BS”D

BALAK – How Good Are Your Tents Jacob, Your Mishkan Yisrael?!, A Blessing or Challenge, Like Purim or Pesach?

Dr M Bank

A Gutten Erev Shabbos everyone. It’s really an epic parsha this week, parshas Balak, about the trials and tribulations of Am Yisrael, by what appears to be all Israels enemies. A selection of different enemies, each more ominous than the next. Many nations in the world throughout history have had concerns about their neighbours but have lived peacefully. It seems what Balak was concerned about was that Am Yisrael were coming to like up the other nations like an ox eats grass, and the commentaries say about that, that Moab and Midian had been traditional enemies, but now they came together in response to the perceived threat from Israel which was really a peaceful nation, which they feared would uproot and utterly destroy everything in their (Israel’s) path. Like an ox, to use their description, that licks up the grass of the field. Look at what the commentaries say – an ox that eats the grass of the field, pulls out the roots of the grass so that nothing is left of the grass ever again, it is absolutely decimated. This was their fear. That Am Yisrael was like an ox, consuming everything in its way. But we know that Am Yisrael asked permission from Esav and many other nations, on its journey into Israel. But some of those nations refused and challenged us with the sword. It may have been possible that we could have slayed them, but it wasn’t a matter of military strength, it was but for the grace of H we go forward. So, today, we see incredible challenges facing us. We see all the nations of the world, in one way or another, every nation of the 70 nations of the world were united. Why? Because which nation of the nations of the world recognizes Jerusalem? Jerusalem, which 40 years ago HKB’H gave to Am Yisrael, a united Jerusalem. Whether we use it correctly and understand what it is for is another issue entirely. H’ 40 years ago gave us a united Jerusalem. He gave Jerusalem to us. In 40 years, which nation of the world has recognized the reality, that Jerusalem is the united eternal capital of the Jewish people? How many nations in the world have their embassy here in the capital, Jerusalem? Not one. That is a damning incrimination of how the nations of the world are voting unanimously, like 70 wolves, surrounding us, and they are coming in for the kill. We shouldn’t kid ourselves for a second. The prophecies of the prophets predict, that what will be on that great and awesome day, that all H’s enemies, that 5^th column so to speak that is in the Camp of Israel, working with the enemies, and all those that are outside the camp, working for the destruction of Am Yisrael, H will take revenge. We are sure of one thing. As long as there is heaven and earth, there is Am Yisrael. That is H’s personal guarantee. But then what do we have to pray for? We have to pray with all our might that we will be part of am Yisraela dn that we will be zoche to continue to be part of Eretz Yisrael, and that H should protect His nation. So, all those righteous gentiels out there that are really concerned about H and His nation, and themselves for that matter, righteous gentiles that keep the 7 mitzvos, to whom the Rosh Yeshiva so bravely transmits.

So I would like to contemplate this weeks parsha, and ask is it like Purim or Pesach? What is the hidden message here. Is it that of Purim or Pesach, or different entirely. Every step forward we make, the picture will, I hope, become clear.

