13 Jul PARASHAT BALAK: THE JEWISH HOME

In this weeks

parasha, Parashat

Balak, the prophet

Bilam, who

intended to curse

the Jewish people,

looked out upon

them and declared

“How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your

dwellings, O Israel” (Bamidbar 24:5). In many

prayer books, the siddur begins with this verse.

Although Bilam was a wicked man, he was a

prophet, and these words were a prophecy.

Bilam mentions two characteristics which are,

in essence, the secret of Jewish existence. He

relates to the “tent” (ohalekha) and the

“dwelling” (mishkenotekha). The “tents” refer

to the Jewish home, and “dwellings” represent

the synagogues, the places of congregation,

where the Shekhina rests.

Bilam observed that the two institutions which

are integral to the Jewish people are the Jewish

homes (ohalekha), and the home of God

(mishkenotekha). Why did Balak connect these

two concepts, i.e. the Jewish home and the

home of God?

Interestingly, the Rambam, at the beginning of

Sefer Shemot, notes that four parshiyot of Sefer

Shemot discuss the building of the Mishkan.

The purpose of the Mishkan, as the verse says,

“And they shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I

will dwell among them” (Shemot 25:8), is that

Gods presence should rest among the people.

The Ramban writes the original sanctuaries

were the homes of the avot, our forefathers.

God’s presence dwelled in the homes of the

avot; their homes were “temples,” and the

Mishkan is a replication, a duplicate of the

homes of our forefathers. God’s presence

dwelled in their homes, i.e. the home’s of the

avot, and later, in the Mishkan.

R. Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (1740–1809)

explains that Jewish homes are actually holier

than synagogues. He explains that while

synagogues are used only for prayers, the

Jewish home is filled with many Biblical

mitzvoth, such as mezuzah, raising Jewish

children, chessed, etc.

If so we can understand why Bilam mentioned

the homes and then the mishkan. While they

are both similar, Bilam was apparently more

impressed with the Jewish home, the primary

place of the resting of the Shekhina.

Interestingly, we might note that just as the

Torah relates that the inauguration of the

mishkan last seven days, known as the shivat

yemei hamilu’im, so too the chatan and kallah

are instructed to dedicate the first seven days

after their marriage to rejoicing together, during

the shivat yemei mishtei, as they begin building

their very own mishkan.

This understanding presents us with a great

sense of responsibility. A husband and wife are

actually ministering their home. Nowadays, the

Jewish home is under attack; anything is

allowed and there is no supervision. Just as

there are there are things that we would not

allow into a synagogue, so too we should not let

certain things into a Jewish home.

The Jewish home is integral for our survival.

We have lived without a Beit HaMikdash for

thousands of years; what has ensured our

survival is the home. We pray that a young

couple should build a bayit neeman- a “loyal

house”- loyal to the laws, and loyal to tradition.

Just as the mishkan merits the ‘presence of

God’, so too God is meant to be present in a

Jewish home.

In this context, I wish to mention that the

women have a special responsibility in the

home. In the Torah, women are referred to as

the “tents.” Thus, after separating from their

wives for three days before the giving of the

Torah, after Matan Torah the men are told to

“return to their tents” (Devarim 5:27). Here too,

Bilam refers to their “tents” – primarily

administered by their wives. The akeret habayit

has a special responsibility to ensure that the

home is a welcoming place for God, and that is

should be deserving of the presence of the

Shechina.