This week's portion tells the story of Balaam, the "evil" prophet whom King Balak hired to curse the Israelites -- and who blessed them instead.
The story is fascinating and mysterious. There is also a talking donkey involved, many millennia before Shrek.
Balaam blesses the people three times, and the last blessing has become a core part of the daily morning prayers in Judaism: "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, your dwelling place, O Israel" (Numbers 24:5).
It might seem odd to bless a tent city; we have them in L.A., and they are terrible.
The Sages puzzled over what, exactly, about this particular tent city evoked praise.
For one thing, the tents were clean, and orderly, and arranged in a very specific geographic pattern, according to tribe (see Numbers 2).
One commentary suggests that the tents were arranged so that one never looked into another, preserving privacy and modesty.
But I think perhaps the praise is meant to emphasize the importance of the everyday -- the routine, the mundane.
If what you do on a daily basis -- your "system" for managing life -- is good, then even the humblest tasks can have immense power over the long run.
You can achieve incredible things if you just devote a few minutes per day to achieving them.
That was Israel's power -- not greatness and might, but a devotion to things that were ordinary, allowing the humblest tasks to reflect faith and devotion.
I should have noted in my message about the weekly Torah portion that this week is Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of Vision. We are about to mourn -- but see through that pain to something better that lies beyond, on the other side.
Wishing you the best vision -- and an incredible reality to follow. It happens!
We begin the final speech of Moses to the people of Israel before they enter the Promised Land. He relates the ups and downs of the years of wandering in the desert, before, finally, the people have the merit to enter the land itself.
This Sabbath always precedes Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. It is the anniversary of the destruction of both of the Holy Temples, and a catch-all for many calamities that befell the Jewish people.
A word on Tisha B'Av. This year I am leaving for an overseas trip during the afternoon of the holiday -- in the middle of a fast day. Not idea, but there was no other choice. But my flight is in the afternoon, which is significant.
We relax some of the harsh, mournful customs of the day in the afternoon. We start to pray normally; we sit on regular chairs; we start to have hope again in the redemption that will, one day, lead us all back from exile to our home.
I'll be taking a trip to a land where an important part of ...
President Trump is in Scotland, playing golf and making big trade deals -- a major deal with the EU, in fact. Meanwhile, there is a global outcry about humanitarian aid to Palestinians (not about the Israeli hostages, mind you).
On top of that, Democrats are at their lowest polling numbers ever -- so they are trying to win control of the House by redistricting in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle. Oh, economic optimism is up, so they have a tough road.
And Tulsi Gabbard's revelations about the Russia collusion investigation make it clear that Obama's lieutenants lied to Congress. How deeply was he himself involved? The media continue to ignore the evidence, but we certainly won't.
Special guests:
Nick Gilbertson - Breitbart News White House correspondent, on EU deal
Frances Martel - Breitbart News foreign editor, on Trump abroad and Russia
John Spencer - urban warfare expert, on humanitarian aid and war in Gaza
Bradley Jaye - Breitbart News congressional correspondent, on the ...
