MYSTERY

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Adam on the birth of a son named Eliezer Amram. This is such wonderful news and we wish you many simchos with much nachas from him and all your children

And of course we wish the same Mazal Tov to great-grandparents, Renee and Roy, great-uncle, Brian.

Mazal Tov to Eliana on her birthday next week. Keep up your amazing progress Eliana. We love you.

Mazal Tov again to Shlomo, who now had his official Graduation Ceremony. So proud of you, and wishing you success in Yeshivah next year!

And of course wishing Mazal Tov to the deserving parents Shmuel and Rivky. Lechaim!

Bnei Yisrael are now in Trans Jordan waiting to cross into Eretz Yisrael, and this is where they now remain for the next 15 Sedras, till the end of the Chumash

This Sedra Balak, continuing also into the next 2 Sedras, is full of many mysteries and questions, which I find so interesting.

I would like to share only one aspect of these many questions from a sicha of the Rebbe, which also reveals an important practical lesson.

The following questions arise:

1. At this stage, prior to entry into the land shouldn't Torah be discussing all the practical aspects needed for entry ie how to conquer, borders, how to settle, all the new laws needed for agriculture etc. But instead we now have this drama story of Balak and Bilam, who are both virulent haters of Bnei Yisrael (Balak more than Bilam) who are out to destroy us totally?
2. The whole story of how Balak the king of Moab hires the magician Bilam to curse Bnei Yisrael was this behind the scenes. How was this plot known to us?
3. What comes up in this Sedra (through Bilam!) is the voicing of Torah's most explicit hint to the coming of Mashiach? Why bring up Mashiach at this stage?
4. And if Torah wanted to let us know about Mashiach at this stage, why did it need to be through this big drama of Bilam and Balak?
5. And why should a whole Sedra be named after such a wicked person?
6. And if we were going to name the Sedra after a wicked person, why not Bilam, around which the whole story revolved (Balak's role was just to hire Bilam)?

To answer the first 3 questions, there is a strong theme of PROPHECY AND MASHIACH running through the Sedra.

The fact that Torah records something happening outside of our Nation proves that Moshe had prophecy. And prophecy was also emanating from the mouth of Bilam, the greatest prophet of the gentile nations.

And Torah wanted to introduce to us the concept of Mashiach before entering EY. Because Hashem does not want us to serve Him just by obeying His commands, but rather in an inspired way, with a vision which aligns with Hashems own vision.

So why did this have to be done through such evil people, and on top of that why name the whole Sedra after Balak?

This is because the era of Mashiach will result in the annihilation and transformation of evil.

It is therefore now self-evident why the prophesy of this era had to emanate from the mouth of the idolatrous anti-Semite - Bilam

And why was the Sedra therefore not named Bilam?

Because Balak was the greater anti-semite. He was the initiator to destroy. Bilam would have not emerged if not for Balak.

And, surprise surprise, Balak is actually a direct ancestor of Mashiach. This is because Ruth, the Moabite convert, was a descendant of Balak. And King David, the progenitor of Mashiach, was a great grandson of Ruth!

How does this relate to us.

Balak also means 'cut off' or 'dead'

It sometimes happens, that when we are on the verge of something new and big, it is preceded by feelings of dejection.

We feel we are worthless or cut off, and our life feels terrible.

At such times, we must remember that this 'Balak' state that we are in, is the progenitor of break-through and 'Mashiach'.

What we need to do is renew our connection to our ultimate goal by adopting Hashem's dream as our own, rise above ourselves, and from there play our own unique role in the world.

Wishing everyone a Gut Shabbos