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Shalom from Baita Vikai and thank you for joining me in the study of Parashad Balak. You can also listen to the class on YouTube and also on your favorite podcast platform. Today we will talk about the lonely nation. Bilam the magician is trying to curse the Jewish people. At the end, God changes curses to a blessing. But one of the things that Bilam says is that Am Levadadishkon. Kimerosh Tsurimerenu, Bilam says that I'm going to see him from the top of the mountains, Migvaot Ashurenu from valleys, I can see the people, and Am Levadadishkon. This is a nation that will basically dwell alone. Uvagoim no it has, which is very difficult to translate. It can be that among the nations he will not be considered as a nation, or he will not consider the nations. He will not care, so to speak, about the other nations. So it's there is ambiguity here and intentionally, and we will try to understand what is this idea of Am Levadad, a lonely nation, or a nation that dwells alone. So let's see this midrash in Shhmotrabha, which says something very interesting that we need to understand. The first word is hen. He and Nun. And then Bilam says, Am Levadadishkon. This is a nation that will dwell alone. Mau hen. So the midrash is trying to focus on the word hen. He nun, which in English it will be translated as almost like das or this. So the midrash is trying to explain it and it says the following. It says all the letters of the alphabet are basically can join together besides two the letter he and the letter nun. What does that mean? So it says like that, Keitzad, how come? Aleph and Tet, the letter Aleph and the letter tet ha reud. So if you combine the numerical value of each letter, Aleph is one, tet is nine, so one plus nine is ten. Bet and khed, the letter bet is two, the letter het is eight, two time two plus eight is ten. Gimel, the letter gimel and the letter xyn. Letter gimel, the numerical value is three, zine is seven, three time plus seven is ten. Dalet and Vav, the letter dalet is four, the letter Vav is six, four plus six is ten. What about hey? Hey cannot join another letter in order to have the numerical value of ten. So it's only he with hey. Because he is five plus five is hey. So you see that the letter he stands by itself. Okay, so that's when we reached ten. What about a hundred? So then it says the chenaot nun la Zivug. The letter nun also cannot join any other letter. Why? Because yud and tzadik, yud, the letter yud is ten, tzadik is ninety, that's the numerical value of the letter tzadi. So yud and tzadi are together a hundred. Kaf and pei, the letter kaf is twenty, pei is eighty, twenty plus eight is a hundred. Lamed and ein, the letter lamed is thirty, the letter ein is seventy, again a hundred. Mem, the letter mem is forty, the letter samich is sixty, forty time plus sixty is a hundred. Nimza nun leatzma, but nun, the numerical value of nun is fifty, and the only letter that it can join in order to get to a hundred is another nun, but no any other letter. So when you talk about the numbers of one to ten, the letter he stands for its own. When you talk about the numbers ten to a hundred, nun fifty is the only letter. So therefore, hen, the letter he and the letter nun stand on their own. They cannot join any other letter. Says the midrash. The same way, the those letters cannot, the letter He and the letter Nun cannot join any other letter in order to complete 10 or 100. The same thing with Am Israel, with the nation of Israel. They cannot attach themselves, they cannot glue themselves, they cannot join any of the other nations. But rather, they're going to always be separate. Like the letter He and like the letter nun. Because even when they confront a life and death situation, which is, let's say the other nations make a decree that we should not keep Shabbat or we should not do britmila, we would prefer to die and not to assimilate into the other nations. We are a nation that dwells alone, U Vagoim Loit Hashav. And we really are oblivious to what the other nation try to hurt us or to make decrees that will cause us a damage. As it says, and am kela viakum, that our nation will dwell alone, we will go through very difficult times, we will never want to assimilate and to integrate into the other nations, and Hashem will look upon that and it will appreciate it very much and will lead us to what? To be like this lion that roars and can win the battle. So, in a way, the midrash looks at this idea that we will dwell alone as a positive. It shows the devotion, the dedication, the commitment that we have to Hashem and to our religion, A. And B, in a way, it's it's it's almost like our DNA. We cannot integrate totally and totally immerse ourselves with the other nations. We can have many things to do with them, but we will never be them. We are a nation that stands alone. So that's what the Midrash offers us. Ramshim al-Fal Hirosh has a different take on it. And he says, What does it mean in Amlevadadish Khan that we will be a nation that dwell alone that dwell alone? We hear gdura big vulottea veluer bek sharimim. This is very interesting, 19th century. Rabshim Shon al Fal Hirsch is in Germany, and he's talking about the future sovereign country that we will have, not knowing that we will have a state of Israel. And he says he's going to dwell in his own country, limited by its borders, and will not have too much to do with the other nations around him. He will fulfill his own internal mission to be a nation that dwells in the land of Israel. He will just do what the God says in the Torah. Which is, by the way, a very interesting thing. It's a very limiting in a way, and in a bit, I would say, even surprising, uh, knowing Rabshim Shanfahir's writing, that he basically looks at the Jewish people in the land of Israel as a nation that really just need to deal internally. And he does not see the