Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Balak 2007

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

Tonight we light candles at 8:14 PM. Our Friday evening service begins at 8 PM as our Bat Mitzvah Daniele Weiss leads us. We wish an early Mazel Tov to Daniele, Gary, Tami, Ma’ayan and all their family and friends who will be coming to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah.

Saturday morning services will begin at 9 AM. 

This week we read from the last third of parshat Balak, in the Book of Bemidbar/Numbers. In this week’s parasha, there is a Hebrew phrase that jumps off the page since it only appears four times in the entire Bible: makom acher, literally, “another place.” This phrase appears twice in the same chapter in this week’s parasha, once in the Book of Ezekiel, and once in the Book of Esther. 

In each example except the one in the Book of Esther, it appears that this phrase is a statement about geography. For example, in our parasha, Balak wishes to take Bilaam to “another location” so that Bilaam might offer a curse instead of a blessing. In the Book of Esther, Mordecai advises Esther that if she does not speak up for the Jewish people, then help will come from “another place” while Esther and her family will perish.(Esther 4:14) Here, Mordecai makes a veiled reference to God who will rescue the people. 

We can learn a lesson about Balak and Bilaam if we develop a connection between “makom acher” in our parasha and in the Book of Esther. When Balak takes Bilaam to “another place”, he may be using the term like Mordecai did as a reference to God. He may be saying that he hopes that Bilaam will offer the curse in the name of another God, not the God of Israel who loves the Israelites. We see, though, that Bilaam keeps faith with the God of Israel and continues to offer blessings.

Bilaam’s act of civil disobedience against Balak, the King of Moav, demonstrates the courage required to bless and love when others try to convince us to do otherwise. 

Tuesday July 3rd is the 17th day of the month of Tammuz. This is a fast day, from sunup to sundown, which commemorates the breach of the first Temple walls by the Babylonian armies. It is the beginning of the Three Weeks of mourning that precede Tisha Be’Av, the 9th of Av.

MAZEL TOV:

To Scott Isenberg on making the spring semester Dean’s list in the School of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh

**Families in Glen Rock, Fair Lawn and other towns, please share any information you have with me about student awards and achievements. rabbi@grjc.org**

THANK YOU:

To the GRJC family from Rachel and myself for the wonderful response to the Baby Basics tzedakah collection effort. We made a very significant delivery to the Bergen Family and Children’s services office. Yasher ko’ach.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. July Birthdays and Anniversaries – Join us next Friday night as we share blessings for all upcoming July birthdays (Ages 1-120) and anniversaries.

2. July 4th – Join in the Independence Day parade festivities, and bring with you non-perishable food items for donation. GRJC members will be collecting the food along the parade route.(The GRJC office will be closed on Jul. 4th.)

3. Save the Date: Thursday, July 12 – 11:45 AM—the next meeting of the Widows and Widowers support group.

4. Save the Date: Saturday, July 21, 9 AM – The adult Torah reading class will be reading for the first time as we begin the Book of Devarim/Deuteronomy. Join us for this wonderful milestone!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Tow
 

  Back to Home