Firstly, we see at the beginning of the Parsha, Balak comes to Bilaam, having seen what Am Yisrael did to the Amalekite nation, the world became very frightened of the people. Moav was disgusted at the sight of the children of Israel. They said, they cover the face of the earth. We would imagine something maybe like the Chinese people, or that there is nothing else in the world besides Moab, Midyan and the Jewish people. Everything besides these 2 nations, they perceived as being part of the swarming nation called Am Yisrael. Our impact on world history is such that you only need to look at the world headlines, in almost ever newspaper across the world every day. The future of the world depends upon Am Yisrael. When I was in the States there was a Chinese student in our specialist program. He said to me, how many Jews are there in the world. I said, ‘at a guess, something like 10-15 million Jews. That was about 20 years ago. So he said ‘Rubbish’. I said ‘why?’ He said, “Well, I will give you an example – firstly, how many Chinese are there in the world – 1 or 2 billion. How often is it that they make the world headline. Not so often. Secondly, in this university, (The University of Boston). How many professors in the specialist program are Jewish?” He got us counting. Out of about 10, 7 were Jewish. He continued “ So we have it, 70% of the world population is Jewish. If we (the Chinese) represent 10% of the world population, consequently, there must be around 10 billion Jews”. I think he got it right actually. At the time of Yetzias Miztrayim, there were probably more Jews than Chinese, if you drew parallel exponential curve. H says if you walk in my ways you will be the most blessed of nations. If not, you will be left to the hand sof your enemies. H will just do one thing.- He will hide his face. When we left Egypt we became a supernatural nation. There was no way we could have left without a miracle. We do not believe in blind forces of nature and history. Our history is His story. We were not in a position to survive Egypt. If we ever returned, figuratively speaking, they would have decimated us. Had we stayed, they would have decimated us until We see from this a tremendous insight. The Chinese developed without major calamities. There were never exiles, they were never attacked and decimated by any other nation. In all of these 2000 years we have been running from country to country. Whatever remnant has survived the sword, of our host -nation so to speak, has lost its wordly possessions, and been happy to continue with his life and the clothes on his back. So, statistically 80% of every generation in the last 2000 years didn’t survive, which was like the plague of darkness in Egypt. 1 in 5 managed to get out of Egypt. When we are in Israel, there is a different equation completely. There is tremendous potential of going form generation to generation going forward, in the land, unless the land vomits them out in which case they go back to the concentric descending spiral of the melting pot of Egypt and Aushwitz. It is a very frightening concept, but statistically even today, 8 out of 10 tragically in America, have chosen to marry the Midianite and Moabite belly dancers. They squander their eternal heritage. So we have to pray with all our might that our brothers and sisters wake up and return to Torah, Eretz Yisrael, and they are also Zoche to Olam Haba in Olam Haze.

So, moving forward on this whole equation, Moav turned to Midian for advice about what to do to destroy Israel. The Midianites said that Israel’s strength is in their mouth, ie in their prayers, Torah and prophecy. So the Moabites sent for an evil prophet, Bilam, whose power lay in his mouth as well, his ability to curse. He had a reputation that if he cursed somebody they were cursed and if he blessed them, they were blessed. The commentaries say something fantastic.

Bilam the Prophet

H in His eternal wisdom, ordained that the gentile nations should also have a prophet, who would be comparable to Moses. In one way. But clearly not in another. Much inferior to Moshe Rabbeinu on the Avodas H’ but on a prophecy level, he prophesied almost like Moshe Rabbeinu. So that the other nations of the world would not be able to compain that if only they somebody who would be able to communicate to them the ratzon H’, H’s desires, they would have been as righteous as Am Yisrael, according to the Ramban. Bilam was that prophet. This parsha centres around his ability to curse and his attempts, while commissioned by King Balak of Moab, to curse the advancing nation of Israel. The Sages teach that there is an instant in each day, like a millionth of a second, that H ours out His anger, whatever it is, in the world. This oculd be car accidents, hurricanes, tornadoes or whatever it is, these are unleashed in those milliseconds (Brachot 7a, Avoda Zara 4a). Menaing that H judges sinners in 1 milli-second. It is a terrifying thing, that in the whole day of 24 hours, judgment is unleashed on the world. If that weren’t the case, the whole of the earth’s surface would be subject to such decimation and destruction that almost all the earth’s surface would be destroyed, Only those that cry out to H’ will survive (Yoel 3,3). I’ll ask you in a state of awe – how many people in the world today know to cry out to H’ if they are in all kinds of life danger? Hw many people cry out to all sorts of things, How many people scream at each other. The tragedy and awe of the situation is that if we are a light unto the nations, the whole world will cry out to H’. It is impossible for the world to survive the great and awesome day other than by crying out.

Bilam tried to destroy Am Yisrael’s emuna, his total essence in this world. If someone is guilty of a transgression, he is most vulnerable in that milli-second. Bilam had a prophecy to know exactly when that milli-second arrived. A curse at that moment could subject the victim and bring the wrath of H’., Balak hired Bilam to curse Am Yisrael, but H warned him against carrying out his plans. The parsha tells of his repeated futile attempts and how he insisted on trying to curse them until he blessed them. The Torah records the futile actions of Balak and Bilaam to inform the world that H runs the world and that nothing can go against H’s will.

