Weekly Message 07.11.2025 Parashat Balak
- jccwestpasco
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Parashat Balak (King of Moab) Numbers 22:2 - 25:9
HafTorah Micah 5:6 - 6:8
Dear friends,
As we enter the synagogue this evening by 6:30 pm for our Kabbalat Shabbat service and community Shabbat dinner, we will be greeted by the beautiful voice of Rachel Hyman on YouTube singing Ma Tovu.
Hebrew
מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ, יַעֲקֹב; מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ, יִשְׂרָאֵל
ואני ברב חסדך, אבוא ביתך
אשתחווה אל היכל קדשך, ביראתך
ה' אהבתי מעון ביתך ומקום משכן כבודך
ואני אשתחווה ואכרעה אברכה לפני ה' עשי
ואני תפילתי לך ה' את רצון
אלוקים ברב חסדך ענני באמת ישעך
Romanization
Ma tovu ohalekha Ya'akov, mishk'notekha Yisra'el.
Va'ani b'rov hasd'kha, avo veytekha,
eshtahaveh el heikhal kodsh'kha b'yir'atekha.
Adonai, ahavti m'on beitekha um'kom mishkan k'vodekha.
Va'ani eshtakhaveh ve'ekhra'ah, avar'kha lifnei Adonai osi.
Va'ani t'filati l'kha Adonai et ratzon,
Elohim b'rov hasdekha aneini be'emet yish'ekha.
English translation
How lovely are your tents, Jacob; your encampments, Israel!
As for me, through Your abundant grace,
I enter your house to worship with awe in Your sacred place.
O Lord, I love the House where you dwell, and the place where your glory tabernacles.
I shall prostrate myself and bow; I shall kneel before the Lord my Maker.
To You, Eternal One, goes my prayer: may this be a time of your favor.
In Your abundant love, O God, answer me with the Truth of Your salvation.
This beautiful song meant to be chanted whenever entering a house of prayer or study is derived directly from this week's Torah portion of Balak in the Book of Bamidbar 24:5 and continuing with verses from Psalms 5:8, 26:8, 95:6 and 65:14. We learn just how important our spoken words are. Our words can be as a curse or can be as a blessing as Balak and Balaam discover when the words meant to curse the Hebrew people instead are delivered as a blessing.
To quote Rabbi Vered Harris of Temple B'Nai Israel of Oklahoma City:
"Not only should a heretic like Balaam not curse the righteous, but also the righteous should not curse a heretic. We are reminded to watch our words, even against those with whom we significantly disagree. In fact, often our heated disagreements can cause us to feel angry. Beautifully, through this parashah and the Talmudic explanations around it, we learn a remedy for anger. Instead of letting our anger overtake us, we can learn from God to become distracted with the work of turning curses into blessings."
Indeed despite the anger and roadblocks thrown up by the Midianites and the Moabites in the wilderness and the plague caused by worshiping their gods and cohabiting with their women, we know that in later years there was intermarriage with them and that a Moabite woman (Ruth) becomes the great grandmother of King David.
The portion ends as we are introduced to Pinchas, the son of the high priest Eleazer and grandson of Aaron. He is portrayed as a zealot who slays the cohabitors and is then featured in next week's sedrah named for him.
Our Haftorah from the Prophet Micah 6:8 ends with these powerful and oft quoted words:
הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ
“You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what Adonai requires of you. Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk modestly with Adonai."
So, please join us on this very special Shabbat tonight at 6:30 pm rather than the usual time and tomorrow morning at 9:30 am in-person or virtually on Zoom.
And thanks to those who volunteered at Metropolitan Ministries yesterday as we continue to serve our broader community with its many needs. Stay tuned for our August volunteer date.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ron Becker
Spiritual Leader
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ZOOM LINKS FOR FRI AND SAT:
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Topic: Shabbat Services 07/11 @ 6:30 pm, 07/12 @ 9:30 am
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