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Daily Chumash Summaries

De: Sarede Rachel Switzer
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  • Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

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    Sarede Rachel Switzer
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  • Balak, 3rd Aliya

    Balak, 3rd Aliya
    Jul 16 2024
    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comBilam's Journey to BalakIn the morning, Bilam wakes up and saddles his donkey. The fact that he saddled his own donkey shows how hatred disrupts the right order of one's mind, as he should not have saddled his own donkey. Rashi likens this haste of Bilam to when Avraham saddled his own donkey for Akedat Yitzchak.He leaves with the Moabite officers, united with them in mind, aware that G-d didn't want him to go but disregarded that.He brought two men with him and Rashi teaches that this demonstrates that a person of importance should travel with two people to serve him, and those two shall serve one another.G-d was angry about him going and He sent an angel of mercy to try to prevent him from going and perishing.This angel stood in the path in the road trying to block him. Bilam did not see the angel however his donkey did. G-d made it so that animals can see more than humans since humans would go mad if they saw too much due to their higher intelligence in relation to animals.The angel held a sword in its hand. Rashi says that this is because just as"the evil one" was putting aside his standard weapons to fight Israel with their weapon which is speech (the prayer of Israel is their weapon), G-d will attack this "evil one" with his weapon, i.e a sword.Upon seeing the angel, the donkey turns away from the road and goes into the field. Bilam strikes the donkey to try to get her to go back onto the main road.The angel stood now with a fence on either side made of stones. The donkey pressed herself and Bilam's leg against the wall.The angel went ahead of them, standing in a narrow space with no room to turn to the right or to the left.Side note: In total then, the angel is described as standing in the road three times with progressive amount of constraint. The Midrash Tanuchuma (chapter 8) describes that this was a progression of what was possible and not possible regarding cursing the Patriarch's descendants.First, the angel stands in the road with room on either side of him for anyone to pass. This represents Avraham who through bearing Ishmael and Keturah left openings for curses to come through them.The second time the angel stands, he is described as standing with a wall on either side of him that was broad enough just for two people to pass, i.e Bilam and his donkey on one side and one more. This second one was Esav whom Yitzchak bore and thus left room for curses to come through him.The third time the angel stood, he was in a narrow place with only room for one person to pass. This represented Yaakov who had only righteous descendants and thus no curse could have a hold on his family.The donkey saw the angel hiding under Bilam and Bilam hit the donkey with his staff out of anger. G-d caused the donkey to talk and the donkey said to Bilam "What did I do to you that you hit me three times*?"*Side note: These "three times" were an allusion to the fact that the Israelites are a nation that goes up to Jerusalem for a pilgrimage for three holidays.Bilam replied that it was because the donkey mocked him. He said that if he had a sword he would have killed the donkey by now. This last statement served to be very embarrassing to Bilam as the messengers of Balak who heard it thought, this person is planning to kill an entire nation using his mouth but he can't even kill his own donkey without a sword?The donkey retorted, "Am I not your donkey that you have ridden since birth? Do I usually act like this?" Bilam conceded that no he did not.G-d then uncovered Bilam's eyes so that he was now able to see the angel as well. The angel was standing with his sword drawn. Bilam prostrated himself.The angel said to Bilam, "Why did you strike your donkey three times? I blocked the road and thats why he turned away from the road. If your donkey hadn't had moved away from the path I would have killed you but let your donkey live."Bilam admits his guilt and said that he didn't know (and here again embarrasses himself by admitting that he doesn't know everything) that the angel was there on the road. He says in a hostile manner, "G-d told me to go, but now you, who are just an angel are telling me to go back? I'll go back if you tell me too."However, this is often G-d's manner to say one thing and then send an angel to contradict him. For example in Breishis Chapter 22 where G-d originally told Avraham to take his son up onto the alter (with Akeidas Yitzchok) and then later sent an angel to retract that command.The angel says, no go ahead ...
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    7 m
  • Balak, 2nd Aliya

    Balak, 2nd Aliya
    Jul 15 2024

    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”L

    To sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.com

    Bilam's Journey to Balak

    Bilam wakes up in the morning and tells Balak's officers that G-d will not let him go back with them. Due to his conceit, he made it sound like G-d wouldn't let him go because Balak's men weren't prestigious enough . So Balak kept sending more and more officers of higher rank. If Balak knew that G-d forbidding Bilam from going had nothing to do with the rank of the officers he would not have sent more messengers to him.

    The messengers told Bilam that Balak said that Bilam should not refuse him as Balak will give him more honor than he had received in the past and that he will obey anything Bilam tells him to do.

    Bilam replies that even if Balak were to give him his entire houseful of silver and gold (demonstrating Bilam's greed that he thought not only of silver and gold but of Balak's silver and gold specifically), he would not be able to go against G-d's word even slightly.

