Shalom Friends;<\/p>\n
This week, our Parshat HaShavua, Balak is being sponsored by Dov and Lauren Greenberg of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated for Hatslucha for their children as well as for the safety of all Chayalim as well as for the safety of all Chayalim and for the good health and security and true peace for all of Am Yisrael. To the Greenberg family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses. <\/p>\n
You can celebrate a Simcha \u2014 a birth, a Bar\/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShavua.<\/p>\n
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShavua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.<\/p>\n
Best Regards,<\/p>\n
Moshe Burt Subscribe to the Israel and the Sin of Expulsion blog, to ask questions or to sponsor a Parsha Vort at: olehchadash@yahoo.com<\/strong><\/a> As the Parshat Balak vort is being compiled, there is something of a “ceasefire,” or rather a lull in the joint US-Israel war against the Islamic Caliphate of Iran which could resume imminently. There has also been a long lull in Gaza, but Israel seems to be gearing up for a possible resumption of actions against Hamas and their terrorist buddies who seem to have used the lull to retool, to rearm and increase their manpower while apparently continuing to abuse Gazan civilians and to hijack foreign aid entering Gaza meant for civilians. And Israel continues to respond to Hezbollah attacks in Lebanon. <\/p>\n Torah’s recounting of the story of Bila’am’s travels to meet Moabite king Balak, his (Bila’am’s) unsuccessful efforts to curse the Jews which, through the words of Hashem, became Brachot, as well as his (Bila’am’s) plot regarding the women of Moav and Midian and the Ba’al Pe’or, indicates that Am Yisrael was totally oblivious to all of these events.<\/p>\n That the B’nei Yisrael came before the Ba’al Pe’or for adulterous liaisons with Moabite and Midianite women seemed the manifestation (Noun: outward or perceptible indication; materialization)<\/a> of Bila’am’s evil plot which he presented to Balak, after his unsuccessful efforts to curse Am Yisrael, and which was meant to bring Hashem’s wrath upon the Jews.<\/p>\n Rabbi Shmuel Goldin provides a context regarding the Ba’al Pe’or and the adulterous liaisons in his sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text,” Sefer Bamidbar (pages 250 – 251) :<\/p>\n Although no clear connection is drawn in the text between the main story of Parshat Balak and the devastating episode of the Ba’al Pe’or, a brief reference found later in Sefer Bamidbar lays the blame for this tragic event at the feet of the sorcerer Bila’am: “Behold! It was they [the Midianite women] who caused the B’nei Yisrael, by the word of Bila’am, to commit betrayal against the Lord regarding the matter of Pe’or; and the plague occurred in the assembly of the Lord.” (Rabbi Goldin rendering to English Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 31, posuk 16 — Parshat Matos)<\/p>\n Hashem responds [to His having been betrayed] with a devastating plague that claims twenty-four thousand victims from among the people.<\/p>\n If the episode of the Ba’al Pe’or can be directly traced to the scheming designs of Bila’am, why doesn’t the Torah immediately say so? Why record this tragic episode as an apparent epilogue to the Balak\/Bila’am narrative, omit any connection between the two stories, and then subsequently affirm the connection, in a textual aside later [two Parshiyot later] in the text?<\/p>\n ….The Talmud maintains that Hashem’s transformation of Bila’am’s curses into Brachot ultimately has very limited effect. Due to the sin of the B’nei Yisrael, the majority of these Brachot revert back their original curses. From this Rabbinic perspective, the Balak\/Bila’am story conveys a powerful, counterintuitive lesson: Bila’am’s words, and other similar phenomena, do not matter at all. Ultimately, our fate is determined by our merit or guilt.<\/p>\n As the Jews emerge unscathed from Bila’am’s external threat, only to fall prey to their own shortcomings, …what the Balak\/Bila’am narrative preaches in theory: We can blame no one else for our failures; our destiny is in our hands,<\/p>\n The Torah’s immediate omission of Bila’am’s pivotal role in the episode of Ba’al Pe’or now becomes completely understandable…. Through its silence, the Torah effectively robs us of the ability to blame anyone else for our people’s descent into idolatry. We are forced to realize the uncomfortable truth: Bila’am’s machinations would never have succeeded had he not found the B’nei Yisrael willing, easy prey.<\/p>\n For now, the Torah is intent on bringing Parshat Balak to a cohesive close. From start to finish, this Parsha is designed to sensitize us to the role we play in determining our own fate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “Studies in the Weekly Parsha,” by Yehuda Nachshoni on Sefer Bamidbar (pages 1115 – 1116) as well as :The Midrash Says (page 351, 353 – 355) provide commentary:<\/p>\n R\u2019Rafael Katzenellenbogen who is cited in “Studies in the Weekly Parsha,” by Yehuda Nachshoni referring to R\u2019 Sonnenfeld who discusses Zimri\u2019s distorted sense of \u201cacting for the sake of Shemayim\u201d :<\/p>\n “…Zimri claimed that he was acting for the sake of Shemayim. Physical lust was leading the B’nei Yisrael to idolatry since it caused them to become attached to the Mo’avim who were corrupting them [via the Ba’al Pe’or]. Therefore, Zimri thought that if the B’nei Yisrael were allowed to satisfy their lust right in the camp of Yisrael, they would never come to worship idols.” <\/p>\n Zimri, in “bringing the Midianite woman close to his brethren was creating a novel, misleading ideology, that evil must be tolerated by incorporating it into the Camp of Israel, to dissuade the lustful man from finding himself in the camp of idolaters.