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Volume 28 No. 42 BALAK Daf Hashavua

23 July 2016 • 17 Tammuz 5776 ends in London at 10.01pm Artscroll p.856 • Hertz p.668 • Soncino p.915 The Fast of 17th Tammuz is deferred until Sunday, beginning at 2.34am and ending at 9.54pm

Solutions in Home Education the Sidrah by Rabbi Yoni Birnbaum, Hadley Wood Jewish Community

This year’s annual State of Education Report, Lord planted, like cedars beside the waters”. published by The Key, an advice and Rabbi Shimshon Rapahel Hirsch (d. 1888) information service for head teachers, understands this verse as praising the effect contained a disturbing finding. In a survey of that the Jewish home has on both itself and more than 2,000 primary school leaders and the rest of the Jewish community. governors across the country, a third felt that Each household and branch of the family pass more than half of new pupils are ‘below the on their Jewish heritage, the , to the next expected level of school-readiness’. generation, like ‘brooks that bring blessing’. Fergal Roche, chief executive of They achieve this through a The Key, stated that lack of social combination of the delicate scent skills, delayed speech and lack of ‘aloe trees’, representing their of resilience were the most refined, noble spiritual character, commonly cited issues, with and the strength and endurance of many feeling that parents’ use of ‘cedar trees’. smartphones was a contribut- A Jewish child may study Torah ing factor. One school leader values in school or in cheder. remarked: “Four-year-olds know However, what creates the biggest impression how to swipe a phone but haven’t a clue about are the words heard at home, teaching and conversations”. inspiring the child as to what their identity as In this week’s sidrah, Bilam set out to curse the a Jew actually represents. Jewish people, but his intentions were Yet the verse also emphasises that the Jewish famously transformed into some of the home does not exist on an island. Each of greatest blessings that exist in the entire Torah. these ‘brooks’ are ‘like gardens by the river’, Perhaps the most well-known of these is filled with their own unique and special “How goodly are your tents, Ya’akov”, which qualities, but simultaneously making a lasting Rashi (d. 1105) explains to be a praise of the contribution to the wider community, traditional Jewish home, with its modesty, the ‘river’ that all individual households dignity and refinement (Bemidbar 24:5). share. Perhaps if this educational model was This theme continues in the next verse, which more widely implemented across society, reads as follows: “They extend like streams, like next year’s State of Education Report might be gardens by the river, like aloe trees which the more positive! Balak – The Great Orator by Rabbi Mendel Lew Stanmore & Canons Park United Synagogue

Hollywood loves a blockbuster, in any genre. ‘mouth’ – its ability to speak Some of the most successful and popular – was fashioned and formed movies have portrayed animals com- in the closing stages of municating in human language, including the 6 Days of Creation. In bears, mice, lions and donkeys. Insects other words, it was not and fish have also ‘come to life’. They have meant to be this way. all digitally been given a ‘voice’. It has turned Viewing His wondrous these creatures who in real life could create handiwork, G-d saw fit to create panic and hysteria, into cuddly, lovable something unique, to be used just once, and huggable companions. millennia later. Then the movie ends, the The Seforno (d. 1550) views this fantasy is over. Back in the remarkable phenomenon as a real world, never the twain valuable and critical lesson to shall meet. Each species fits Bilaam – and to us. The opening into its own environment. line before reciting the They communicate in the way (standing ) is: “My Lord, they were created. They open my lips” (Psalm 51). G-d certainly do not interact ver- created lips which can arti- bally with humans. If one’s culate words and messages. pet was to suddenly speak He, and He alone, can grant intelligibly, it would not be this ability, even to an animal. a laughing matter. It would And He can also remove it from more likely be a terrifying and those formerly blessed with this startling development. And expertise. one would run a mile from such a creature. When his donkey started talking to him, it In this week’s sidrah (Bemidbar chapter 22), dawned on Bilaam that G-d regarded his status the donkey of Bilaam, the prophet hired by as no greater than that of a donkey. His the Moabites to curse the Children of , previous status been forfeited by his behaviour. suddenly opened its mouth and spoke to him. Effectively, one member of the animal king- Not gibberish, but articulate, meaningful, dom was communicating with another. The passionate and strong words. Astonishingly, story continues with G-d controlling what Bilaam did not flee for his life – he actually Bilaam said. Once he was not prepared to joined in the discussion! He argued back and use G-d's gift of speech appropriately, G-d forth with a donkey. An animal was com- intervened to protect His people. municating real human words, and Bilaam A human being is blessed with the ability did not seem to be alarmed! to talk politely and calmly and to harness To appreciate how spectacularly unusual it is this talent to enhance the environment. for an animal to communicate as a human A stable home and a happy life may depend being, in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers, on the next word. Make it count. Ensure it chapter 5), it mentions that this donkey’s is meaningful. The Structure Korbanot & Pesukei D’Zimra of Prayer Rabbi Daniel Epstein, Cockfosters and N Southgate Part 2 United Synagogue

