He Tried to Curse the Jews—What Happened Next Changed History

Shalom Aleichem Chevra, so glad you're here with us! What happens when the most powerful sorcerer in the ancient world tries to curse the Jewish people — and his own donkey tries to stop him? In this shiur we dive deep into Parshas Balak, picking up right where the action gets wild. We're walking through the sequence of Bilaam and his donkey, and the Chevra is going to see something that blew us away — the angel that appears with a drawn sword is specifically using the weapon of Eisav's world, the sword, to send Bilaam a message: you came to fight with words and curses, not a sword, and it's going to be your own weapon that brings you down. Rashi spells this out and it's stunning. We also get into why the donkey saw the angel and Bilaam didn't, what the vineyard setting hints at with wine going either toward blessing or destruction, and the incredible Gemara in Brachos that says the Rabbis actually wanted to include Parshas Balak in the daily Shema — right alongside Kriyas Shema itself. They only left it out because it would add fifteen minutes twice a day. Think about what that tells us about how essential this parsha really is. One of the most powerful moments we unpack is th