Does Education Make You a Moral Person? The past century, the bloodiest in all of human history, should have lain to rest two of the most cherished theories about humanity postulated by the Enlightenment and Secular Humanism. One was the idea that all moral questions, all issues of right and wrong, good and evil, were […]

He perceived no iniquity in Jacob, and saw no perversity in Israel” (23:21)The Hebrew word amal, translated here as “perversity,” has a second meaning, “toil.” It is an expression for work, especially laborious and exhausting work. Ohr HaChaim (1696-1743) uses this translation to give a unique interpretation to Balaam’s words: “He saw no exhaustion in Israel.” Balaam perceived that […]

This week’s Parsha introduces us to an anti-Semite named Balak. He hired the wicked Bilaam to destroy the Jews; Bilaam agreed and even attempted to do so but was unsuccessful. At one point, Bilaam uttered a remarkable statement; something we would not have expected to come from the mouth of such a malicious person.Let me […]

This week’s Torah portion is about Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to destroy the Jewish people. The ancient nations of the world complained to the Almighty that if He would give them a prophet like Moses, they too would be able to lead spiritual lives. G-d responded by granting prophecy to Balaam. Instead of using […]

Balak the king of Moav, was willing to pay Bilaam to curse the Jewish people. Why Bilaam? He is an interesting character who is unique in scripture because he was a non-Jewish prophet who was given the gift of prophecy on a level equivalent to Moses’. The Almighty gave Bilaam these powers so that the […]

The 20th century was the bloodiest in all of human history and serves as testimony that two beloved theories about humanity are wrong. These ideas emanated a few hundred years ago during the Enlightenment and remain popular in secular humanist ideology. One is the idea that all moral questions, all issues of right and wrong, […]