PARSHAT - Balak

Parshat BALAK

Balak focuses on the blessings given the Jewish people by the gentile prophet Bilaam. Balak, the king of Moab, feared that the Jews would attack him and his people on their way to Israel, and so he hired Bilaam, a gentile prophet to curse the Jews.
Although Bilaam sought to do Balak's bidding, whenever he prepared to deliver curses G-d put blessings in his mouth and he was forced to utter them. So powerful are his blessings that they are recorded in the Torah for eternity and we say them in our prayers.

Among Bilaam's prophecies is the only explicit allusion to Mashiach in the Torah: "A star shall shoot forth from Jacob."
This allusion is chosen, because Mashiach's coming will introduce new light into our existence, brightening our horizons.

Other sources explain that the star to which the verse refers is an analogy for every individual Jew. Every person is a source of positive energy, radiating light.

Chassidut fuses the two and explains that every person is a star, because every person contains a spark of Mashiach within his soul. There is in our souls - and in all existance - an element that is one with G-d. This is our personal star. And this is our spark of Mashiach.

The coming of Mashiach will initiate an era when the G-dliness which is at the core of every being will come to the surface.
This will not nullify the existance of any entitiy; instead it will allow every entity to redefine itself, and allow its true spiritual nature to surface.
May it happen now, amen!


Shabbat Shalom!