Timeless Torah

Who is the first prophet from the ancient world whose predictions are recorded outside the Torah? If you thought Moses or Elijah, guess again. It’s Bilaam. In 1967, an unprecedented discovery of an ancient text found at Deir Alla, Jordan relates the activities of a “cursing” prophet. Could this be the Bilaam of this week’s Biblical section?  read more »

Bilaam, seer of the ancient world and famous for his curses, was a sought after commodity. As always, the avaricious magician hired his services to the highest bidder. In this week’s Biblical reading, the client was Balak, King of Moav, who desperately sent his most honored ministers to the base and covetous prophet. Our Sages are critical of Bilaam. Here was a man blessed with gifts equaling Moses; an individual granted the keenest of insights into the ways that G-d rules His world. And what did Bilaam do with these spiritual skills? He sold them for a few shekels.  read more »

The greatest director of all time was about to stage his masterpiece. First he turned up the spotlights. Then he scattered his props large and small exactly where they would produce the most effect. Finally, he brought on the actors, Adam and Eve. The human drama was about to begin.  read more »

This past century, the bloodiest in all of human history, should have lain to rest two of the most cherished theories about mankind that the professors of Enlightenment and Secular Humanism postulated. One was the idea that all moral questions, all issues of right and wrong, good and evil, were subject to being correctly decided on the basis of man’s reason alone, without the necessity (better put, without the interference) of divine revelation or organized religion. Man, and man alone, would be the final and autonomous arbiter of morality.  read more »

Throughout all the vicissitudes of history, the nature of space and time seemed rooted in immutability. Man's expectations, plans and hopes were limited by the constraints of the calendar and the map. Not only did the mile and the minute dominate everything, they reminded us that every beginning had an end, past which we could not follow.  read more »

The King of Moav was afraid, but why? It seems that the Israelites, having just triumphed over the giants Og and Sichon, were camping too close to his country for comfort.
The king’s solution? Hire the best sorcerer that money can buy.  read more »

While it may be true that, “All is fair in love and war,” nonetheless, at least the latter usually follows certain rules of engagement. Of course, one utilizes everything at one’s disposal to be victorious, whether it be superior position, manpower, materiel or intelligence. This is what the poets lyrically refer to as the art of war, and the generals call strategy. From this week’s Biblical reading, it seems that even sorcerers and wizards who are battling an enemy are forced to devise some sort of military game-plan.  read more »