas Vayishlach) wonders why we commence our daily prayers with a statement made by the wicked pagan prophet, Bilaam. He explains that Bilaam made this remark after observing the tznius, moral modesty, of the Jewish people, manifested by each tribe living distinct from one another; the doorways of each home not…

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וישב ישראל בשטים ויחל העם לזנות אל בנות מואב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Balak, 5777

Yisrael settled in the Shittim and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moav. (25:1)

Bilaam tried acting out the façade of the righteous prophet who “could not” curse the Jewish people. In the end, his evil advice to have them stray after the pagan women was tragically successful. Bilaam’s wicked intentions willed out. The façade was over. The Talmud Sotah 22b relates that King Yannai was a scion of the Bais Chashmonaim, who had served both as Kohen Gadol and Melech. He became a tzeduki, massacring the chachamim. As a result, he was reviled by the Perushim, who were faithful to the chachamim and meticulously upheld the Torah – both Biblical and Rabbinic. He…

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וירא בלק בן צפור את אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי... ובלק בן צפור מלך למואב בעת ההיא

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Balak, 5776

Balak ben Tzipor saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emori… Balak ben Tzipor was King of Moav at the time. (22:2,4)

The sequence of the pasuk is enigmatic. Why does the Torah mention Balak’s position as King of Moav only after relating what he saw concerning the Jewish People’s destruction of the Emori? Would it not be more realistic to state, that “Balak, King of Moav, saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emori”? The Alter, zl, m’Kelm, explains that the answer to our question lies in the words, “Balak ben Tzipor was King of Moav”. Why was he appointed king? It is not as if his lineage warranted his succession to the throne. Balak was a nobody. Yet, he…

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ובגוים לא יתחשב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Balak, 5776

And not be reckoned among the nations. (23:9)

The Viznitzer Rebbe, zl, was wont to interpret this pasuk as an imperative. The Jew does not want, nor should he care, if he is nechshav, acknowledged, considered, appreciated by the gentile world. Our goal as Jews is to be acknowledged by Hashem and by our people. What the world thinks of us is a factor only in the sense that a negative impression made by us will somehow create a chillul Hashem, desecrating Hashem’s Name. If, for some reason, the gentile people view us as “different”, who cares? Their opinion of us has no bearing whatsoever on our lives….

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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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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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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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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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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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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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מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

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

וישב ישראל בשטים ויחל העם לזנות אל בנות מואב

Yisrael settled in the Shittim and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moav. (25:1)

וירא בלק בן צפור את אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי... ובלק בן צפור מלך למואב בעת ההיא

Balak ben Tzipor saw all that Yisrael had done to the Emori… Balak ben Tzipor was King of Moav at the time. (22:2,4)

ובגוים לא יתחשב

And not be reckoned among the nations. (23:9)

מה טובו אהליך יעקב משכנותיך ישראל

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

ועתה לכה נא ארה לי את העם הזה

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

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

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

וישב ישראל בשיטים ויחל העם לזנות את בנות מואב

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

ויצמד ישראל לבעל פעור

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

וישלח מלאכים אל בלעם בן בעור פתורה

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

YEARS

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