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Oneg

Friday, July 19:   7:30 p.m. Friday Night Service. 

…Oneg is a community oneg–everyone is invited to bring a veggie or dairy dish/item.

Saturday, July 20: Saturday Morning Service, Bar Mitzvah of Jonathan Arzi, Kiddush Luncheon to follow.

torah

Torah

Torah Portion of the Week

Torah Portion: Shabbat: Balak

How could Balak recruit Balaam, after all, Midian and Moab were long-time mortal enemies? As usual, there is one thing that unites our enemies–their hatred for Israel, which is far greater than their hatred of each other.

So, Balak befriends Balaam (his old enemy), in order to persuade Balaam to curse Israel.

Why curse? Why not unite in battle? Because Balak saw the battles that Israel had waged, and concluded that these Jews had not defeated their enemies by conventional methods, but rather in a supernatural manner. He suspected that the secret weapon of Israel must be the prayers of Moses, who had lived in Midian for many years. So, he hired Balaam, a Midianate soothsayer and prophet. Surely, he’d be able to counteract the prayers of Moses!

We’ll return to Balaam and Balak’s strategy in a moment.

Balaam attempts to curse Israel. But, his efforts are of no avail, as God turns Balaam’s curses into blessings!

Despite his wicked intentions, Balaam’s historic words are important to us and have become immortal. In fact, it is rather odd, that of all the magnificent verses in the Bible, Jews open their daily prayers with the words of Balaam (Numbers 24:5): מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ, יַעֲקֹב . How goodly are your tents O’ Jacob.

What was it that caused Balaam, who hated Israel to its core, to sing the praises of the Jewish dwelling places? Says Rashi: עַל שֶׁרָאָה פִּתְחֵיהֶם שֶׁאֵינָן מְכֻוָּונִין זֶה מוּל זֶה . Balaam saw that the openings of the Israelites tents were not facing one another.

What Balaam saw was profound respect for privacy among the Jews. He beheld the sanctity of the domicile. Jewish history repeatedly teaches that when the families and the homes of Israel are properly arrayed–-then the Jewish people are indomitable, undefeatable, and indestructible.

Now, back to the strategy. While Balaam’s curses were not effective, Balaam did eventually bring about the defeat of Israel.

In Numbers 25:1, the Torah relates: וַיָּחֶל הָעָם לִזְנוֹת אֶל בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב , the men of Israel began to commit harlotry with the Moabite women. The Talmud, in Sanhedrin 106a, states that this harlotry was all Balaam’s idea. When Balaam saw that military might and curses could not defeat Israel, he resorted to the one foolproof method to defeat Israel–seduction by alien women, in this case, Midiante women. As a result, 24,000 Israelites die in the plague.

If that isn’t a thumbnail summary of all Jewish history, then what is? Our enemies, who are unable to defeat us physically, spare no effort to destroy us spiritually. Intermarriage, assimilation, the blandishments of contemporary culture are our worst enemies and our greatest weakness.

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