    Bilam tells these new messengers to stay the night as the others did (thus inadvertently hinting at the fact that they would fail in their efforts just as the first ones did). He says that that night he will see what else G-d will tell him ("what else" was him inadvertently foretelling that G-d would end up adding blessing to the Israelites through him).

    G-d comes to Bilam at night and tells Bilam regarding these new men who came to summon him that if it is for Bilam's benefit he should go with them however he should only do what G-d tells him to do.

    Bilam thought that he would be able to later on convince G-d to let him curse Israel.



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    4 m
  • Balak, 1st Aliya

    Balak, 1st Aliya
    Jul 14 2024
    Audio Summaries of the daily Chumash portions In loving memory of Ousher Zelig ben Myer HaLevi Z”LTo sponsor an episode please visit: https://itistaught.com/support-this-project/To get the daily chumash summaries in your email click here https://substack.com/profile/182692001-sarede-rachel-switzer?utm_source=profile-page.Subscribe on SpotifySubscribe on Apple PodcastsPlease consider leaving a review on the platform of your choice! For comments and inquiries, email itistaught@gmail.comIntroducing BilamBalak, son of Tzippor said to Moav, the two kings we had confidence in, Sichon and Og were both conquered by the Israelites. How will we, who are weaker, going to be able to defend ourselves from them?Moav realized that the Israelites were winning miraculously. They knew that their leaders grew up in Midian (see Shmos 2:15) so they decided to reach out to Midian to see what was unique about the Midianites.Moav and Midian were enemies, however out of fear of the Israelites, they unified and reconciled.As a side note, Balak was actually a Midianite prince however since Sichon died, the Moavites appointed him due to it being a state of emergency. Thus Balak was from the same place as Bilam.Midian informed Moav that the unique power of the Israelites was in their mouth/speech so they said ok let's also attack them with the mouth, hence they reached out to the prophet Bilam.Bilam is likened to a money changer whom everyone rushes to with letters from all of the kings.Rashi explains why it is that Bilam was able to have the shechina rest on him despite him being evil. He says that this is so that the non jewish nations should not claim that if only they had their own prophets they would have repented. Initially these nations had actually been modest in regards to sexual immorality until Bilam told them to be relaxed about it.Balak sends messengers to Bilam, together with money (so that this journey would be beneficial to Bilam) to convince him to come to Balak. The message states that there is a people who have come out of Egypt who "covered the eye of the land", i.e they conquered Sichon and Og who were the eyes of the land. This nation rests opposite Balak and he wants Bilam to curse them as they are more powerful than Balak. He is hoping that if Bilam curses them he will be able to successfully attack them, because "whomever (Bilam) blesses is blessed and whomever (he) curses is cursed).The elders of Moav and Midian take different kinds of charms with them just in case Bilam might need them so he could not claim that he does not have the accessories he needs for the task.Another understanding of these charms is that the messengers were prepared to read into Bilam's reply as a sign. They said if he agrees to come with them it will be a sign that he is substantial and if he refuses it means there's nothing to gain from him.Bilam tells them to stay the night and that in order to give them a proper response, he has to see what G-d will say to him. Although indeed Bilam needed G-d's permission in order to curse anyone, he didn't want them to think this, rather he made it sound as if he needed to know if these messengers were prestigious enough for Bilam to go with or if he should wait for more prestigious ones to arrive.When Bilam told them to stay the night, the officers of Moav stayed however the ones from Midian left, seeing this as a sign that he was giving them false hope.That night, G-d did speak to Bilam. The Holy Spirit only comes to non Jewish prophets at night (it was similarly so with Lavan).G-d said to Bilam, "Who are these men?" This question gave Bilam room to err in thinking that some things are concealed from G-d at some times so that even if G-d does not give him permission to curse the Israelites, he could find a time to curse them.Bilam replied that they were the people which Balak had sent regarding cursing a nation who had come out of Egypt whom Balak wanted to drive out*.*Side note: Balak only specified that he wanted to drive them out of his land (Bamidbar 22:6) however in leaving out the word "land" we see that Bilam wanted to drive them out of the world, and thus his hatred for the Israelites was greater than that of Balak.G-d said that he is not to go up with those men nor curse the Israelites as it is blessed.Bilam then says ok so I won't go up with them I'll curse them where I am. G-d replies that no he is not to curse them at all. Bilam says ok so I'll bless them. G-d says no they don't need your blessing they are already blessed. Rashi cites the Midrash Tanchuma (chapter 6) saying that this is like a wasp of whom we say we don't need your honey nor your sting. Get full access to Sarede’s Substack at sarede.substack.com/subscribe
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    6 m
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