Weekly Torah Portion
Parashat Balak - פרשת בלק
By Rabbi Stephen Texon
Dear Friends,
In this week's Torah portion of "Balak" we read of a futile attempt to curse the Jewish people during their journey to the promised land.
The Almighty would not let this happen and directly intervened by communicating with the heathen prophet Bilam who was actually paid a very handsome sum of money by this Moabite King Balak to curse the Israelites.
What was the unusual form of intervention?
The Almighty barred the roadway on which Bilam traveled riding his donkey en route to curse the Israelites and then opened the mouth of the donkey giving him the gift of speech to reprimand his master for beating him to move on. The donkey actually saw the Angel of the Lord barring his way who was at first invisible and unseen by Bilam. When the Angel then became visible to Bilam, he fell on his face in awe and fear.
In life we can not always see G-d's purpose, but He sends us signs and warnings beforehand to help us. Let us heed those warnings and do what is right in the sight of G-d and man. In these tumultuous times we need to be alert and mindful of this constantly.
Shabbat Shalom!