What Balak is about: a frightened king and a greedy prophet, a sword-wielding angel and a talking donkey, curses transformed into blessings and a messianic prophecy, a plague provoked by pagan debauchery and a zealot who saves the day.
But also: the connection between Balaam and Laban, the Moabite ancestry of Moshiach, the duality of Jacob and Israel, the evolution of pleasure and the offal-worship of Peor.
Shabbat Candle Lighting Times New Haven, CT 06515:
