Jewish tradition values personal modesty and meaningful inner growth that is not displayed for public attention. Such conduct is fitting for a people who serve God.

When Bilam stands before Balak, the air is thick with expectation. Altars are prepared, smoke rises, and the king waits to hear words that will turn fear into power. Yet each time the prophet opens ...

Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin writes that the names of the parshiot speak to the heart of the parsha’s message just as names do. Therefore, there is significance in the names of parshiot and in names ...

Something about the Jew elicits the worst fears in humanity and the approach of a nation wearied by a 40-year desert journey is extraordinarily alarming to the powerful monarch Balak. Parshat Balak ...

There is a clear parallel between Balak and events in the Book of Exodus. In both narratives, kings (Pharaoh of Egypt and Balak of Moab), alarmed about the success of the Jewish People, conspire to ...

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Jewish history began on the day that “Hashem said to Abram, Get yourself out from your country and from your homeland and from your father’s house, to the Land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

“Hen Am L’Vadad Y’Shkone...” (from the root BaDaD*). “Behold, it is a nation that shall dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations.” *More on this later. And so, Balaam’s attempted curse comes ...

The biblical King Balak may have been a historical figure, according to a new reading of the Mesha Stele, an inscribed stone dating from the second half of the 9th century BCE. A name in Line 31 of ...