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PARSHAT BALAK - THE POWER OF THE VOICE

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TorahZionist:
BS"D

YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva

PARSHAT BALAK
14 Tammuz 5767/29-30 June 2007


THE POWER OF THE
VOICE


“Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorite. Moab
became very frightened of the people because it was numerous, and Moab was
seized with dread in the face of the children of Israel.”

After witnessing the devastation which Israel bestowed upon the
neighboring nations, Moab was in an uproar. If the Jewish people were able
to destroy Moab’s allies and mighty protectors, including the giants Sichon
and Og, what hope would they have against the Jews? In desperation, they
turned to the famous gentile prophet and scorner, Bila'am, to save them.

One question comes to mind: Besides Amalek, who attacked the Jewish
people when we first left Egypt? After all, no other nation bothered us for
the entire 40 years that we wandered in the desert. And now, just days away
from entering the Land of Israel, nation after nation has come against us to
fight.

Why, then, did they come out to battle now? The answer is as relevant
today as it was yesterday: To stop the redemption process! While we were in
the desert, we were not a threat to any nation or to any way of life. But
now, with the entrance of the Jewish people into the Land of Israel, and
setting up a G-dly kingdom in this world which would ultimately mean the end
of their world, as they know it - the truth of the chosenness of Israel
would emerge, leaving behind their falsehood and lies. Today, too, as the
Jewish people return to their homeland, the nations and the “Erev-Rav” who
live amongst us have been trying their utmost to stop the current process.
They know, all too well, that the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of
their Land will ultimately lead to the complete Redemption and the building
of our Holy Temple. This, of course, will be their end, so they will stop at
nothing to try to reverse this process, which of course cannot be stopped.

The interesting thing about the action that Balak took was that he did
not come against the Jewish people in battle, as the previous nations did,
but through the power of the tongue, by hiring the wicked Bila'am. Why?
Balak sent a message to the wise men of Midyan, saying: The Jewish leader
Moshe grew up amongst you, so how is he so successful? They told him:
Moshe's and his followers' powers lie in their mouths. When they cry out to
G-d, He fulfills whatever they request of Him. Combat the Jews by the same
method. We advise you to summon Bila'am, whose power of speech matches that
of Moshe.

Today, too, the nations that surround us have learnt the lesson that to
fight us militarily is futile, as the wars of ‘48, ‘67 and ‘73 have proven.
How, then, do they come out against us? With the power of the tongue.
Through promises of peace in our time, Israel caves in and is willing to
give away parts of our Land, something that the nations were unable to
attain through war. All they have to do is to open their mouths, and Israel
bends over backwards to fulfill their enemies' requests.

Here we see G-d paying us back “measure for measure”, for the power of
the Jewish people is in our mouths. The Torah teaches us: “The voice is the
voice of Jacob”. But when we use our voices to put our trust in the nations
and cry out for salvation to all the "Washingtons" of today, then our most
feared weapon, “our voice” is given over to our enemies, and they, in turn,
hold that power over us, as we sadly see today.

We must then return to the source of our ultimate blessing - OUR voice -
and thus, as in the past, change the curses and hardships of the Redemption
process into blessings.


With love of Israel,
Levi Chazen


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Maccabi:
great article.

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