Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Bamidbar
- Balak
"For from the peak of rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. ... Let me die the death of the righteous and let my end be like his."
Bilaam serves as the paradigm of the non-Jew who sees the Jewish people in their ideal state and yearns to be like them. Later he utters his famous praise "How goodly are your tents, Yaacov; your dwellings Yisrael." From Bilaam's perspective, the Jewish people have erected a perfect society which - at least in that moment - he yearns to join.
The Baal HaTurim points out on the words "am levadad yishkon" - a people that shall dwell alone - that there are seven "crowns" on the letter shin in the word yishkon symbolizing the seven nations in whose land Yisrael will dwell; and that the word "levadad" is the numerical equivalent of forty to teach that Yisrael will dwell in the Land of Israel which is a forty day journey by foot.
What is the Baal HaTurim's point? After all, Bilaam saw the Jewish people in the desert, not in their land. What is meant by these two symbols.
I believe that the seven crowns and symbolizing the seven nations symbolize paganism which must be destroyed. The "forty days journey" refers to the Torah given to Moshe after forty days on Har Sinai.
Only in our own land can we rid ourselves of dangerous foreign influences and fully commit ourselves to Torah.
The Baal HaTurim is teaching us about our ability to broadcast the message of Torah to the world. Many people think that we can best be a light unto the nations by living among them. This is a mistake. The goal of the Torah is the creation not merely of perfect people but of a perfect society. This is only possible when we have our own land.
Every religion and society has its holy men and places of worship. Our special task is to create an entire society; a government, an army, an economy, etc. that is
devoted to Torah values. Only then will the nations look to us as an example and yearn to emulate our society.
"On that day Hashem will be one and His name will be one."
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)