\u201d (Studies in the Weekly Parsha, by Yehuda Nachshoni, Parsha Balak, page 1115.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “The Midrash Says,” by Rabbi Moshe Weissman on Parsha Balak, (pages 350 – 351, 353 – 355) indicates that Bila\u2019am\u2019s Ba\u2019al Pe’or scheme began by attracting airev rav \u2014 the Mitzri “groupies” who accompanied the Jews out of Mitzrayim. But, then the attraction lured members of Shevet Shimon. The account states that Hashem revealed those who sinned by removing The Clouds of Glory from above the guilty ones:<\/p>\n The members of the Tribe of Shimon were very distressed because many of their kinsmen had been sentenced to death. They came before their Nassi, Zimri, and reproached him, \u201cHow can you keep silent in the face of so many deaths?\u201d<\/p>\n Zimri reacted by brazenly challenging Moshe in public.<\/p>\n Zimri, the prince of Shavet Shimon and the most prominent individual to take part in this act of physical lust, displayed a distorted and false perception and rationale in bringing Kosbi into the Camp and co-habitating with her before The Assembly. <\/p>\n …Pinchas [ben Elazar] observed the scene, burning with indignation. He inquired of Moshe, his great-uncle; “Haven’t you taught us, when you descended from Har Sinai, that one who co-habit’s with a gentile woman may be attacked by a zealot?” Moshe replied, “Let he who remembers the law be the agent to execute it.” [The Midrash Says citing Shemot Rabbah Tuf Tzadik, Sanhedrin Pei Bet]<\/p>\n Pinchas thought, “Why doesn’t anyone take action and kill Zimri [and Kosbi] to rectify this Chillul Hashem? Where are the ‘lions,’ the members of Yehuda and Dan? Where is Binyamin, ‘the wolf?’ The members of Reuven must be afraid to avenge the sin of immorality, lest they be reprimanded.”<\/p>\n [Pinchas continues] “The members of Shimon are silent because the sinner is their own Nasi… Don’t they recall that their Shevet’s founder destroyed the entire city of Shechem because of the sin of immorality? It is up to me, a member of Levi, to defend Hashem’s honor. Wasn’t it my Shevet that slew 3,000 people who worshiped the Eigel Zahav?”<\/p>\n Pinchas’ deliberations came to a sudden end because a plague began to afflict the people….. Now Pinchas knew that he must take action to save the B’nei Yisrael from Heavenly punishment. [The Midrash Says citing Bamidbar Chuf, Chuf Alef] Hashem’s anger was kindled against Klal Yisrael… He seized Moshe’s spear [The Midrash Says citing Perakim Dror Eliezar], concealed the iron tip in his garment [and talked his way into the tent of co-habitation.] Once inside, Pinchas thrust his spear through both Zimri and Kosbi….<\/p>\n As soon as Pinchas slew Zimri, the plague ended.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Zimri\u2019s alleged \u201cL\u2019Shem Shemayim\u201d model; bringing co-habitation with Moabite women into the camp of B\u2019nai Yisrael lest men go looking for it outside, i.e., at the Midianite\/Moabite Bazaar where the co-habitation was an enticement and seduction to the avodah zora Ba\u2019al Pe\u2019or, seemed a cover for his (Zimri\u2019s) true motivations and intentions. Zimri\u2019s \u201cIn your face, Moshe\u201d demeanor appeared as motivated by lust for power, just as Korach\u2019s true motivations were covered by rationale of accusation of nepotism against Moshe Rabbeinu and Aaron.<\/p>\n In much the same way as Zimri acted, we note contemporary Israeli leaders and military high command echelons who have acted, or continue to act in contradictory, divisive ways regarding Eretz Yisrael, as well as regarding such issues “universal” military service and more.<\/p>\n The question which “The Midrash Says” portrays Pinchas as asking on Shevet Shimon: “Don’t they recall that their Shevet’s founder destroyed the entire city of Shechem because of the sin of immorality?” is relevant in our times as well.<\/p>\n The clearest version of Pinchas’ question on Shevet Shimon has to be the contradiction of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, not over many hundreds of years, many generations, but during his own lifetime. Sharon, as the general who, during the Yom Kippur War maneuvered to move across the Suez and encircle the Egyptian Third Army, and later as Minister of Agriculture and then Defense Minister under then Prime Minister Begin, championed settling Yehuda and the Shomron as well as establishing the “ten fingers” of small Yishuvim in the Gush Katif part of the Gaza Strip. But upon assuming the office of Prime Minister, he suddenly did a turn-about resulting in the Expulsion of the entirety of Jewish communities in Gush Katif as well as two Yishuvim in the Shomron. He boasted to the then military Chief Rabbi: “I know defense, Right? There will be forty years of peace.” He even went against the results of a referrendum of members of his own Likud party in executing the Expulsion. We know that Sharon suffered his fate, by the Yad Hashem, just as did Zimri. Fourteen years later, an IDF Major General who participated in the Expulsion asserted that the “massive evacuation from Gaza gave Hamas a chance to fortify itself and make life for Israelis miserable.”