Parshat balak commentary on the book

Sihon, king of the amorites, and og, king of bashan. The torah and the haftorah, are an integral part of the barmitzvah. This will help you highlight some of the main themes in this parashah. Balaam is mentioned no less than fiftyone times in the scriptures, beginning with the account given in parashat balak numbers 2224. You dont have to be jewish to keep your eyes open for a series of these videos and torah portion studies that can brighten up your week. In depth commentary written by rabbi tuvia bolton for parshat balak. From curse to blessing excerpted from rabbi norman lamms derashot ledorot. A womens commentary to provide an overview of the parashah as a whole. Confusion of values and misunderstanding torah ideas play.

He seeks to have a diviner named balaam curse the israelites. 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. In this weeks torah reading, parashat balak, we read a riveting story of the diviner, balaam. Balak, the king of moab, asks balaam to curse the israelites after he sees them defeat various nations in battle. This is what king balak of moab was doing, sending for the most renowned curser in the known worldbalaamto come and curse israel. During rabbi marks sabbatical this summer bnai emunah members are helping lead services and prepare drashiot. Preorder here sacks has produced a work of extraordinary depth, beauty, urgency, and erudition. Balaams donkey sees an angel of god and refuses to move any further. 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. A commentary for the ages numbers, copublished by ou press and maggid books the opening verse in the daily order of public prayer is the familiar ma tovu ohalekha yaakov, mishkenotekha yisrael, how good are your tents, o jacob, your. Parshat balak an interpolated translation and commentary.

Book of genesis torah portion the forge of music bereshit tower of egotism noach oathbrothers lech lecha escape from sodom vayera reconciliation chayei sarah rebeccas crisis toldot the shepherds kiss vayetze rachels gambit vayetze death pangs vayishlach josephs egyptian attorney vayeshev benjamins fear miketz joseph revealed vayigash the first antisemite vayechi book of exodus torah. Parshat balak weekly torah portion aleph beta aleph beta. Balak has now nothing to complain of, but that balaam did not come sooner. Was pinchas to be condemned as a violent murderer, or lauded for defending the honor of god. An analysis of our parsha, especially exploring the relationship between the simple meaning of the psukim and rashis commentary on them, might shed some light on this issue. I have, however, used the word more broadly to refer to the whole genre of jewish commentary on the weekly parsha, beginning with the great masters of midrash. In this weeks torah portion, balak, the king of moab, balak, is afraid that the israelites encampment will ravish his land. Parashat hashavua, is popularly abbreviated to parashah also parshah p r. In order to thwart a potential attack, balak had a plan. Balaam continued to request permission from god, as. Parshat balak tells the story of a prophet who goes out to curse the people of israel and ends up blessing them. 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.

Read the full text of parshat balak in interlinear hebrewenglish. When all the parts have been read the ending of the last aliya is repeated, and that is called the maftir. Balak son of zippor saw all that israel had done to the amorites. In parashat balak, king balak and the people of moab, central characters in the. The only other time that an animal speaks in the torah is in the book of genesis, when the snake speaks to eve genesis 3. In parashat balak the israelites are camped on the plains of moab, ready to enter.

Overview for parshah balak interpolated translation for parshah balak. Fearing the apparent strength of the israelites, balak, the king of moav, attempts to secure the services of bilam, a. A provocative approach to the weekly sidrah, juxtaposing the insights of ancient, medieval, and modern commentators including the author. Velveteen rabbis torah commentary 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. Moreover, we recognize that jewish tradition has always encouraged the rights of the readers, in all generations, to look at the torah and decide what they think the text means themselves. Now, balak, the king of moab, saw how the hebrews had won these wars.

Jun 24, 2010 rabbi perry netter of temple beth tzedek in amherst ny on the weekly parsha. Balak tries to recruit the prophet balaam to curse the children of israel in order to weaken them and save moab from impending defeat. The haftarah for this portion is the first layer of commentary. This torah scholar, diplomat, financier, mystic and leader of his people, although living some 5 centuries ago, is particularly pertinent to the modern open society and global village in which we live, in. How fortunate is the congregant assigned to comment on parshat balak. Balaam son of beor is definitely an oddball among the prophets.

