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.
This is my first broadcast from the new office and studio in Washington, DC, where I'll be for a couple of years my neighborhood back in L.A. cleans up -- and as we follow the Trump administration from a little closer up than usual.
Topics:
- The anniversary of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump
- The escalating tariff battle with various different trading partners
- The future of the Middle East peace talks, and ongoing antisemitism
- The Jeffrey Epstein files and whether they mean anything at all
- The continued crisis of the Texas floods, and stories of heroism and survival
And more!
Special guests:
- James Rosen - Newsmax chief Washington correspondent
- Bob Price - Breitbart News Texas reporter, on the ongoing floods
- Robert Cahill - Trafalgar Polling, on a new alliance of reliable pollsters
- Rabbi Yaakov Menken - Coalition for Jewish Values - on Israel & antisemitism
Tune in: 7-10 p.m. ET, 4-7 p.m. PT
Call: 866-957-2874
This week’s portion tells the grand story of the prophet who tried to curse people of Israel and instead ended up blessing them.
I am reminded that these portions continue to be relevant anew, as this particular reading lent the title for Israel’s recent 12 Day War against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.”
This week's portion includes the commandment of the red heifer -- one of the classic "irrational" commandments whose fulfillment is an expression of faith. It also includes the regrettable episode in which Moses strikes the rock.
I referred to this story in a wedding speech last night. Why was Moses punished for striking the rock in Numbers, when he struck the rock without incident in Exodus -- both for the purpose of providing water to the people?
The answer is that in the interim, the Jewish people had received the Torah, which is like the marriage contract between the people of Israel and God. In a marriage, you do not resolve things by breaking boundaries, but through love.
The additional reading, from Judges Chapter 11, is the story of Jephthah (Yiftach), a man whom the leaders spurn, but to whom they must turn to save the nation. The parallels to our present political circumstances are striking.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Fourth of July!
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