What I would like to share something at this moment that is truly amazing. Moab and Midian go to Bilam to curse Am Yisrael. H says to Bilam, you shall not go with them. He tells Balak this. H gave him 3 warnings, You shall not go with them. You shall not curse them for theya re blessed, ie don’t even bother to bless them. Your blessings don’t vount for anything. But, if you are going to bless them, be warned that even for your blessings you are not going to get reward, because H blesses Am Yisrael, it says Yevarech Mevorach, H blesses those that bless Am Yisrael. So what is going on with Bilam. Even if he wants to bless Eretz Yisrael, he can’t. He wont be rewarded for it. And don’t curse them for sure, because if you curse them, you are cursed – Arartem, Arur. We see how profounf this is in the world today, The awesomeness and open miracles that H does to protect Am Yisrael. I can’t help thinking of the road map that goes from Aza to Azazel. All those people that have funded that road will be taken by it to Azazel. Anybody that is funing the plishtim in their war against Am Yisrael, H takes the lot of them over the abyss into Geheniom. The 2 State solution, which is the opposite to the Torah solution. The Torah says that we will be one nation in the land alone. Everything that the enemies of H are doing is to try to demonstrate, denigrate and decimate the Torah. However, according to the way a person sins, so is his punishment. H will curse them and take revenge on each and every one,. That we can be absolutely sure of. All we have to do is hold tight to the etz HaChatim. We are in a tremendously tense time, a time of storms and hurricanes. People are getting blown away. So when we get back to the subject of Bilam and Balak, H says to Bilam in posuk 12, you shall not go with them. According to the way a man wishes to go, H knows what will be his end. Even as Bilam was getting ready in the morning H said no, if you follow that road it will be a road to destruction. The March of the grave. Tragically enough, a week or 2 ago, people marched to make a public point that they are gay. For those that don’t do teshuva, there is 0 prognosis. We just have to hope and pray that most of am Yisrael are zoche to teshuva gamur, but the reality is that those that try to mock H and his Torah, H will ultimately mock them. The ultimate irony of those that met with the enemies of Israel to chop Am Yisrael to pieces, h ve’shalom and how their careers were chopped into pieces. It goes on yom yom. Mind-boggling. Like the decision that came out yesterday against the Nasi of Israel, accused of moral indiscretion. Such tragic behaviour of such a person with such high moral responsibilities, who should be an example to the nation, who was willing to do something called a plea bargain. Accept the first psak, the first judgement, so that they can bargain away the second judgment. He admitted to moral incorrectness, that he behaved in an incorrect way, therefore they cancelled the second charge of rape. The President of Israel stood accused before the Supreme Court of Israel of rape. They made a pleas bargain, but what of the poor lady on the receiving end? All her testimony? What about the pursuit of Justice? They found it fit to go into negotiations and bargain away justice. They offered a 2 for 1 special. They were not interested in whether it was rape. This is a shocking testimony as to how far a person can go from Tzedek Tzedek tirdof.