Yisroel ciner kol hakollel dvar torah lifeline edutainment weekly the living law rabbi wein table talk thinking outside the box parsha insights. Considering that these three chapters are an integral part of chumash. Balak, the king of moab, persuades the prophet balaam to curse the israelites so that he. For complete text in english and hebrew, click here.

When we read the beginning of that story in parshat balak, we find no commentary about whether pinchas did a good thing or a bad thing. Premium parsha guides at aleph beta, we believe that the torah is a guidebook that offers profound insight into how we should live our lives. You can see general items newest, most popular and related shiurim for your topic,collections to view the various topics found within your topic, featured the shiurim handselected by our editors that we think you will enjoy,and all the available series and categories within this topics shiurim. Excerpted from rabbi shmuel goldins unlocking the torah text bamidbar, copublished by ou press and gefen publishers why bother.

Confusion of values and misunderstanding torah ideas play into amaleks hands. In parashat balak, king balak and the people of moab, central characters in the weekly torah portion, are afraid of the children of israel. Micah uses the image of balak and balaam to illustrate his point that god will ultimately triumph. In the parashah, balak son of zippor, king of moab. The prophet and the consultant to prepare for this shiur, see the questions for self study. This most probably refers to chapters 2224 in sefer bamidbar i. 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. Rabbi eli herb was ordained at hebrew college in boston and began his new life in salem, oregon as the fulltime spiritual leader of temple beth sholom in. 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.

Draw attention to a few key quotations from the introduction to the central commentary on pages 93738 andor survey the outline on page 938. Left and rightbrain judaism tzav 5780 download the accompanying family edition here. Divrei torah, inspiration, ethics and stories for all ages. Balak hebrew for balak, a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah is the 40th weekly torah portion parshah in the annual jewish cycle of torah reading and the seventh in the book of numbers. He considered himself a devotee of every god, believing that he could communicate, work, and curse for any god. Balaam also prophesies on the end of the days and the.

Of all the terrible curses we have read so far in the book of deuteronomy and there have been plenty this, says rashi, is the worst. Balak sent messengers to bilam, requesting that he commit himself to the job of cursing the jewish. The torah is not just a history book or an interesting piece of folk literature. He was later killed in a battle between israel and the midianites numbers 31. As they traveled, they encountered two kings who attacked them. Bsd questions for parshat balak 5777 by rabbi edward davis i. In his commentary on the mishnah, maimonides explained this text as indicating that all the laws of nature were created by god.

In this torah portion, balak, the king of moab, asks balaam to curse the israelites after he sees them defeat various nations in battle. Articles on the weekly torah portion, parsha, from beginner to advanced levels. And balaam answered and said to the servants of balak, though balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, i could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the lord my god. The bulk of parshat balak deals with a single story. Parshat eikev, part 2, guarding the symbol of faith posted at 04. The institution of the haftarah reading a passage from the prophetic literature alongside the torah portion is an ancient one, dating back at least 2000 years scholars are not sure when, where, and why it was instituted some say that it began when antiochus ivs attempt to eliminate jewish. Because the legal dialogue of the talmud quickly assumed the place of privilege in jewish study, biblical commentary came to take a backseat. Questions for parshat balak 5777 by rabbi edward davis. Parshat balak 5771 the jewish star rabbi yitzchak ginsburgh duration. Three times balak attempts to force a curse on israel out of balaams mouth and three times he fails. The latest commentary by rabbi lisa about book of numbers bmidbar titled. Balak had heard about all the things that god had done for israel, so he needed the very best to go up against the god who could part the red sea and rain manna from heaven every day for 38 years.

