B"H

Monday, Tammuz 9, 5784 / July 15, 2024

Antisemitism began over 3,000 years ago, when G-d chose the Jewish people as His nation and proclaimed at Mount Sinai, “You shall be unto me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” The first one to wage war against the Jewish people, for no reason, was Amalek, as told in the Book of Exodus. This hatred against the Jewish people continued for the past 3000 years, in one form or another, until this very day as we have all experienced in the past year in Israel and globally.

This week’s Parsha, Balak, begins with the story of Balak, King of Moab, who sent for Bila’am to come and curse the Jewish people so that he could erase them from the face of the earth. 

Bila’am, who hated the Jewish people, even more than Balak and tempted by Balak's promises of wealth and honor, wanted to curse the Jewish people.  However, in a dream, he was warned many times by

G-d, not to curse them. G-d warned him to not even to bless them, “as they are already blessed.” The blessing of an enemy may be as bad as their curse.

In the end G-d placed words of blessing in Bila’am's mouth and each time he wanted to curse them, he ended up praising and blessing them. These were purely G-d’s blessings.

Although Balak took Bila’am to different places from where he could see the Jewish tents and dwelling places, so that he could find fault with Israel, which would give him an opening to curse them, G-d made sure that he saw only good, which resulted in blessings.

The following passage of Bila’am's praise for the Jewish people, as he viewed them from a mountain overlooking their encampment, is recited each day in our morning prayers, “How good are your tents Jacob; Your dwelling places Israel."

Many of our sages have always tried to find the good in another person. They were able to look beyond the person's external negative acts and see into the essence of the Jew's Neshama-soul.  As a result, rather than judging their brethren for their shortcomings as acts of sin, they were able to find the good and positive hidden within that act or the conditions in which they were performed.

The story is told of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Barditchev, who once saw a Jewish coachman, wrapped in Talit and Tefillin, in the middle of prayer, greasing the wheels of his carriage in preparation for a trip.

Someone else would have scolded the man for his lack of respect for his prayers. But Rabbi Levi Yitzchak lifted his eyes upward and exclaimed, "G-d, see what a great nation you have, this Jew, even when greasing the wheels of his coach, cannot refrain from praying to You!"

Our sages teach us in Pirkei Avot, “Always judge your fellow favorably.” Even when on the surface it seems that their act is not good, we should try and find the good in everyone. Judging others favorably causes G-d to judge us favorably too.  How we act towards others is how G-d acts toward us,

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY

UNITED WE STAND WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CAPTIVITY. MAY THEY ALL BE RELEASED NOW.