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Balak 5781; 15 Tammuz 5781 BS”D June 25, 2021 15 Tammuz 5781 Potomac Torah Study Center Vol. 8 #36, June 25, 2021; Balak 5781; 15 Tammuz 5781 NOTE: Devrei Torah presented weekly in Loving Memory of Rabbi Leonard S. Cahan z”l, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Har Shalom, who started me on my road to learning 50 years ago and was our family Rebbe and close friend until his untimely death. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Devrei Torah are now Available for Download (normally by noon on Fridays) from www.PotomacTorah.org. Thanks to Bill Landau for hosting the Devrei Torah. New: a limited number of copies of the first attachment will now be available at Beth Sholom on the Shabbas table! ______________________________________________________________________________ I received an E-mail post from Israel last week reporting that a thug attacked an obviously Jewish boy on a street in Los Angeles. I did a Google search and found a photo of the boy, obviously Hassidic, and the thug who had been arrested. The incident took place on Melrose Avenue, and the cross street was Alta Vista. My family lived on Alta Vista Blvd., five blocks south of Melrose. A few weeks earlier, Arab thugs went seeking and physically attacking Jews on La Cienega Blvd., perhaps two miles west, this time no more than a five minute walk from where my family lived before we moved to Alta Vista. The Executive Director of Hillel at UCLA (Rabbi Aaron Lerner, a YCT alum) wrote that Jewish students at the university were afraid of physical attacks at school. In my twenty-nine years living in California (primarily in Los Angeles), I never experienced any anti-Semitism. Now Los Angeles seems to resemble Germany in the early 1930s. My opening words fit in with our parsha, Balak. After months of reading about the history of the Jews, from Avraham through the final year in the Midbar, we suddenly encounter a parsha devoted entirely to non-Jews (until the final seven pasookim). The people of Moab and Midian plot to curse and destroy B’Nai Yisrael and occasionally observe them going about their lives unaware of the evil plans to destroy them. As Rabbi Moshe Rube reminds us (see below), the intense anti-Semitism of Moab and Midian are a fitting introduction to the Three Weeks, the period leading up to the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem, a period that normally begins shortly after we read this parsha. The United Nations devotes considerable time passing resolutions attacking Israel, a country with less than 0.1 percent of the world population. Looking at a world map or globe, Israel is so small that it would be difficult to find (if it would even be large enough to see in scale). One would think that Jews and Israel would be so unimportant that they would not be worth mentioning in the context of factors affecting the world. Why, then, are Israel and Jews in general such a focus in the world? My beloved Rebbe, Rabbi Leonard Cahan, z”l, once discussed Bilaam as a satire. The Midrash (Pirkei Avot 5:22) makes the satire explicit by comparing and contrasting Avraham and Bilaam. The Devrei Torah below by Rosh Yeshiva Dov Linzer and by Rabbi Yitz Etshalom delve into the comparison in detail. The Torah uses the same language to describe Avraham’s journey with Yitzhak to the Akeidah and Bilaam’s journey with the representatives of Midian. Avraham understood God’s wishes and rushed to follow them, while Bilaam understood God’s wishes and tried to work around them (to curse those whom Hashem wished to bless). Avraham saw everything; Bilaam saw nothing and needed a speaking donkey to open his eyes. The outstanding collection of Devrei Torah below delves into Bilaam’s intense hatred of the Jews. While God would not permit Bilaam to curse the Jews, He did not prevent Bilaam, the political advisor, from telling Midian how to make the Jews curse themselves (by leading them into idolatry and sexual sin). We find soul mates of Bilaam among our people today – such as Jews active in BDS and J Street. These self hating Jews blame Israel and Jews for defending ourselves from neighboring people (in the spirit of Moab and Midian) who keep attacking, hoping to destroy Israel and support anti- Semites all over the world. Idolatry and senseless hatred (of our fellow Jews) led God to destroy the temples in Jerusalem. Many of our people believe that parallel sins are the reason why we are still waiting for Moshiach to come. We know the answer – and it is us (our people) more than anything else. If we do not learn from the past, our punishment 1 will be to live through the same mistakes again. The Germany of my parents’ generation was bad enough for all time. Let us not help a new Hitler to bring it back again. Rather, let us start working on tikkun olam, doing our part to work toward a solution for hatred. We can increase our commitment to helping Israel. Rather than senseless hatred, we can look toward unqualified love for fellow Jews. By learning more about the situation and facts in Israel, we can prepare answers to those who blame Israel in every dispute involving neighboring