…words He puts in his mouth. After a strange episode in which Balaam’s donkey sees an angel blocking the way, Balaam and Balak ascend a mountain overlooking the Israelites’ camp. Three times at different places they prepare altars and sacrifices, but each time, Balaam utters blessings instead of curses. Balak leaves in anger and frustration. Having been spared Balaam’s curses,…
…episode of Bilam’s talking donkey. This is not a fanciful tale, nor simply a miracle. It arose because of the way the people of Moab and Midian thought of Bilam – and perhaps, by extension, the way he thought of himself. Balak the Moabite king, together with the leaders of the Midianites, sent a delegation to Bilam asking him to…
The Parsha in a Nutshell Balak is the king of Moav, a country next to the Land of Israel. He becomes scared when he hears that the Israelites are heading his way. Together with the elders of Midian (another country near Israel), he tries to hire the famous non-Jewish prophet Bilam to curse the Israelites. Bilam asks God what he…
…animals can you find mentioned in parshat Balak? This question has been adapted from Torah IQ by David Woolf, a collection of 1500 Torah riddles, available worldwide on Amazon. For the answer, please head to the Education Companion section (directly below, in grey). Educational Companion Torah Trivia: this week’s answer These are the 12 animals mentioned in Balak: tzippor (bird…
…you help lift the people around you with positive speech? Parsha Parable A Biblical Tail Here’s a story that might ring a bell… or a hee-haw! Once upon a time, there lived a king named Balak. King Balak was fearful because the Jewish people were approaching his land during their journey through the desert, and he thought they were too…
Many questions have rightly been asked about the story of Balak and Bilam and the would-be curses that turned into blessings. Was Bilam a true man of God, or was he a fraud, a magician, a sorcerer, a practitioner of dark arts? Did he have genuine powers? Was he really – as some of the Sages said – the equal…
…Israel. Numbers 22:3 The strategy Balak adopts is to seek the help of the well known seer and diviner, Bilaam. Again there is a literary evocation, this time of the words of God to Abraham: God to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse.” Genesis 12:3 Balak to Bilaam: “I know…
…and Pinchas, Balak and Bilam and others. This emphasis on individuals reaches a climax in Moses’ prayer to “God of the spirits of all flesh” to appoint a successor (Bamidbar 27:16) – understood by the Sages and Rashi to mean, appoint a leader who will deal with each individual as an individual, who will relate to people in their uniqueness…