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וירא בלק... את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמרי... וירא פינחס... ויקם מתוך העדה...

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5773

Balak saw… all that Yisrael had done to the Emori (22:2). Pinchas saw… and he stood up from amid the assembly. (25:7)

Our parsha begins with one re’iyah, observation, and closes with another re’iyah. Balak opens the parsha with Va’yaar Balak ben Tzippor, “And Balak ben Tzippor saw.” Pinchas, heir to the Priestly throne of his grandfather Aharon HaKohen, concludes the parsha with his re’iyah, Vayaar Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen va’yakom mitoch ha’eidah, va’yikach romach b’yado, “And Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen saw, and he stood up from amid the assembly and took a spear in his hand” (25:7).We understand that, whenever the Torah states that someone “saw,” it is important to explain what in particular caught his attention….

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Home -> 5773 -> Balak

תמות נפשי מות ישרים ותהי אחריתי כמהו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5773

“May my soul die the death of the upright, and my end be like his.” (23:10)

It is the old story. The wicked want to live a life of abandon, yet, they want to die as the righteous and upright. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, explains that Bilaam did not want to live like a Jew. After all, Torah Judaism makes “difficult” demands on a person. Morality, ethicality, spiritual integrity: these are not simple qualities to which someone like Bilaam is able to adhere. He wants to have his cake and eat it. For a Jew, on the other hand, it is much simpler to deal with death than life. The Jew views death as a bridge…

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Home -> 5773 -> Balak

לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל ד' אלקיו עמו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5773

“He perceived no iniquity in Yaakov, and saw no perversity in Yisrael. Hashem, his G-d is with him.” (23:21)

Bilaam tried hard to find something iniquitous about the Jewish People – to no avail. This pasuk is the Scriptural exhortation to look for the positive in every person. While it is clearly the right thing to do, it is often difficult to ferret out the positive when there is so much negativity staring us in the face. The Admor m’Mishkoltz, Shlita, interprets this pasuk in a novel manner. (If) he perceives no iniquity – if he looks for a justifiable rationale for a behavior which appears nefarious, then he will ultimately discover that “his G-d is with him.” Every…

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Home -> 5773 -> Balak

וירא פינחס... ויקם מתוך העדה ויקח רומח בידו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5773

Pinchas saw… and he stood up from amid the assembly, and took a spear in his hand. (25:7,8)

Pinchas saw Zimri acting in a morally aberrational manner. He immediately grabbed a spear and put an end to the mutinous repugnancy that was taking place. Everyone else stood around wondering what to do. Pinchas saw and acted. Why does the Torah emphasize that Pinchas went to secure a spear and then used it to slay the two sinners? Could it not simply have said that Pinchas saw what was occurring, and he responded accordingly? Why did the Torah underscore that he took a spear? The Tolna Rebbe, Shlita, offers a practical, but powerful, response. The Torah is teaching us…

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Home -> 5772 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5772

“And Moav was disgusted in the face of the Bnei Yisrael.” (22:3)

The parsha details how Balak and Bilaam sought every opportunity to curse Klal Yisrael. They tried everything to do away with the Jewish People. In the end, when they saw that all their efforts had failed, they brought out their young women and relied on the yetzer hara, evil-inclination, to perform the function in which he excels. Regrettably, this approach met with success, as many Jews fell prey to the yetzer hara’s blandishments. We wonder why Bilaam waited so long to attempt this proven method of destroying Klal Yisrael’s spiritual stature. Why did he try the methods that were at…

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Home -> 5772 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5772

“If the men came to summon you, arise and go with them…G-d’s wrath flared because he was going.” (22: 20,22)

The question is apparent: Hashem instructed Bilaam to go with them. Bilaam listened and joined Balak’s emissaries. Why then was Hashem so angry with Bilaam for following His orders? In his sefer Be’er Moshe, the Ozrover Rebbe, z.l., explains that when Hashem commands a person to do something, it is different than when a human asks another person to do something for him. When one person asks another to perform a function for him, his primary concern is that the activity be done, that his request be carried out. He does not really care if the person acts willingly or…

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Home -> 5772 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5772

“He perceived no iniquity in Yaakov, and saw no perversity in Yisrael.” (23:21)

The Baal Shem Tov Hakadosh once spent Shabbos in a city that was home to a large chassidic following. It happened that on that Shabbos a darshon, an ethical lecturer, who would travel from city to city speaking from the podium admonishing its inhabitants regarding their religious observance, also spent Shabbos in that community. The Baal Shem Tov was a person who empathized with all Jews. In his desire to provide the speaker with a large captive audience, he personally attended the drasha, lecture. The chassidim understandably followed suit. The darshan went up to the lectern and spoke penetrating words…

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Home -> 5772 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5772

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

Rashi says that Bilaam was prompted to praise the Jewish home when he observed that the entrance to each person’s home was not aligned one opposite the next. He was impressed with their modesty. In the Talmud Sanhedrin 108a, Chazal give an alternative explanation that does seem to coincide with Rashi’s. Rabbi Yochanan says that from the blessing of that evil one (Bilaam), we are to ascertain what was originally in his heart. He wanted to curse them, that there should no longer be houses of Torah study and houses of worship, but he ended up saying, “How goodly are…

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Home -> 5771 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5771

Balak saw… all that Yisrael had done to the Emori (22:2). Pinchas saw… and he stood up from amid the assembly. (25:7)

Our Parsha begins with one re’iyah, observation, and closes with another re’iyah. Balak opens the Parsha with Va’yaar Balak ben Tzippor, “And Balak ben Tzippor saw.” Pinchas, heir to the Priestly throne of his grandfather Aharon HaKohen, concludes the Parsha with his re’iyah – Vayaar Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen va’yakom mitoch ha’eidah, va’yikach romach b’yado, “And Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon HaKohen saw, and he stood up from amid the assembly and took a spear in his hand” (25:7).We understand that whenever the Torah states that someone “saw,” it is important to explain what in particular caught his…

Continue Reading

Home -> 5771 -> Balak

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Balak, 5771

“May my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his.” (23:10)

It is the old story. The wicked want to live a life of abandon, yet, they want to die as the righteous and upright. The Chafetz Chaim, zl, explains that Bilaam did not want to live like a Jew. After all, Torah Judaism makes “difficult” demands on a person. Morality, ethicality, spiritual integrity: these are not simple qualities to which someone like Bilaam is able to adhere. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. For a Jew, on the other hand, it is much simpler to deal with death than life. The Jew views death as a…

Continue Reading

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