This parashah focuses on two principal characters, balak and balaam shaar hapesukim, parashat balak i see fit to explain here the characters of balak. King balak and the moabites, a nation wellversed in the occult arts, become alarmed by the israelites because their numbers are many, and they have gained stunning victories against. God speaks through the mouth of the donkey to tell him not to curse the israelites. Each time he opens his mouth, balaam ends up blessing the nation instead. Balaams donkey sees an angel of god and refuses to move any further. Balaam is mentioned no less than fiftyone times in the scriptures, beginning with the account given in parashat balak numbers 2224. Jul 01, 2012 parashat balak posted on july 1, 2012 by midrash manicures the original debut of a talking donkey occurred not in the movie shrek, but in this weeks torah portion. He was later killed in a battle between israel and the midianites numbers 31.
In this weeks torah reading, parashat balak, we read a riveting story of the diviner, balaam. It is named after balak, the king of moab, and begins with an interaction between him and a wellknown pagan prophet, balaam, son of beor. Please read the torah portion for more information. Parshas balak 5771 a great responsibility 5768 tents where torah is studied 5767 a question brings hope 5765 balak. Jun 27, 2018 in this weeks dvar torah for balak, the chief rabbi explains why the home is the cornerstone of jewish life. May 11, 2015 commentary on numbers 2223 balak hires balaam may 11, 2015 bill pratt 2 comments the israelites have traveled around the borders of edom and have arrived in the land of moab, across the jordan river from the city of jericho. King balak and the moabites, a nation wellversed in the occult arts, become alarmed by the israelites because their numbers are many, and they have gained stunning victories against their. Torah parashah balak assembly of calledout believers. Did you know that every column of the torah starts with the same letter. Now, balak, the king of moab, saw how the hebrews had won these wars.
In the book of exodus, we read that moses appeals to god with the following. Balaam consults with gd and gets what he believes to be a. Commentary on numbers 2223 balak hires balaam may 11, 2015 bill pratt 2 comments the israelites have traveled around the borders of edom and have arrived in the land of moab, across the jordan river from the city of jericho. In this weeks torah reading, parashat balak, we read a riveting story of the diviner, balaam, who was commissioned by balak, king of moab, to curse the israelites num. In this weeks dvar torah for balak, the chief rabbi explains why the home is the cornerstone of jewish life. Person, series editor parashat balak study guide themes theme 1. Kids, read it online to get a picture of all the exciting goingons in this weeks parshah. Last weeks torah portion chukat ended with the description of events that occurred some 38 years after the sin of the spies. On his journey to meet the princes of moab, balaam is stopped by an angel of the lord after beating his donkey. Balak son of zippor saw all that israel had done to the amorites. It is also the name of the fortieth reading from the torah. Parashat balak selfstudy vered hollandergoldfarb, conservative yeshiva faculty. Yet they appear to be interchangeable in a story about sex and revenge that runs through three torah portions in the book of numbersbemidbar.
Jul 02, 2017 parashat balak balak torah portion of the book of numbers includes scripture readings from sections of. Balaks goal was to weaken the israelites, encamped at the borders of. Preorder here sacks has produced a work of extraordinary depth, beauty, urgency, and erudition. Balak, king of moab, hires balaam to curse the israelites, but every time he tries, balaam instead blesses them. In the parasha, balak son of zippor, king of moab, tries to hire. Commentary on numbers 2223 balak hires balaam the israelites have traveled around the borders of edom and have arrived in the land of moab, across the jordan river from the city of jericho. Clearly, the association of the verse from parashat balak with the moment of entering the synagogue was long established. In parashat balak, king balak and the people of moab, central characters in the. Balak hebrew for balak, a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah is the 40th weekly torah portion, parashah in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading and the seventh in the book of numbers. Balaks goal was to weaken the israelites, encamped at the borders of moab, so that he could defeat them in battle. Parashat text with readers and daily portions reader 1 starts on saturday evening balak balak num 22.
Balaam son of beor is definitely an oddball among the prophets. Jul 11, 2019 lets take a closer look at the goingson in parashat balak. And that is what the vav, at beginning of every column, is there. Parashat balak posted on july 1, 2012 by midrash manicures the original debut of a talking donkey occurred not in the movie shrek, but in this weeks torah portion. Returning is an extraordinary and challenging book on many levels. On the way, balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before balaam does, the angel that g. The second verse, familiar to us from our modern prayer books, is taken in its entirety from the book of psalms 5. Parashat balak torah kabbalah the bible five books of moses.
This weeks parsha tells the interesting story of the pagan prophet, bilam. Shabbat table talk parashat balak erev shabbat 29 june 2018 week of 24 30 june torah portion. Parashat balak a close neighbor is better than a far brother duration. King balak sends for his prophet twice and balaam barely responds. In parashat balak the israelites are camped on the plains of moab, ready to enter. Balak, the king of moab, persuades the prophet balaam to curse the israelites so that he. Reader 1 saturday evening portion balak king of moav feared yisrael and sent for bilam to curse them. As they traveled, they encountered two kings who attacked them. Apparently, in biblical times when magic was real and not merely sleightofhand, balak was an expert at a particular. In the parashah, balak son of zippor, king of moab. The exodus generation had finally died out, and the new generation was getting ready to enter the promised land. Download in my commentary on bamidbar, i referred to foxs theoretical structure of the book of numbers. This page contains a link to every dvar torah ive written since 2003 at least, every one to which i can currently dig up a working link, sorted by parsha as an fyi.