H said to Bilam don’t go. Don’t even leave. Once you leave you are on an irresistible path to your grave. You shall not curse the people because anybody that curses the people is cursed. This nation, don’t even bless them because I , H , bless them Myself. They don’t need your blessing because you are certainly not a friend of theirs. If h had not commanded him not to curse he absolutely would have, he would have done everything inhis power to devastate and decimate Am Yisrael, Chas Veshalom. H warned him from the beginning. We see that he could not resist the money and the power. Trhese seduced him to go on a path to his grave. Even when his donkey stopped in her tracks when she saw the angel, with a fiery sword, ready to destroy him. Bilam beat the donkey viciously to try to get it to go forward. Finally H showed him the angel and he said OK I’ll go back. At that stage H said, no go forward. There is no return. There is no teshuva for you. You have gone over the edge to eternal destruction. There is an awesome limud here. By not listening a tiny bit at the outset, his destiny was sealed. The angel had his sword drawn and told him. Lurking in his heart was an ayin hora. His taiva was greater than his fear. Bilm brought burnt offerings and searched for a way to curse the nation. He built 7 alters. He tried to communicate in order to destroy Am Yisrael. Terrifyingly he nearly succeeded. Bilam had warned Balak that whatever he does, he could not go against the will of H and that H would put utterances into his mouth. …This is a nation that will dwell in solitude. Am levadad yishcon. This is a nation that will dwell in splendid isolation. It is not fir us to be like the goyim or to invite them to missionise or proselytize. This is the one nation that does not promote other people to become part of the nation. It discourages other people from becoming part of this nation to the extent that a person has to go to great lengths to see that the convert is valid. Many are rejected. They all have to be introduced to the 7 Noahide Laws, because that is our light unto the nations. “It will dwell in splendid solitude, not to be reckoned amongst the nations”. H doesn’t count us among the other nations. Who reckons the dust of Yaakov or numbers a quarter of Israel. Let my soul die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his. This one sentence is evidence that in all of the Torah, there is a revelation. Bilam prayed that his death would be like that of the righteous of Israel, and that when his life ended, he should be admitted, like Am Yisrael, to the world to come, Olam Haba, Gan Eden. So, in this sentence, “let my sould die the death of the upright, and may my end be like his”, the commentaries say that he wanted to have the next world like Am Ysirael, but refused to behave in this world with the same values as Am Yisrael. As a matter of fact, his donkey accused him, saying ‘haven’t I been loyal to you all these years’. The commentators say something shocking, that he had intimate relations with his donkey. He was like a donkey himself. His donkey complained that he was beating her when all his life she had been loyal to him. It is a mindboggling wickedness of terrifying proportions. We can’t imagine what must be going on out there, amongst the depraved people in the world, that H has to warn people that bestiality carries the death sentence and that the same gender also carries the death sentence. It is an utter abomination, as H describes it in the Torah. All those people who think that following the mida of Gaiva that they proudly present themselves to the world as an alternative choice, they have chosen death. A tragedy. It wasn;t a march of the brave but a march to the grave. A terrible tragedy for those that refuse to accept H and his Torah. So we see a deeper level over here.

Balak said to Bilam, what have you done? I brought you to curse my enemy and behold, you have even blessed them. Bilam answered it is not so. Whatever H puts in my mouth, that I have to say. Come with me to another place… You will see from the edge. This is a tremendous insight. Look at those jews on the periphery of the nation. Look at Amalek. He was mekarer the weak ones, the weak ones that were trailing behind. Amalek has always preyed on them and always put pressure on them to try to lead them astray, to shmad them to horeg, abed and sham them. These are the unique middos of Amalek. Esav’s intention was always to assimilate or to annihilate. With Ishmael his intention was to bow down or die by the sword. To bow down to his faith, and that applies to the whole world, which he is at war with, the holy war against the western civilization, that is the war of Yishmael. It says that he will be at the world with his sword and they will be at him with their sword. Today we still see that posuk in the Torah true as at the very first. So what happened is that Bilam went to the periphery and had a vision of something. Once again he had a prophecy. It is proverbial that the enemy of Israel feels that the very blood, the life blood is totally destroyed by Am Yisrael, there is nothing left of them, there is not a remnant of their nation. Balak pleaded with Bilam and took him to a different place. There he built seven alters and sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. This corresponded to a prophecy Bilam knew. This time he did not set himself towards prophecy but looked at the camp of Bnei Yisrael. He said this is the prophecy of Bilam ben Beor, of the Ayin Satum, hidden or open eye. Even when his eyes were closed, he received prophetic visions, when he was asleep. Moshe Rabbeinu’s prophecy was infinitely greater, like a man speaking to his friend face to face. Moshe Rabbineu was fully awake, he didn’t need to be unconscious, in a trance or asleep. Chazal say in the eigth chapter of Brochos, sleep is 1/60^th of prophecy. So we can understand 1/60^th of the clarity when we wake up from an absolutely clear dream. This person was like an instrument played by H’. Their total essence became an essence that H communicated to. Their mouth. Lips and tongue were under the total power of H’ when they prophesied. If the person was a false prophet, that prophet would surely die. That was H’s guarantee. Even one word or sentence that wasn’t from H’, that prophet surely would perish.

How goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places, Israel?

