Chukas-Balak: The Only Place To Find Honest & Helpful Advice (Bonus Episode)

From the famous axiomatic red heifer to the incomprehensible punishment of what seemed like an honest action from our Jewish leader to a recalcitrant talking donkey, a pairing up of two individuals, wretched reshoim, uniting with the goal of destroying the Jewish people. Eventually rounded off is our double parasha by an extraordinary act of valor And wow, the entertainment value, the life lessons oozing forth from our double parasha is extraordinary, and well, to begin unpacking some of its contents this week gives us a very special opportunity to answer a very contemporary issue that a lot of people struggle with, which is that it's very hard to get the honest advice that one needs in life. You see, we must know what we should do in life and therefore we should try to advise ourselves that. But the Gammar tells us that Adam, the car of the Aetzel, a person, is very close with himself. It's hard to see oneself honestly And furthermore, Aen Adam makes him Aetzmo, russia. The Gammar tells us that a person will not incriminate himself. Ultimately, it's hard to say yes, i'm a Russia and just do fulcruva. So we can't turn to ourselves. Maybe turn to mom. Moms are very nice, i don't know if they make you feel so bad. Turn to dad, perhaps, but then mom will be mad. Turn to your Rebbe. Yes, but they're very busy. Who are you going to ask for some good advice? Yet the entire second half of our double parshah speaks of the back and forth, the literal conversations between Bolog and Bilem, of how they're going to trip up the Jewish people and the eventual blessings of the Jewish people that Bilem gave to the Jewish people. What we get is an opportunity to be privy to what we are as Jewish people through our eyes, through the eyes of our enemy. And Rabbi Sy, rebbe Strel Salanter, tells us that the greatest advice giver that you will find in your life is your worst enemy. The Pentecost says Bekomen malai mirreim, tishme o naoznai, that when my enemy comes along, I listen in because while he is screaming, oh, i don't like you. It's perhaps the only piece of honest advice that you will get. He doesn't see you in a good light, for whatever reason. In our parshah, it's Bilem and it's Bolog. And what do we get? A total description of what we have, our godless, our glory and perhaps any of the chinks in our armor, of where we may fall as a nation, as the Jewish people. Unbelievable In this entire time. I wonder if the Jewish people even knew that all of this was happening. I don't know. Did they know that Bilem and Bolog were trying to curse them? and God save them? We have the schoss to hear what we are as Jewish people matoi buohalecha, yakov patsnealecha, semashemalechecha and all of our great mylas and how the certain areas of sin can trip us up. When someone is upset with you, someone is your enemy for whatever reason. They're just an interesting individual and they have picked a fight with you and they're yelling at you, do not fight back. That would be a perfect time to grab your notepad and start writing down all that he has to say, because sometimes it can be very tough to come by some honest advice.