Parashat balak parshat balak was the torah portion read on my first shabbat as rabbi of the congregation i would go on to serve for 35 years. 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. Parashat balak july 7, 2012 hazzan neil schwartz agudas israel todays torah portion is one of the stranger episodes in the torah, with magic in the form of a talking donkey. Now balak the son of zippor saw all that israel had done to the amorites. Balak must be read in the light of crossans call to examine how our expectations of prophecy are overturned. Teen dvar torah we are pleased to share ren margolisdubows dvar torah on parashat balak from his recent bar mitzvah with beth ami.
This weeks parasha is in the book of bamidbar also called numbers, and is called balak which means who lays waste. It is surely significant that the torah, a work that comes from israel, pictures the creator as communicating with a nonisraelite prophet as well. 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. Geological survey verifies that there have been documented cases. It contains the beautiful blessing mah tovu how goodly are your tents, o israel. Frightened by the approach of the jewish people as they near the land of israel, balak and the other kings of moav and midian hire bilam to curse the. 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. Browse other questions tagged names parshatorahportion parashasyisro rewardpunishment parashatbalak. This weeks torah portion centers around a strange character named balaam who attempted to manipulate the lord for his own twisted purposes. You know, even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day. Coloring page parshat balak 01 bilaams shedonkey speaks. The selfcontained narrative that makes up parashat balak is not straightforward to understand. To further expound on this matter, the rambam goes on to complete this thought by stating that knowledge imbued leads to our.
On the way, balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before balaam does, the angel that g. Torah reading, haftarah, links to audio and commentary. Parashat balak 5778 rabbi stephen slater,temple bethel. I observed then that there must be something instructive and maybe cautionary to be gleaned from the coincidence of assuming this new pulpit on the shabbat when we read a torah portion that. It goes against our second expectation, that a prophet should be holy. Balak, the king of moab, summons the prophet balaam to curse the people of israel. Parshas balak 5771 a great responsibility 5768 tents where torah is studied 5767 a question brings hope 5765 balak. My people remember what balak king of moab plotted against you and how balaam son of beor responded to him. Balak the son of zippor, begins the parshah that bears the name of the moabite king.
Each time he opens his mouth, balaam ends up blessing the nation instead. In the midst of their final preparations to enter the land god promised to their ancestors. Balaam also prophesies on the end of the days and the. Balak is the 40th weekly torah portion, parashah in the annual jewish cycle of. I often get the feeling that animals perceive things of which we people are unaware.
My people, remember what balak king of moab plotted against you, and how balaam son of beor responded to him. Sunday night count 39 this weeks torah reading is bamidbar upcoming holiday is shavuot may 28 may 30. The king of moab, balak, sends emissaries to the regional, wellestablished prophet bilaam asking. Balaam is mentioned no less than fiftyone times in the scriptures, beginning with the account given in parashat balak numbers 2224. In this weeks dvar torah for balak, the chief rabbi explains why the home is the cornerstone of jewish life. 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. Pathways is a weekly torah publication exploring the festivals and parsha, published by bri. Balak tries to recruit the prophet balaam to curse the children of israel in order to weaken them and save moab from impending defeat. Balaam, who scarcely knows his own thoughts and cannot manage to get out the words he wants to say and ends up saying the opposite of. A weak and frightened king balak chooses a highly praisedbut obviously imperfectmagician.
This weeks parsha tells the interesting story of the pagan prophet, bilam. Vav, of course, is also a word in hebrew, meaning a hook. After balaam offered sacrifices on behalf of balak the first time, what happened. 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. It appears from the beginning of the parasha bamidbar 22. Parashat balak 5773 by karin fleisch june 22, 20 featuring a magician, sorcery and a talking donkey, parashat balak is a paranormal parashah. Balaks goal was to weaken the israelites, encamped at the borders of moab, so that he could defeat them in battle. Im trying to visualize the stories in the torah, like directing a movie and i. Just at a point in the narrative of numbers when the israelites have begun to fight for the land that god has promised them comes the story of bilam. Balak is indecisive and feels he must act only when he senses pressure from the public. Parashat balak 5778 rabbi stephen slater,temple bethel june 30, 2018 in this weeks parsha, parshat balak, we come up against the fundamental limits of human control.
God presents his credentials, as it were, establishing himself as the creator of the 1. Todays parsha, balak, is yet another variation on that old, too familiar these. Therefore, the nations shall know that since hashem is the creator of all that exists, he has the right to give eretz yisrael to the jewish nation at the expense of all others. The abraham zentman parsha curriculum is dedicated for the aliyas neshamah of avraham ben rabbi. The story of king balak and balaam demonstrates that truly seeing others is what allows fears to dispel. Parshas balak pictures with pesukim in hebrew enlarge view. King balak sends for his prophet twice and balaam barely responds. In this torah portion, balak, the king of moab, asks balaam to curse the israelites after he sees them defeat various nations in battle. Did you know that every column of the torah starts with the same letter. Visualizing the story of bnot moav parashat balak jews are the people of the book, but im more a person of movies.
Parashat balak the way of balaam hebrew for christians. Three times, from three different vantage points, balaam attempts to pronounce his curses. The story of balak and bilam highlights wrong ways to make decisions. The torah has many references to food sources in israel, but in parashat balak the nonisraelite prophet balaam claims that the people of israel are actually like food sources. It seems to say, dear reader, maybe at this point in our story you fear that israel is not doing well. In parashat balak, king balak and the people of moab, central characters in the weekly torah portion, are afraid of the children of israel. All of a sudden, my chickens will make strange sounds without any apparent reason. Parashat hashavua balak 2004 5764 the curse of bil am. Like any library, mi yodeya offers tons of great information, but does not offer personalized, professional advice, and does not take the place of seeking such advice from your rabbi. The lesson of parashat chukat, thus, is that if we inspire ourselves to fulfill our divine. Parshas balak pictures with pesukim in hebrew walder education. Balak parashat balak seeing ourselves as they see us. With all of balaks evil, nonetheless we can identify one characteristic of his which was. Javier palacios celorio kehila gozo y paz duration.
And that is what the vav, at beginning of every column, is there. Parashat balak 5773 parte 1 rabino natan menashe duration. Balaam goes against our first expectation, that a prophet described in the torah is necessarily an israelite. This portion of the torah starts with a statement of balak king of moab that interests me greatly. Parashat balak is the 40th weekly torah portion in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading. In the parashah, balak son of zippor, king of moab, tries to hire balaam to curse israel, balaams donkey speaks to balaam, and. Rabbi stacey blank from the moment that we met abraham, the torah has focused exclusively on the internal story of the israelites how our ancestors experienced the exodus from egypt, how they experienced the revelation at mount sinai. How many times did balaam instruct balak to build altars and to offer sacrifices.
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