Shabbat begins 9.06pm Shabbat ends 10.24pm Parashat Balak One of the first questions we ask is why is someone, who hates the Jews and wants them cursed and destroyed, honoured by giving his name to a parasha of the Torah? If the title of the Sidra is meant to give us an inkling of what it is about, surely it should have been called ‘Bilam’. After all it is the gentile prophet Bilam who is visited by G-d; even his donkey can see angels sent by G-d. It is Bilam who tries to curse the Children of Israel, but ends up blessing them three times. And it is Bilam’s words that begin our prayers every morning: “How goodly are your tents, Jacob, your dwelling-places, Israel”. (Numbers 24:5) The answer our sages give is that even though Balak was evil, he had at least one good attribute - honesty: he made no attempt to conceal his hatred of the Jews. Everyone knew where he stood, unlike Bilam who claimed to be spiritual, and G-d’s prophet, but was duplicitous, greedy and ready to trade moral standards for wealth. In our modern world, too many of us are like Bilam, proclaiming to have values that we don’t always follow or adhere to. We disapprove of child labour, sweat shops and undemocratic regimes, but continue to purchase products from countries that permit such practices and deny basic freedoms. We condemn cruelty to animals, but how many care, for example if the eggs they buy come from sources where the hens are forced to live in appalling conditions? It is also much easier to deal with an enemy like Balak, who leaves you in no doubt where he stands, unlike the two-faced Bilam. It is same again in our modern world. We can all name those enemies that seek an end to the Jewish people and the State of Israel, but how many of our so-called ‘friends’ are actually friends? How many times has Israel found itself alone when having to defend itself from those wishing to destroy it? It is one year since Hamas began firing over 10,000 rockets at Israel, yet Israel is vilified in the West for retaliating; how many ‘friends’ rushed to its support then and now? The final chapter of the parasha teaches us a lesson that, regrettably, is also still as true today as it was then. The children of Israel could win battles when their enemies sought to destroy them. They could have withstood the attempts of enemies to convert them, but they fell victim to assimilation and marrying out. Hitler (yimach shemo) sought to destroy the Jewish people, and six million paid the price of his evil, yet, incredibly, more Jewish people have been lost to assimilation than perished in the Shoah. As well as ensuring we remain strong and powerful enough to defeat our modern-day adversaries - whether they be Hamas, Isis or despicable Neo-Nazis who try to march in Golders Green - we must also put our resources into finding new ways of stopping the alarming trend of assimilation, and thus ensure the future of the Jewish people. Shabbat Shalom! Alan Goldberg Announcements 4th July ‘15 /17 Tammuz 5775 Ministers: Rabbi Lionel Rosenfeld Rabbi Sam Taylor Chazan Emeritus: Moshe Dubiner Parashat Balak Kiddush in Honour of Jonathan Abro: We thank the generous anonymous sponsor who invites us all to Kiddush in honour of Jonathan Abro, to acknowledge the huge contribution he has made to WMA setting up and managing our web site from its beginning, for which we sincerely thank him. Breakfasts: Breakfasts this week mark the Yahrzeit of our founding member Joe Goldberg (Yoseph ben Binyamin z”l , and are sponsored by his wife Sheila and children Alan, Frances & Ian. We thank them and wish them Long Life. Bar Mitzvah Mickael Topiol Mickael is Bar Mitzvah on Monday morning, 6 July in the Mintz Beth Hamidrash. We wish Mazal Tov to him, his parents Astrid & Maurice and grandparents Charles-Henri Weil and Esther Topiol. Happy Birthday to: Sky Joseph Theo Mandel Natasha Truman Emanuelle Lee Samuel Mintz Gabrielle Hart Deboraah Eker Dean Clifford Adam Zebrak Timothy Eppel Graham Colover Patricia Gold Faanya Rose Happy Anniversary to: Jahnene & Jonathan Green Patricia & Ronald Davis We wish a Refuah Shlemah to: Eliyahu ben Devorah Zelig ben Etta Rasha Avraham Mordechai ben Chaya Basha Sarah Emily bat Sarah Gita Chaya bat Chanah Habachur Yaakov Gavriel Yehudah ben Dina Chanah— Jacob Ziff Zorach ben Sarah Harav Pinchas Shmuel ben Pesya — Paul Laderman Dalia bat Patricia, Shulamit bat Tamar, Sultana bat Tamar, Evelyn bat Sarah Devorah Devorah bat Avraham Hertz Cohen Stone Gutnick Sedra 668 915 8356 1014 Haftarah 682 929 1189 1458