Numbers 22:2-25:9
A foreign king seeks to curse Israel, but the prophet Balaam finds himself compelled to bless them instead. Through poetic oracles, Israel is seen from the outside as a people chosen and protected by God. The parashah suggests that Israel’s destiny cannot be undone by hostile intent
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Balak by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
While the Israelites wandered in silence, convinced that God had abandoned them, their enemies were unknowingly blessing them under Divine compulsion. What does this hidden drama reveal about faith, paradox, and God’s presence in the darkest chapters of history?
A Warning to Our Rabbis
In Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Balak by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
How much might Judaism have benefited from people like Jesus, Elisha Ben Avuyah and Spinoza, had they not been rejected and had they contributed to the tradition in which they were raised?
Modern culture insists that identity is something we choose. We are expacted to choose our affiliations, our values, and our commitments as if selecting a product from a shelf. Judaism insists on something deeply countercultural: that identity is received long before it is chosen.