The Commentators normally take this posuk to be a complement. How goodly are your tents – this is a praise of Yaakov, and your dwelling places, O Israel. I would like to present an interesting question. Why tents, in relation to Jacob, and dwelling places in relation to Israel? Could he have said, how good are your tents Israel etc. Why was it davka this way round? To give us a clue on this, the names Yaakov and Yisrael are a hint. Yaakov is a remez as to how Yaakov was born, clinging to the heel of Esav. Whenever we are in exile or outside Israel, we are clinging to the heels of Esav. When Esav unleashes and kicks out at us, this devastates namely the progroms, Holocaust, Spanish Inquisition, the Russian Revolution, Siberia; 2000 years where 8/10 didn’t survive in each generation. Millions upon millions perished at the hands of our host nations. Only 20% survived, fleeing for their lives and leaving behind their physical possessions. They were happy just to have the shirt on their back, in each and every generation, just to survive. We see a tremendous insight here. When it is Yaakov, we are only to happy to live in a tent, a very temporary dwelling, so that, in exile, we can run from place to place leaving material possessions behind, and to be only too grateful to continue to another generation, with just the shirt on his place. On the other hand, Mishkenotecha Yisroel, when we come back to Israel, the land of Israel, we go straight to the Mishkan H’. Some went astray, others didn’t at the cost of their lives even in the concentration camps, saying Sshema Yisrael. People who witness such miracles now come home to Eretz Yisroel where we experience open miracles. Bilam was told not to curse the people but I would like to suggest that he may well have. The statement ‘Ma Tovu’, I would like to suggest, was a challenge rather than a statement. Mah Tovu, how good are your tents? Are they really so good? Tomorrow morning we are going to send the Moabite and Midianite belly dancers and they will test how good your tents are. Somehow he knew that if a jew has relations with a gentile that destroys the bris mila. That way he could bring on the destruction. Through that plague could break out in Israel. Through that, the holocaust would come to Israel throughout the generations. Tragiclly,just before the outbreak of the holocaust, 90% of German jewry had married out of the faith. When the Angel of Death was unleashed, all hell broke loose, acfross the whole of jewry and across the whole world. How terrible is the thought that by marrying out a person can avoid the judgement of the King of Kings, HKB’H. We see the terrifying developments in America where assimilation is somewhere between 60 and 80% across America. We tremble to think what happened 70 years ago when the statistics reched 90%. We can only hope and pray that somehow the haemorrhage can be reversed and the people transfused, with a spiritual blood transfusion with kiruv and inspiration that goes on out there. Millions already have been saved, and have done teshuva. This is a generation that is rising up in the way of Torah and teshuva in Israel. So we see an amazing insight now, that Bilam really intended to curse Israel – when he said how goodly are your tents? Are they going to survive the Moabite and Midianite belly dancers? We see from next weeks parsha that it tool the power of a Pinchas to destroy two people who under the eyes of Moshe Rabbeinu went into a tent to behave in a most wicked way. We see that throughout the generations they were people who thought that anything between two consenting adults is totally acceptable, that nobody should tell them what to do. Whether they are of the same sex, whatever they want to do, they can write their own rules. That is a tragedy of Eisav and Amalek, the disintegration of the family, the disintegration of the blessings, turning a blessing into a curse, that was the intention of Bilam searching the periphery for weak ones, where he could penetrate the camp with a curse. What happened? Ultimately, according to his curse, H cursed him and destroyed him. He lost his head for his “good” ideas. ‘Good’ for nothing. What happened was that he brought tragedy upon himself and the world. We see from this that he was not performing what H had commanded him, not to go, not to curse and not to bless. On purim we lose the ability to distinguish between a blessing and a curse. A person when he is drunk doesn’t know the difference between boruch Mordechai and arrur Haman, he is so drunk that he has lost his perception whether he is blessed or cursed. There is a fantastic irony here, that when Bilam lost his when due to the money, kavod and power, that made him drunk to the extent that H’s blessings could be cancelled. He did everything in his power to curse Israel, and ultimately that was his self-destruction. He had no recourse. He could not turn to H and say you could have warned me. Before he went, H warned him and said, don’t go, don’t get out of bed. Before he started blessing, his blessings weren’t a blessing. They were hidden in a subtle challenge. He said are your tents really that good Yisrael? Lets see tomorrow morning when the Midianite belly dancers are sent out after you. Do you have the spiritual strength to say no and turn them away. To throw them out and say, my G-d does not allow if. This was the scenario of Josef haTzadik when he was secluded with with the most beautiful woman in Egypt, the wife of the Chief Executioner, Potiphar. She tried to persuade him to have relations with her. He said, your husband wouldn’t allow it, the law of the land wouldn’t allow it, Pharaoh wouldn’t allow it. A strong man, when his back was to the wall and his coat torn off, he said what was in the depth of his heart, the greatest sanctity, h would not allow it. That was the essence of Yisrael’s purity throughout the generations. When they tried to seduce am Yisrael they stood up and said it is against our Torah. We reused to give up our Bris Mila. We refused to desecrate our Torah. That has been one of the secrets of Israel’s eternity.