Balaam s donkey sees an angel of god and refuses to move any further. Weekly torah portion summary, questions, resources 07062012 10. The hufftorah is an overview of the torah reading of the week, which is found in the book of numbers 22. Balak, the king of moab, takes notice of the israelites as they wander in the desert close to his peoples territory. To view an online version of rabbi kalatskys divrei torah. Rabbi perry netter of temple beth tzedek in amherst ny on the weekly parsha. The holy soul of elijah the prophet will return at the end of days to balance out the situation once again. An interpolated translation and commentary based on the works of the lubavitcher rebbe. Indeed, gods anger with his decision to travel with balak s messengers see 22. Balaam son of beor was from aram ancient mesopotamiasyria, the place of abrahams extended family. Anyone who has never read the entire chumash with rashi is simply not jewishly literate, said rabbi david hartman, with whom i was studying 14 years ago at the shalom hartman institute in. Jun 07, 2002 in this weeks parsha we are introduced to an interesting character bilaam. Parsha weekly torah portion check out this fun and quick summary of each weeks parsha.

On a regular shabbat, the weekly torah portion is divided up into seven parts. It is a custom among religious jewish communities for a weekly torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during jewish prayer services on saturdays, mondays and thursdays. Order now uk order now row, except uscanada out in the uscanada on 1st september 2020. The new book by rabbi lord jonathan sacks out on 12th march 2020. 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 midst of their final preparations to enter the land god promised to their ancestors, yet another obstacle emerges. This drash was delivered july 8, 2017 by frank kurtz. Its a slippery slopethe dangers of foreign women i ntroduction i n parashat balak the israelites are camped on the plains of moab, ready to enter canaan. Bilaam was a gentile prophet who hired himself to kings to curse their enemies, and thereby cause their downfall. Our faculty and teachers bring the depth and breadth of jts learning directly to you through a rich collection of contemporary jewish content. Commentary on numbers 2223 balak hires balaam tough. Haftorat balak this week from the book of the prophet micah, has a specially important concluding message for the time that we are living in.

Parshat balak seems to be an integral part of chumash. I want to focus on a specific item in the story, when bilam has a conversation with his donkey. Balak 5770 fuchsberg jerusalem center for conservative. Jts torah online our faculty and teachers bring the depth and breadth of jts learning directly to you through a rich collection of contemporary jewish content, including everything from weekly parashah commentaries to marquee lecture recordings. Hebrew insights into parashat balak bamidbar numbers 22 25. Parsha of the week weekly torah printouts yad avraham. King balak sends for his prophet twice and balaam barely responds. It doesnt matter whether you read it in hebrew or english, but you must go through the five books of moses with rashis commentary. In the first verse of the book of micha the sixth book of trei asar we learn that micha was a prophet during the reigns of yotam, achaz and. A great way to introduce yourself to the hebrew bible, keep up with your synagogue or.

The parsha hashavua in 3 minutes, aka the animated torah portion of the week. This is perfect for beginning torah students of all ages and scholars seeking new angles on the text. He argues that the people of israel need to turn away from. Yutorah online parshat balakthe phenomenon of torah. Parsha summary haftorah summary haftorah commentary legacy drasha r.

His curses were indeed effective, and as such, balak the king of moav summoned him to curse the children of israel who were. Jun 24, 2018 check out more torah videos at this week, we ask an incredibly broad question. He was much like any multiculturalist we see todaywilling to dabble among all the different religions, tolerant of all, willing to take something from here and another thing from there and make a syncretistic mix. There is so much material for discussion, ranging from the words of a talking donkey, to the perfidious collusion. Following the morning davening, rabbi kalatsky offers a brief dvar torah on the parsha of the week. On the way, balaam is berated by his donkey, who sees, before balaam does, the angel that g. These weekly torah commentaries are transcribed and emailed worldwide. In this weeks parsha,we read about an evil man called bilam who regularly had direct contact with god, which is a major issue in the commentaries as to why he deserved this direct contactsee rashi and others for a deeper understanding. Jtss extensive online torah resources reflect todays most compelling conversations, research, and teaching from leaders in jewish studyall available for learners around the world to explore and enjoy. Jewish views of the afterlife a topic which has been the subject of many books of late. Clearly, this refers to chumash thats why we call it the five books of moses 2 parshat bilam. Balak s goal was to weaken the israelites, encamped at the borders of moab, so that he could defeat them in battle. Spiritual and physical power by beit hillel on july 2, 2015 in divrei torah this week, israel was challenged again by another freedom flotilla, attempting to reach the gaza strip. He was later killed in a battle between israel and.