Parsha Balak: What Kind of Person Do You Want to Be?

The sun has set.  The clouds are blue with pink streaks.  This is what I am looking at as I start to write about this week’s parsha (Torah portion).  The parsha is called Balak.  He is the Moabite king, and he is afraid of the children of Yisrael.  So he enlists the help of a man of god named Bilim, to curse the children of Yisrael so that Balak can drive them off. After much persuasion, god give Bilim permission … Continue reading

Parsha Balak: A Torah on T’shuva

Hello and welcome to the latest installment of my Torah thoughts. This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is called Balak who is the current king of Moab.  Our parsha begins with Balak seeing all that Yisrael had done to the Emorite (which comes from the root, “To say”) and Moab becomes afraid.  So, Balak sends messengers to Bil’am asking him to bore into Yisrael so Balak can drive them from the land.  He calls for Bil’am because what Bil’am blesses is … Continue reading