nation of Israel as a nation that will be a light unto the nation, unless he claims that by doing what we need to do and not trying to do too much or to be recognized on the international stage, we will be de facto because people will look upon us. So I'm not sure about that, but I would say that that's what Rabshim Shonda Falch says. And Am Levadadish Khan is that Am Israel would focus on his own mission and not trying to be recognized like other nations would like to be recognized. So Dimitraj says, looks at Am Levadadish Khan from the idea of religious assimilation. Raphim Shana Falish talked more about the national assimilation, meaning we becoming a nation, forming ourselves as a nation in our land, it's for the purpose of us being us and not trying to be someone else. Shadal Rabbi Lut Sato says the following. For now, Bilam looks at Am Israel and they are in tents in the desert. They are not, they don't have a land yet. So he says, what kind of a good thing is that we don't have a land? So he says, no, no, when we're talking about the idea that Am Israel dwells alone, it's alone separate from the other nations. And this is why Am Israel keeps straight, keep the path, the divine path. And therefore, Hashem is with him to make him successful. Meaning we do not define ourselves based on our land. We define ourselves based on our national identity, the Torah, the mitzvot, meaning the land, it's not what makes us a nation. That's what the Shadal says, meaning the idea of being separated is that we are still a nation even if we don't have a land. So this is obviously a little bit of a different perspective that obviously has solstice in terms of that when we received the Torah on Sinai, we became a nation. Nation without a land? Answer is yes. What cements us as people is not necessarily the land. The land obviously enriches our religious life, national life. This is where we built a nation and a country that can become a light unto the nation. But what makes us a nation, and we know it from history, even when we were expelled from the land of Israel, we will still always am Israel. Rafsal Ovechik has a very long discussion about this idea of Amlevadish Kon, a nation that dwells alone. It's a bit long, but I think very meaningful. And Rafsalovechik suggests the following. Unity in Israel is a basic principle in Judaism. We have formulated this principle in one sentence. You are one, your name is one. And who is like your people Israel? A unique nation on earth. We say it, we recite it every Shabbat Mincha prayer, the mincha on Shabbat, that's what we say. Ataichad, Yugad is one, the Shimchaichad, your name is one, umike Amcha Israel Goychad Baratha. There is no any other nation on earth that is one, like Am Israel. So obviously, we're talking about the idea of unity in Israel. The principle of unity expresses itself in two ways. First, the unity of Jews as members of a spiritual community, as a congregation which was established through the conclusion of the covenant at Mount Sinai. The Torah that was given to us created this first component in our unity. The unity of the Jewish people as a community is based upon the uniqueness of the Jewish way of life, a Torah existence. What ties the Yemenite water carrier in the streets of Tel Aviv to the Jews of Boston, obviously Rap Salovechik was in Boston, is what? Is a uniform Orachim. Orachim is one of the volumes of the Shulchan Ruch that was written by Rav Yosef Karo in the 16th century in Israel, which is basically a book of codified laws that we most of us obviously follow. The Shema Israel, Shabbat, Kol Nidrainite, the Sedrinite, Kashrust, Tfilin, the characteristic trait of kindness, the hope of and yearning for redemption. Meaning all those values are common values that makes us all one. I don't care how much it's what you observe and perform. At the end of the day, there is a Jewish DNA that connects us all. Different sections, different sectors, different uh eidot, different congregations. You can come from Yemen, you can come from friends, you can come from the states, you can come from everywhere you want. There is something that connects us all. The Hebrew word eda, congregation, is the same as ed, witness, and edut, which means testimony. Thus, a spiritual religious entity is tied through a transcendental ethical consciousness to a vast memory of a people about divine law with a common past and collective future. A collective testimony united us all into Jewish community. The Jew who erases from his memory this great testimony, destroying the unique collective tradition, breaks the tie which joins him with the Jewish community as part of a congregation, as part of a spiritual Torah entity. So the first component that was given to us was the Torah. This is not just a book of laws or a book that teaches us how to live our lives. It's a book that connects us all together. And therefore, when we don't follow any of the values and any of the mitzvot, we are in a way separating ourselves from this DNA. So Raf Salovetric talks first about this component of unity. He continues. Unity also manifests itself in our unique political historical lot as a nation. So now we are talking about a second component. The first component was what I will call, and Professor Ovajik talks about it obviously later, Bridgoral and Brit Yud. Which means there is a covenant of destiny and there is a covenant of Lat. Which means you have a historical political covenant, and you have a religious covenant. So now he's talking about the political-historical lot as a nation. We are unique not only in our way of life, but also in our historical transmigration and in our paradoxical fate. Our history would not fit into a different historical framework, and our fate is incomprehensible. The enigma of our existence is primarily revealed through our loneliness and our affliction in all times, the current era included. Let's pause here for