people and countries. Let us do our part to work toward a better future for our children and grandchildren. Shabbat Shalom, Hannah & Alan ________________________________________________________________________________ Much of the inspiration for my weekly Dvar Torah message comes from the insights of Rabbi David Fohrman and his team of scholars at www.alephbeta.org. Please join me in supporting this wonderful organization, which has increased its scholarly work during the pandemic, despite many of its supporters having to cut back on their donations. ________________________________________________________________________________ Please daven for a Refuah Shlemah for Menachem Mendel ben Chana, Eli ben Hanina, Yoram HaKohen ben Shoshana, Gedalya ben Sarah, Mordechai ben Chaya, Baruch Yitzhak ben Perl, David Leib HaKohen ben Sheina Reizel, Zev ben Sara Chaya, Uzi Yehuda ben Mirda Behla, HaRav Dovid Meir ben Chaya Tzippa; Eliav Yerachmiel ben Sara Dina, Amoz ben Tziviah, Reuven ben Masha, Meir ben Sara, Yitzhok Tzvi ben Yehudit Miriam, Yaakov Naphtali ben Michal Leah, Ramesh bat Heshmat, Rivka Chaya bat Leah, Zissel Bat Mazal, Chana Bracha bas Rochel Leah, Leah Fruma bat Musa Devorah, Hinda Behla bat Chaya Leah, Nechama bas Tikva Rachel, and Ruth bat Sarah, all of whom greatly need our prayers. _____________________________________________________________________________ Hannah & Alan _____________________________________________________________________________ Are Pregnant Women Obligated to Fast on Religious Fast Days Opinion of Rabbi Moshe Zuriel * Many Rabbis are questioned by pregnant women if they are obligated to fast on Yom Kippur and other fast days, such as Tisha B'Av. These women fear that fasting may lead to miscarriage or premature birth, with its consequent damages to the infant. A respected rabbinic authority in Israel, Rabbi Israel Fisher, permitted pregnant women to eat and drink during Yom Kippur, if limited to small amounts, 30 grams of solids (about one ounce) and 40 grams of liquids, if no more than that is taken during any nine minute period. This can be done again and again at proper nine minute intervals. The reason for this, he claimed, is that to his knowledge tens of pregnant women doing this fast, had miscarriages. We know that Pikuah Nefesh, even of a fetus, takes priority over fasting. Many prominent rabbis disagreed with this permissive ruling, citing the Shulhan Arukh which specifically prohibits eating or drinking anything on this day, even for pregnant women. Rabbi Moshe Zuriel, a highly respected rabbinic scholar in Israel, has written an article in which he supports the view of Rabbi Fisher. Rabbi Zuriel checked with medical authorities and found that Rabbi Fisher is right! 2 Statistics gathered by the Siroka Hospital (Be-er Sheba) were drawn from the past twenty three years dealing with 744 births. The study (http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/14767058.2014.954998) has revealed that the risk factor was significantly higher among those Jewish women who were fasting on Yom Kippur. In cases of premature birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, the percentages of death of the fetus were 75-80 percent. Premature births also face problems relating to proper lung development, damage to the nerve system, stomach problems, sight and hearing problems. In the Hebrew article that was published in the Israeli Techumin (volume 37, pages 71-81), Rabbi Zuriel cites a prominent Halakhic authority, Havot Yair who ruled that eating less than the prohibited quantity (Shi-ur akhila) is only Rabbinically prohibited. Therefore, if a pregnant woman feels weak and unable to fast the full day, she should be permitted to eat and drink less than the prohibited quantity. Rabbi Zuriel cites other halakhic authorities who concur with Rabbi Fisher's ruling. The halakha calls for leniency when there is a doubt concerning saving human life. Pregnant women who feel great weakness due to the fast and had no chance to ask their doctor's advice before the fast day, and during the fast day have not the ability to ask their rabbi, should eat and drink the modicum amounts aforementioned at no less than nine minute intervals. It is advised that pregnant women consult their doctor and rabbi prior to the onset of a fast day, in order to determine what is best in their own specific case. * Rabbi Moshe Zuriel is a highly respected rabbinic scholar in Israel and author of numerous volumes on Torah topics. [Ed. Note: I have heard Rabbi Antine from Beth Sholom in Potomac, MD cite the 9 minute rule on previous fast days.] https://www.jewishideas.org/article/pregnant-women-and-fasting ________________________________________________________________________ A Candidate for Blessings By Rabbi Label Lam © 2007 [Please remember Mordechai ben Chaya ( Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky) for a Mishebarach!] How goodly are your tents Yaakov, your dwelling places Israel… (Bamidbar 24:5) So flattering are the words of Bilaam that if not for their lengthiness our sages would have included them in our daily recital of the Shema.
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