Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Aryeh ben Leah, Esther bat Simcha, Stuart Holtzclaw and Randy Shute from Syracuse, NY., Sheila bat Sara Imanu who is in prenatal care and waiting to have a baby and Rabbi Tank's dear cousin Yehuda ben Shoshana.

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Balak

Numbers 22:2 - 25:9

The name "Balak" means "devastator", "empty", or "wasting". The name apparently derives from the rarely used Hebrew verb (balak), "waste or lay waste."

The Hebrew word of the week is Balaam (Hebrew, Bil'am), a name that may mean "not of the people," a "mad man," or a "corrupter of the people."

This week's portion is one of the most fascinating psychologically-revealing portions in the whole Torah! Bilaam, a non-Jewish prophet, was granted a level of prophecy close to Moshe's level of prophecy. The Almighty gave Bilaam these powers so that the nations of the world could not say at some point in the future, "If we had a prophet like Moshe, we too would have accepted the Torah and would have lived according to it." Bilaam is an intriguing character -- honor-driven, arrogant and self-serving. Unfortunately, not too unique amongst mankind.

Balak, the king of Moav, wanted to hire Bilaam to curse the Jewish people for a fortune of money. It is interesting that Balak believed in God and the power of invoking a curse from God, yet thought that God would change His mind about His Chosen People. (God is not a man who changes his mind). Bilaam was very desirous to accept the assignment to curse the Jews -- more for the profit motive than the prophet motive.

The Almighty allowed Bilaam to go to Balak (cautioning him to only say what God told him). The Almighty gives every person free-will and allows us to go in the direction that we choose. Three times Bilaam tried to curse us and three times the Almighty placed blessings in his mouth. Balak was furious! So, Bilaam gave him advice with hopes of collecting his fee -- "If you want to destroy the Jewish people, entice the men with Moabite women and tell the women not to submit until the men bow down to an idol." Balak followed the advice and consequently the Almighty brought a plague against the Jewish people because the men fell for Bilaam's plot. We see from this that the Almighty hates licentiousness and idol worship.

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his" (Numbers 23:10).

What did Bilaam mean when he said this?

We see from this statement of Bilaam that he realized the truth that one should lead a righteous life. Why then did he himself not live righteously and only wished that he could die and be rewarded as the righteous?

Rabbi Simcha Zissel of Kelm explained that although Bilaam had an intellectual awareness of the proper way to live, in his own life he found this too difficult. Because he had faulty character traits, he was not able to live according to the ideas and principles he knew were true. (Chochma Umussar, vol.1, p. 78)

We see from here the importance of correcting one's character traits. Without an awareness of what is proper and what is improper one cannot live righteously. However, even after one has studied and knows what is good and what is evil, he must be able to follow through in his daily behavior. A person needs to be in control of his impulses. Having this mastery over one's natural tendencies will enable a person to live according to his ideals. Lacking this, one will do all kinds of improper actions.

The problem is not one of knowledge, but of self-discipline. For this reason we must work on improving our character traits for only then will we be able to act righteous. The only way to die as a righteous person is to live as one, and to do this takes much self-discipline.

I hear people say we need a better world, but in reality, we need a world with better people. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

Let's get the work done! First, improving ourselves in Kiddush Hashem, then He will help us meet our needs.

Shabbat Shalom

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation headquarters in New York and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.