a second. First, I think we just need to appreciate Raf Salovechik's perception on history and understanding and learning from history about who we are. You look at all other nations that are mentioned in the Bible, they are gone. Do you did you meet lately someone who is Edomite or Jebusite or Hivite or Canaanite? No, they are gone. All those ancient nations are gone. The Amisle, the nation of Israel, is still here. We probably went through the most difficult challenges in history. And we are still here. What does it mean about us? What does it mean about chosenness? What does it mean about the relationship that we have with God? What does it mean about our history and our destiny? Raf Salovich is asking all those questions and he looks at history and he says, there is something unique here. We went through all of that, and especially in the current era, he's obviously talking about after the Holocaust. And even after the Holocaust, we are still here. And not only that we are just still here, but look at what we achieved after the Shoah, after the Holocaust. Look at the state of Israel after almost eight years since it was established. It's not only surviving, it's thriving despite all difficulties. So Rap Salovechi continues and says, it is a nation that will dwell alone and will not be reckoned among the nations. The state of Israel did not avoid this unique fate. Quite the contrary, it has given expression to it in a more concrete fashion. This is, by the way, a very powerful sentence. Many people thought, especially at the beginning of Zionism, that if we will establish a state of Israel, that will be the end of anti-Semitism. That will be the end of the Jewish issue. It's not. The establishment of the State of Israel, when Ben Gulyun announced the State of Israel, so many countries told him, don't do it, including some close friends to the State of Israel. He did it against all odds. With God's help and with our brave soldiers, we were able to establish the State of Israel and continue battle after battle, and we are here, and we are not only surviving, we are striving. But he didn't end the question of the issue of anti-Semitism. We see it every day. It rises. So we can see that the fact that we dwell alone, it in a way would help us through all this history to survive. No Jew can renounce his part of the unity which emerges from the fate of loneliness of the Jewish people as a nation. The political historical unity is based upon the conclusion of the covenant in Egypt, which occurred even prior to the giving of the Tawa at Sinai, which means the historical political covenant is more ancient or came before the covenant of Sinai. And I shall take you to me as a people, and I will be a God to you. This covenant forced upon us all one uniform historical faith. The Hebrew word am nation is identical to the Hebrew word im, with our faith of unity manifests itself through a historical, indispensable union. This is an incredible insight to history, to faith, to destination, to nation. One of the things that Rafsalovechek did not talk about, and I will just add, is that the Talmud in Yevamot describes when someone would like to convert to Judaism comes to the Baidin, the first question that we ask him is not about his religious commitment. It's about why do you want to join us? Look at us, look at our history. We were chased, people made all kinds of conspiracies against us, they killed us. We went through so much uh tribulation and affliction. Why do you want to be part of what? First and foremost, part of the historical political covenant. And then we teach him about our history. And if after that he says to us, I would like to join you, then we introduce him to the Sinai covenant, to the religious covenant. The idea is that we have both components in our nation the covenant of Sinai, which Which are obviously the religious life, the values, the commitment, the devotion to religion, but at the same time the understanding of our role in the history of the world and our special unique covenant, the historical political covenant. And Amlevadishkon, it's not that we are only separate or different from the other nations just because we eat kosher and we keep Shabbat and we get married in a specific way and we are keeping uh Pesach. This is not the only reason why we stand alone. We stand alone because of our history. We stand alone because of what we went through. There is no any other nation that went through what we had to go through and to remain a nation. I think sometimes we forget it. It's because of the day of today, tribulations and afflictions and challenges and difficulties. But sometimes we need to pause and to think about where we are. And with all the issues and with all the challenges and with all the difficulties, just to take a pause and to be grateful. To be grateful that we are part of this incredible unique nation that has these two components to what constitutes us as a nation. So Raf Salovajik looks at Amlevadish Khan and says, This is our secret of survival. It doesn't mean that we cannot cooperate and partner and do things with the other nations, but we need to know who we are. And we need to know that this uniqueness isn't just not just like a nice thing to have. It's part of our covenant. It's something that will never go away. It's something that will endure forever. It's something that is basically rooted and perpetuated for eternity. So that's Raf Salovajik. He continues. From its very inception, Judaism has been strikingly different from other faith. It has embodied ideas, a way of life, and aspirations for the future which set the Jewish people apart from the other groups. A rather unfriendly observer, Balaam, Bilam, still felt compelled to characterize the Jews as a nation that will dwell alone and will not be reckoned among the nations. There are three primary areas of distinctiveness without which Judaism would lose its essential