An incredible question then develops. If that is the first part of his hidden curse, a challenge, are your tents really so good, Jakov. Then we have to ask a second question, from the second half of the phrase – your Mishkan Yisrael. Are you really that good when you have the Mishkan? You dream of a time when the Beis Hamikdash will come back, and we will have the avoda, a time of geulla. Bilam is asking a hidden question. Will your Mishcan really be a place that brings honour to H’? we only have to look to Pesach and think of the song, Dayeinu. The Sages say that this means enough literally, but the figural meaning is that we would never be able to thank you enough. I t would be enough never to stop thanking you for taking us out of Egypt, had you just brought water and man in the midbar, brought us to Har Sinai, given us the Torah, Shabbos, brought us into Eretz Yisroel, we could never thank you enough, all these things come with the words Dayeinu. There is an idea that each son in the Hagada represents one of the four sons. This may have been the second, wicked, son singing H, if you had taken me out of Egypt Day, it would have been enough for me, let me do what I want, lety me go to any country in the world, forget about Israel. I’m off to America to worship the pyramid of the golden dollar and to build new pyramids, and to wherever else they feel there is a ray of light which they do not realize will soon turn to a plague of darkness. This is a tragedy, 1 in 5 survive. Even the week ones are carried by the momentum of the strong where there is the momentum of a community where the leadership carry the community to a place of eternal goodness. We see an incredible irony here. The last question of Dayeinu is had you brought us back to Israel and not given us the Beis habekhira that would have been enough. Is that true? That we would be OK without the Mishkan? Is it possible we could survive without Torah, without the Beis Hamikdash? A preson might think he is surviving right now, but he is treading water in a shark infested water. The situation is so terrifying that anybody who does not cry out to H with his whole might is for sure bathing in the cosy waters while the sharks are sharpening their teeth for the final meal. On the contrary those crying out for the beis hamikdash, crying out to H with all our might, for the Geula, for the redemption, for the return to the way things were at the start, when Bnei Ysirael were a nation alone in the desert, am netzach, a holy nation, undivided in its avoidas h..; All the nations that came after us had as sinking feeling whether it was in Krias Yam Ssuf, or the other nations that perished by the sword or by the plague. So we see, it says Mishkenosecha Yisrael, you think your Mishkan will help you in Israel my friend, will you be so loyal. My question is do you have the MIshkan? Are we back to the MIshkan, the times of the Beis Hamikdash and the MIshkan. Are we back to those times. It says in the last sentence of Dayeinu, if H has given us Israel but not the Beis Hamkidash dayeinu, enough. We finish the on on a shocking note, like a person who travels the world marathon or climbs Mount Everest, and is just about to put his flag into the pinnacle of mount Everest, a triumph for Torah. He forgets what he is doing there and jumps of the end of the cliff to perish. What a tragedy. We are getting to the end of world history and then a person loses his way. It is a tragedy of infinite proportions, that people come back to Eretz Yisrael without wanting to build the Beis Habkhira, I’m OK Jack, I’m OK Yaakov. I have what I wanted. I’m OK. So, in the final analysis, when we contemplate the sentence, is there a Mishkan?