Hebrew for balak, the name of a king of moab, is the second word in hebrew in the parasha, and is the 40th weekly torah portion in the annual cycle of torah readings and the seventh in the book of numbers. Balak ben zipor, a moabite king, is afraid of what israel might do to his people, since he already knows what israel did to the amorites. The people of israel are camped on the border of moav, causing the moabites great concern. Parashat balak balak torah portion of the book of numbers includes scripture readings from sections of. Both sihon, the king of the amorites, and og, the king of bashan, had tried to prevent the jewish people from passing through their borders to get to the. Moab said to the elders of midian, the multitude will lick up everything around us like the ox licks up the grass of the field. A quick familyoriented summary of the events in this weeks parshah. Parashat balak when balak son of zippor, realized all that bneiyisrael had done to the amorites, moab became terrified because there were so many people. Pages public figure chief rabbi mirvis videos the chief rabbis dvar torah for parashat balak. Yisroel ciner kol hakollel dvar torah lifeline edutainment weekly the living law rabbi wein table talk thinking outside the box parsha insights. Order now uk order now row, except uscanada out in the uscanada on 1st september 2020. Balaq was a king of moab described in the book of numbers in the hebrew bible, where his dealings with the prophet balaam are recounted. Seven years ago, i stood in the courtyard of krema two in birkenau and participated in the revival of the dead.
His prophecies result from an attempt to curse israel in exchange for the money and honor of a frightened king of moab, balak son of zippor verses 27. Parashat hashavua, popularly just parashah or parshah pr or parsha and also known as a sidra or sedra s. Balak balak, was the name of a moabite king in the days of moses. Now balak son of zippor was king of moab at that time. The kernel of the mah tovu prayer as we know it is quite visible. Balak, son of tzipor, saw all that israel did to the amorites. Even if balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, i cannot go against gods word. Balak parashat love of torah messianic bible study. Lets take a closer look at the goingson in parashat balak. Jewish views of the afterlife a topic which has been the subject of many books of late. Parsha summary haftorah summary haftorah commentary legacy drasha r.
Three times, from three different vantage points, balaam attempts to pronounce his curses. The following entry provides a brief summary of parashat balak that i wrote for the shabbat table talk page. Rather than attempt to ward them off by an army, balak the king invites balaam, a person who supposedly has the power to get rid of the enemy by placing a curse on it. It doesnt matter whether you read it in hebrew or english, but you must go through the five books of moses with rashis commentary. Balak is mentioned in chapter 10 of 2 meqabyan, a book considered canonical in the ethiopian orthodox tewahedo church. This weeks parasha is in the book of bamidbar also called numbers, and is called balak which means who lays waste. He then counsels balak to send moabite and midianite women into the camp of israel to seduce the men and invite them to the sacrifices of their god numbers 25. Jul 01, 2009 parashat balak a close neighbor is better than a far brother duration. In this torah portion, balak, the king of moab, asks balaam to curse the israelites after he sees them defeat various nations in battle. He is not an israelite but apparently a syrian who lived in pethor, a town situated near the euphrates just south of carchemish numbers 22. In the parasha, balak son of zippor, king of moab, tries to hire balaam to curse the migrating israelite. The presence of nearly 3 million israelites causes the king of moab, balak, considerable discomfort.
This torah portion, balak, begins with israel camped on the border between the moabites and the amorites, poised to enter the promised land. The forest and the trees parashat balak chukat 5779 ari. Balak has now nothing to complain of, but that balaam did not come sooner. This parashah focuses on two principal characters, balak and balaam. Balak is also the name of the weekly parshah or portion in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading, constituting numbers 22.
Jun 28, 2018 the story of parashat balak is well known. Balak king of moav feared yisrael and sent for bilam to curse them bilam told his men to wait and he asked yhwh who told him not to. In an effort to stop israel, he seeks the help of bilam, a nonjewish prophet, asking bilam to leave his home, find israel, and curse it. Parashat balak 5774, 2014 understanding mah tovu rabbi david etengoff dedicated to the sacred memories of my mother, miriam tovah bat aharon hakohen, fatherinlaw, levi ben yitzhak, sisterinlaw, ruchama rivka sondra bat yechiel, sister, shulamit bat menachem, chaim mordechai hakohen ben natan yitzchak, yehonatan binyamin ben. Parashat balak table talk summary hebrew for christians. Last weeks torah portion ended with the description of events that occurred some 38 years after the sin of the spies. Sihon, king of the amorites, and og, king of bashan. The commentary on the book of psalms 6180 with midrash tehillim, volume 4 matsati december 12, 2015 tehillim psalms 20, part 1, we are able to call out to him. Before i address this weeks scripture portion parasha, i want to explain a small change in my upcoming blog entries. The forest and the trees parashat balak chukat 5779.
In parashat balak, king balak and the people of moab, central characters in the weekly torah portion, are afraid of the children of israel. And now, if i have indeed found favor in your eyes, pray let me. Balak tried to engage balaam for the purpose of cursing the migrating israelite community. Balak tries to recruit the prophet balaam to curse the children of israel in order to weaken them and save moab from impending defeat. King balak of moab hires the prophet balaam to curse the jewish people. The new book by rabbi lord jonathan sacks out on 12th march 2020. It comes from the second verse of this weeks reading, which says, now balak the son of zippor saw all that israel had done to the amorites numbers 22. Commentary on numbers 2223 balak hires balaam tough.
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