<\/a> In fact, it laid the seeds for numerous rocket, mortar shell and fiery balloon attacks throughout Israel, IDF retaliatory actions, culminating with the War of Simchat Torah — 7 October, 2023.<\/p>\n Similarly, former Chief of Staff, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who saved many Jewish lives in planning and participating in actions which overcame repeated airline hijackings, and took part in the planning of the famous Israeli rescue of over 100 Jews who were being held hostage by Arab terrorists at the airport in Entebbe in July, 1976. But in his first year as Prime Minister, he abandoned South Lebanon and Israel’s South Lebanese Army allies in the dead of night, leaving a void filled by Hezbollah which, until now, controls Lebanon’s governance and is responsible for loss of countless Israeli lives and property over these last twenty-five years.<\/p>\n May it be that our leadership — governing, judicial and IDF high command echelons, as well as kol Am Yisrael come to achieve a faithfulness and consistency in our avodah — both V’Ahavtah L’Arecha Kamocha, as One, and in our Service of Hashem, B’Ezrat Hashem<\/p>\n May our government and military bring about the total and complete, Final and Decisive victory over Hamas, their 7 October so-called “civilians(sic)” collaborators, Iran and the entire terror cabal, B’Yad Hashem, and become Totally self-sufficient as to manufacture of military equipment and aircraft, weaponry, munitions — heavy munitions, as well as showing independence of actions responding to any threat, regardless of so-called “super powers.”<\/p>\n May we see, from here on, that border guard personnel at all points of possible danger are listened to and treated with respect and dignity. May we see, with Operation Roaring Lions — the joint action by our Chayalim and the United States against the Mullahs of what has been the Islamic Caliphate dictatorship controlling Iran, that Islam and its barbarous terrorist tentacles of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, as well as Qatar, Turkey, the Houthies of Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Afganistan, possibly Egypt, and all who seek war against the Jews be totally eradicated, both in Israel’s neighborhood, as well as internationally, B’Ezrat Hashem. May we see a government of Israel secure in it\u2019s foremost service of, and emunah in HaKadosh Borchu, B\u2019Ezrat Hashem! And may we see the restoration of true unity within Am Yisrael. May these words come to fruition B’Ezrat Hashem.<\/p>\n May we, the B\u2019nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren \u2014 the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently re-settled in Gush Katif, once the IDF, by the Yad Hashem, destructs and eradicates the wild beasts of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, all other terror entities, and if necessary Iran, and that our brethren be made totally whole \u2014 be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, as well as the buildings of Yishuv Elchanan, all at total government expense. May our Chayalim return from battle unharmed — physically, mentally and spiritually. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now in his sixth year at home in Eretz Yisrael and continues in a new chapter in his life. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her spirit and memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem \u2014 as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel,<\/a> the recent recovery of the remains of Tzvi Feldman<\/a> as well as the recoveries of the remains of Oron Shaul<\/a> and Hadar Goldin<\/a> from the Gaza War of ten years ago. May we have the courage and strength to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V\u2019Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V\u2019Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel\u2019s and Judaism\u2019s destruction and eradication. May we fulfill Hashem\u2019s blueprint of B\u2019nei Yisrael as a Unique people \u2014 an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with \u201cthe nations\u201d and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge\u2019ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; \u201cKi Karov Yom Hashem Al\u2019Kol HaGoyim\u201d, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b\u2019yamainu \u2014 speedily, in our time\u201d, \u2014 Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!<\/p>\n Good Shabbos!
\nolehchadash@yahoo.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\n******************************************<\/p>\n
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014
\nMoshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network.<\/strong><\/a> He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.<\/p>\n