At the first Exodus of Am Yisrael from Israel, Ezra and Nechemia, we are going to remember the tragedy of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, the idolatory, the tragedy of the blood flowing up to the chest of those left behind from those that had been slain and the fire of the Temple in its destruction, when the Schina left the Temple, that was the beginning of the exile. It wasn;t when the Temple was destroyed because by that stage it was already like a shell without a neshama (soul). Once the Scheina had left it stayed with am Yisrael and has been in exile all these thousands of years. As we start to return at this Epic moment in world history, it seems like the majority of Am Yisrael are now back in Israel, the Schina is coming back to Israel, we are coming back to Torah, back to Am Yisroel. This generation is rising up to the challenge. The question is, when Ezra saw that the Beis Din HaGadol of 72 judges, had lost the Beis Hamikdash, that the authority was disintegrated, they created the anshei Knesses haGadol, the member sof the great Assembly with 120 members. How did this number come about? It was a minyan from each tribe. Ten from each tribe, of the leaders of that tribe. The most religious, the most awe inspiring, that represented that tribe, the leaders of Am Yisrael that were with Am Yisrael that put together the Shemone Esrei and helped us to pray for our return, to Eretz Yisrael, To Yerushalayim, to the Beis Hamikdash to the power of the geula, so we see from this that the anshei knesse hagedola, the 120 were really the spiritual leaders of the nation through the exile. Now that we’ve come back to Israel, I ask you, with tremendous awe and fear, do we have the Mishkan again in Israel? Does there exist in Israel a Mishkan? Where are the Anshei Knesses HaGadol? Where is the power of authority in the land today? What is happening?

I’ll share with you a shocking idea. It turns out that the Knesset is called the Mishkan. Davka they called it the Mishkan. As if to say, they are building the Mishkan, without Torah. How many men serve in the Knesset? How many chavrei Knesset are there today? 120. Are they all yirei shomayim? Are they all shomrei shabbos and mitzvos? Are they all Jewish. It is an awesome awesome stament of what Bilam was saying to us. Mah Tovu Ohalecha Yaakov, Mishkanosecha Yisrael? You will build your mishkan, but how good will it be? Will it save you? Will the might of your hands and your military save you? From your own G-d, besides your enemies. Are we powerful enough to challenge H, chos veshalom. To create laws where 8/10 are a desecration of Torah. Are we able to say that we can give mishpat neged the Beis Din? Are we able to make a law that makes a mockery of Jewish leaders? That openly make a mockery of Torah? Have we got what to tremble over. What to pray for. Ahavta Lere’echa kamocha. We are our brother’s teachers. We have topray for our brothers and for their return. To Torah, Eretz Yisrael and Olam Haba. Bilam was offering us an eternal challenge. Are your tents so good that you in the Galus, when Yaakov, you are in the Galus, you can withstand the temptation of all those belly dancers, of all those gentile women offering their bodies on the laters of your defamation and desecration. That they would rather presih than see oyu serve what you were created for. Or are you ready to come back to Israel and serve in the Mishkan, that H wants, the Beis Hamikdash, that H wants, and not create your own, that is not what H wants, only those people that sty to the very end of the Leil Seder, come to the ultimate fruition of the whole Leil Seder, instead of Dayeinu, when we come back to Israel and say, we have our own land, we have our own army, we are an independent nation, we have the power to protect ourselves, we don’t want he Beis Habekhira – Chas VeChalila, only when we reach the very end of the Seder, and we are in Israel, can we say the sentence Leshana haba Biyerushalayim Hebnuya, for one reason only Helluka, to praise H’. The whole of leil seder is the Halel. The Whole of Our Service to H’ is the praises to H’. Our very essence is the celebration of all the brochos and yeshuos that H has sent us, even when we are in Golus and our tents are very weak, our Sukka is the mightiest structure in the history of the world, because it continues as a protection against all those evil forces out there. When we come back to Torah, when we come back to Eretz Yisrael, when we come back to the Kibutz Galyut, not the Kibbutz of the Chilonim, but the Kibbutz of Torah, when we come back to the Geula Shleima, to the Yeshua, and Techiyas Hameisim, Moshe Rabbeinu, Aaron Hakohen will come back to the Mishkan on Har hamoria and we will truly celebrate Olam Haba Be Olam Haze, may I wish you, and Kol Am Yisrael, Shabbt Shalom and Netzach Netzachim.