Balak

📜 The Story

Parshat Balak opens with fear. Balak, the king of Moab, saw that the Israelites had defeated powerful nations on their journey through the desert, and he became very frightened. He did not want to fight Israel at all. Instead, he sent messengers to a sorcerer named Balaam, asking him to curse the people of Israel so they would be easier to defeat.

Balaam was a sorcerer who spoke with Hashem, but he badly wanted honor and money from Balak. Hashem told Balaam not to go with the first messengers. When Balak sent even greater officials, Hashem allowed Balaam to go, but with one clear condition, he could only say what Hashem placed in his mouth, nothing else.

On the way, something surprising happened. Balaam's donkey saw an angel of Hashem standing in the road holding a sword, but Balaam himself could not see it. The donkey turned aside three times, and Balaam struck her in anger. Then something extraordinary happened, Hashem opened the donkey's mouth and she spoke to Balaam! Only then were Balaam's own eyes opened to see the angel.

When Balaam reached Balak, they climbed to several high places to look out over the camp of Israel. Balak built altars and offered sacrifices, hoping to hear a curse. But each time Balaam opened his mouth, wonderful blessings came out instead! One of the most beautiful blessings is the verse 'Mah tovu ohalecha Yaakov,' how good are your tents, Jacob, which is still recited every morning in prayer. Balaam even prophesied 'a star shall go forth from Jacob,' a hint of Israel's future greatness.

Near the end of the parsha, some of the people sinned with the daughters of Moab and Midian near a place called Baal Peor, and a terrible plague broke out. Pinchas, son of Elazar the priest, acted with great courage and stopped the plague. The parsha teaches us that no one can harm the people of Israel without Hashem's permission, and how important it is to guard our holiness.