Why was the recent parsha (Torah portion) named after the Rasha, the evil Balak?

The names of the weekly parshiot (portions) or "sedras" are not that significant, but rather technical. As we see every week, including 'Balak', the accepted name of the parsha is usually just taken from the first less-common and/or significant word/s in the first or second verse of the portion. Even this accepted division of the Torah into 54 parshiot is just that of Babylon/Bavel (designed to finish the Torah every year), and was not the original "break-up", for in Eretz Yisrael, the initial division was to read more than 150 smaller portions, and finish the Torah just about every three years. The Maharshal (Yam Shel Shlomo, end of Bava Kama, 48) points out that even then in Eretz Yisrael, various communities divided the Torah differently. Accordingly, the parsha names are clearly not that significant (although you may occasionally hear a rabbi deal with its name in a way of "darshanut" (homiletics or preaching). With Love of Israel, Rav Ari Shvat (Chwat)