(All page references are to the green ) foster a positive outlook on life. We read about the myriad ways that G-d looks after If last week’s description of the opening His world, His people and the Land of Israel. blessings that we say each morning (p. 4-24) can be compared to a ‘gratitude journal’, then The source for this section of prayer comes the next section is all about mindfulness and from an interesting statement in the Talmud: praise. “Rabbi Yose said: ‘May my portion be among This section contains Torah and Talmudic those who complete (praise) every day ... passages that deal with some of the offerings Rabbi Yose's statement about Hallel refers to that were brought up in the Temple (p. 24-34). Pesukei D’Zimra [and not formal Hallel, which In a broad sense, our modern day is reserved for festivals]” (Shabbat 118b). replace the daily Temple sacrifi- Among the beautiful and poetic cial services. The Babylonian descriptions of G-d’s wonders Talmud (Menachot 110a) equates encapsulated in the are: the learning of the sacrificial rites to actually offering the • “Baruch She’amar” – ‘Blessed is sacrifices themselves; the ulti- He who spoke … [and the world mate salvation of a lost Temple came into being]’ – this is the world through a world of prayer. opening blessing, introducing the praises that will follow. Sadly, some of us may gloss over this section of the prayers all • “” – introducing Psalm too quickly without giving them 145, acrostically praising G-d’s due attention. As Rabbi Isaac love and sustaining of His Bernstein of Finchley United creations. Synagogue (d. 1994) used to quip, “When we • “Az Yashir” – The Song at the Sea – this is a are running late, the first thing we ‘sacrifice’ rousing finale to this section, with the are the Korbanot…!” ultimate example of unified national praise, as As the Korbanot section comprises sections sung by Moshe and the People in the from the Torah, Mishna and Rabbinic teach- aftermath of the Splitting of the Red Sea. ings, it is considered to be like a session of • “” – this mirrors the opening Torah study and is therefore followed by the blessing, summarising 15 attributes of G-d’s Rabbis’ (“Kaddish d’Rabbanan”); this might and ending with the beautiful words: provides the first opportunity in the “… Master of wonders, Who delights in hymns service for mourners to say Kaddish for of song; King, G-d, Giver of life to the world”. recently departed relatives. How can we let such aspiring and inspiring The next section (p. 40-60) of the Morning sentiments pass us by? Perhaps have a Service is known as “Pesukei D’Zimra” (‘Songs glance at the translation of the prayers and of Praise’). This section contains, at its take a moment to sit and ponder them. core, various Psalms (Tehilim), designed to We are indeed truly blessed. Insights into The Canonisation of the Tanach Jewish History by Rebbetzen Ilana Epstein, Cockfosters & N Southgate United Part 42 Synagogue; US Living & Learning Head of Project Development

The contributions of Ezra and Nechemiah to They have stood the test of time and are the the rebuilding of a community in foundation of much of the practice and out of the ruins of the First Temple cannot observance of until this day. be overstated. The proof of their efforts is the fact that religious life found its centre According to some scholars, one of their once again in Jerusalem, under the most important takanot was the canon- leadership of the Men of the . isation of the – known as the TaNaCH – ‘T’ for Torah, ‘N’ for Nevi’im Nehemiah’s dedication to financially (Prophets) and ‘Ch’ for Ketuvim (Writings). stabilising the new Yishuv The word ‘canon’ derives from the Greek (community) meant that word meaning ‘rule’ or ‘measuring stick’. Ezra and the Men of the Books that are canonised are books that are Great Assembly could considered closed; books that cannot focus on closing the be added to or subtracted from. What gaping chasm that was it about this period that made existed between the the Men of the Great people and the Torah. Assembly feel that now The Men of the Great was the time to ‘close Assembly included the the book’ on the addi- wisest men of the nation. tion of new works? They numbered 120, an in- The Talmud tells us that prophecy, which had crease from the High Court – the Sanhedrin followed the people from the time of – that had existed from the time of Moshe. Avraham, was starting to dissipate and The Sanhedrin numbered up to 71 members. ultimately would disappear during this point It is possible that the increase to 120 in history. The Men of the Great Assembly reflected the will of their Persian overlords, decided that only books that had been who established great courts in all the lands written with Divine inspiration (‘Ru’ach they conquered, with 120 people in each. HaKodesh’) could be included, and even then The Men of the Great Assembly, together only prophecies that would be needed for with Ezra, enacted ‘takanot ’ (Rabbinic laws). posterity and for the generations to come.

United Synagogue Daf Hashavua Produced by the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue, together with US Living & Learning Editor: Rabbi Chaim Gross Editor in Chief: Rabbi Baruch Davis Available also via email US website www.theus.org.uk ©United Synagogue To sponsor Daf Hashavua please contact Richard Marcus on 020 8343 5685, or [email protected] If you have any comments or questions regarding Daf Hashavua please email [email protected]