Balak

The commentators discuss this unique individual named, “Balak.” Initially, we do not know of any special title attributed to him. Only later we find out that he was named the King of Moav.

The Alshich claims that Balak was one of the princes in the kingdom of Sichon. When he was defeated by Moshe Rabbeinu, Balak was later named king. However, he witnessed first hand how the invincible Sichon was destroyed, and his land was annexed by the Jewish people.

The Rabbis explain why this evil, Jew hater, was granted that one of the Parshiot of the Torah was named after him. We appreciate knowing where we stand in terms of our enemies. We are much more vulnerable when we are caught off guard by those who pretend to be on our side, but later prove to be our vicious enemy.

Lavan and Bilaam are prime examples of two faced enemies of our people that pretended to be on our side.
It is never a coincidence how our weekly Parsha coincides with current events. It is becoming clear that J.D. Vance is not a friend of Israel.

This became abundantly clear when he gave Israel his self righteous lecture about how badly we need America. But it was also clear several months ago when he gave a talk using “equivalency.”

He equated the Hamas with the IDF, saying something like “Both of you hate each other and want to kill each other.” He did not indicate at all that one side was evil terrorits, and the other was fighting for all that is good and sacred.

We must be aware that in today’s complex world, “equivalency is the new Anti-Semitism. We must know our enemies and identify them. We praise Balak for his honesty. It’s the others that we need to expose, so that they are not able to harm us either.