character. Commandments, these are the mitzvot, behavioral imperatives which are derived from the divine will, doctrines. Judaism regards its dogmas and values as verities which are rooted in the Torah tradition and whose authority is ultimately divine. And our theological and philosophical premises about God, man, and creation are uniquely Jewish and through the course of centuries have been preserved despite efforts at dissuasion, ridicule, and torture. We in the modern times have not been authorized by our millennium old history to revise these historical attitudes or to trade the fundamentals of our faith for illusory pursuit of interfaith goodwill. This would be a betrayal of our great tradition and would furthermore produce no practical benefits. A cringing readiness to barter away our identity will never evoke the respect of any who confront us. Only a staunch and unequivocal bearing, reflecting our firm commitment to God and sense of pride and privilege in what we are will impress other faith communities. He was asked about interfaith discussion, and it's not now the time to speak about it from all different perspectives. But Rav Salovechik said something that I think everyone will agree, which is know who you are. People will respect the fact that you know who you are. Sometimes you will be able to compromise, sometimes you will be able to understand others, but you need to know who you are, who you are. You need to have a strong spine. And only when you have it, you can really go to the outside. If you don't know who you are, it's so dangerous to go out there because there are so you will be confused. Says Raf Salovajik, first dham miata, know who you are, and then you will be able to have a discussion. Future expectations. Judaism foresees and eagerly awaits the coming of the Mashiach, the Messiah, the vindication of Jewish singularity and chosenness, the engathering of the dispersed in the Holy Land, the re-establishment of the temple, the universal acknowledgement of ethical monotheism, and the realization of world peace. These beliefs have sustained us for countless centuries in a period of trial. They are called escological expectations since they represent our vision of the future, which we anticipate with exultant certainty, meaning we know it's going to come. Other faiths define their escological expectations in other terms, adapting the religious practices of others. The dilution of dogmatic certitudes and the waving of escological expectations would spell the end of the vibrant and great faith experience of 4,000 years old history.

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Prof.

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And you know what? We should be proud of it. We have a totally different set of values. Yes, some of the values even look similar to our traditions, to other traditions, to other nations, but they are uniquely ours. Know you are, know your tradition, be part of it, be proud of it. If you're not going to be proud of it, someone else will cause you to be proud of it. So it's better to just choose it. To understand that our religion is not only about commandments and divine expectations, to do A, B, and C, but it's also to look in a very holistic way on our religion. This is commandments, this is history. There is destiny. This is the true meaning of Amlevada Dishkon, a nation that will dwell alone. The Rebbe Mirubavic adds to it and says the sturdiness referred here as the Jewish people's abiding and unwavering selfless devotion to God, including their willingness to lay down their lives if necessary, rather than betray this devotion. We inherit this quality from the patriarchs and matriarchs, meaning from our avot and imaot, who internalized this devotion so intensely that it became part of their being, which was in turn passed on to their progeny. Which means, according to the Rabbi Melubavic, he looks at Amlevadadish Khan, little different than Rafsalovechik. He looks more through the religious spectrum. He says, look at the history. People were willing to give their lives for their religion. You don't find it so much in other nations and other religions. Why would people do that? So you can say they are devoted to their religion, but yes, but it's your life. Answer is we know that we are connected uniquely to God. We know that we have the truth. When you know that you have the truth, you don't want to change it. And knowing it, knowing that what you do, this is the way of life, it's easier to pass it along to the other generations. So basically, when Bilam says to us, and Aml Vadadish Khan, this is a nation that will dwell alone, obviously it comes with a price. You will never be like anyone else. Which sometimes is just easier to be like everyone else. But there is a value in being different, which is totally different than a price. A value is something that has no price on it. A value is a way of life. A value is that when you know that you live a true life, a meaningful life. So, yes, sometimes there is a price to pay, and sometimes the price is very costly. But we are talking about values. We are talking about covenant. We are talking about historical political covenant and we're talking about a religious covenant. We're talking about a unique nation that can feel that they are God's nation. By feeling it, by knowing it, by internalizing it. Despite the cost, despite the price, we believe that only not only that we are Amla Vadadish Khan, but at the end, we will be like a lion that rise and being recognized as the leader of this world, it will take time. There are still many challenges, but we fully believe in the future expectation that we have that at the time of Mashiach that will come soon. Yes, we will be Amlevadan, we'll be a nation that dwells alone, but will be recognized by the other nation, by the other nations as a leader to lead this world to a much better place. Thank you.