Balak: A Summary of the Parashah

The following article is reprinted with permission from Kolel: The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning.

 

Parashat Balak contains one of the most fully developed stories in the entire Torah. The story is really about Bilaam, a prophet who is hired to curse the Israelites by Balak, the Moabite king.

 

Having heard the tales of their other battles, Balak perceives Israel as a threat. God makes it clear to Bilaam that he is not to curse Israel, whom God has blessed. But, after a number of approaches, Balak makes Bilaam an offer he cannot refuse. God permits Bilaam to go, but only with the knowledge that Bilaam will have no control over the words that will come out of his own mouth.

 

On his way to curse Israel, Bilaam's donkey stops and refuses to move. The donkey can see an angel blocking the way which the man cannot see. A conversation results between man and donkey, one of only two talking animals in the Bible (ten points to anyone who knows the other!).

 

Finally, Bilaam reaches his destination and opens his mouth to curse Israel. But instead of curses, words of blessing are spoken. This blessing (Ma Tovu) is now part of the daily morning service.

 

At the end of the parashah, the Israelites get in trouble by consorting with foreign women and worshipping a foreign deity. Pinchas, Aaron's grandson, known as a great zealot, appeases God's anger over this idolatry by killing an Israelite who was flaunting his salacious activities with a Midianite woman.