Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Balak
The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Amram son of Sultana
Simply perusing the Torah portion with Rashi uncovers that Bilam’s speeches contain three basic elements. One is of prophecy revealing some of Hashem’s future plans. There is a only little bit of what we would call beracha, namely wishing someone good things. A third, major part of Bilam’s speeches is descriptive, telling of Bnei Yisrael’s past and present spiritual accomplishments and of Hashem’s love for them. Is such a description a blessing or just an objective portrayal of a nation?
Performing any sin is considered a desecration of Hashem’s Name (see Berachot 19b). But sometimes a spiritual blemish, upon becoming known to the broader public, creates a bigger desecration, which is the classical use of the term chillul Hashem. The greater the presumed spiritual standing of the offender is, the greater the chillul Hashem (see Yoma 84a). This is as true for nations as it is for people. Thus, publicizing the blemishes of a mamlechet kohanim (kingdom of priests) has a destructive effect on their ability to function in that role. If so, the standing of such a nation, entitling it to protection and success, can boomerang into a liability if it becomes a disgraced world leader.
Thus, Bilam attempted to uncover Bnei Yisrael’s shortcomings and scream out to Hashem and the nations: "Bnei Yisrael is a hoax and a disgrace to the exalted role it has assumed." He went from vantage point to vantage point (literally and figuratively) to uncover flaws but came up empty. Had he succeeded, the report would have been more destructive than any curse the sorcerer Bilam could have uttered. So was Bnei Yisrael a hoax or a holy nation? Like at any time in Jewish history, there were elements of both. But Hashem only allowed Bilam to see and express the positive in Bnei Yisrael. Thus, his report presented the side of Bnei Yisrael which made it a sanctification of His Name.
Our knowledge of Bilam’s "social commentary" is significant not only to understand historically how Hashem protected us from his scheme. It also gives us a goal to strive for. Let us indeed live up to the positive report that the prophet of the nations gave about us and, in so doing, sanctify His Name as we were created as a nation to do. Let us make the work of anti-Semites, who always start by vilifying us in the eyes of the world, more difficult, until Hashem forces them to see and admit the spiritual heights we can and/or do reach.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
