This week’s Haftorah is read from Micha. The reason it was selected to accompany Parshas Balak is clear: the Haftorah recounts what transpired between Bilam and Balak and how Hashem responded to it. The Navi tells us about how one day our savior (Mashiach) will come); how one day we will become the undisputed world leader. The Navi also describes to us the unfortunate birthing pains that will lead up to Mashiach’s coming. The Haftorah begs the following question: what does the story of Bilam and Balak have to do with the Geula? What’s the message of the juxtaposition of these two topics?

Klal-Yisroel was on the verge to enter Eretz-Yisroel; the conquest of lands that lay between them and the Promised Land had already begun. Balak took heed from what had occurred to other nations and realized that there wasn’t any conventional way for him to fight Am-Yisroel. He therefore decided to try battling Am-Yisroel from the spiritual realm, and to that end called upon Bilam. The Gemoroh (Brachos) tells us that Bilam knew how to synchronize his evil wishes with the one micro moment of Hashem’s “Anger”. Chazal explain that it was through this ability, or “power”, that he thought to evoke Divine wrath onto Klal-Yisroel. This “power” of Bilam should have worked to fulfill Balak’s and Bilam’s purpose and should have evoked Divine Wrath. Hashem, however, didn’t allow Himself His micro moment of anger. That scheme having failed, Bilam advised Balak to lure Klal-Yisroel into lewdness and from lewdness to idolatry. While Hashem punished Klal-Yisroel for their inappropriate behavior, He nevertheless didn’t allow Klal-Yisroel’s sinful acts to play into Bilam’s and Balak’s hands and achieve victory for them. The Navi tells us that we must remember all this – that we must remember the entire anecdote of Bilam and Balak. The Navi commands us to remember this as the Navi tells us about the Geula Asida. Why?

One thing is certain: as our Galus goes on we are getting closer to Redemption. In our day in age we see that Klal-Yisroel is increasingly eager to be accepted among the nations of the world. Whether it is Jews in the Diaspora, whether it’s The State of Israel, or whether it’s those who deny the State of Israel – unfortunately most Jews are preoccupied with how the Umos HaOlam perceive us. In the Diaspora, intermarriage is common place and from Eretz-Yisroel Yerida is not unexpected. Why are we not simply proud of being Jews? Why are we not happy to have the Promised Land? Why are we preoccupied with how we are perceived by the international community?

We have suffered through long periods of oppression all over the world. It makes sense that by now the millenniums of hard work by so many gentile nations have left their mark. So many years of hearing ‘dirty Jew’, and so many years of being treated as sub-human, have had an impact on us.

The Navi is telling us precisely this: the Geula will come. It will come from Shechem – ‘Palestinian’ Territory.

When Hashem didn’t allow Himself to be angered for even the micro moment at which it was possible, it was out of Hashem’s Love for Am-Yisroel. When Hashem didn’t play into Bilam and Balak’s master plan, it was only out of Hashem’s Love for Am-Yisroel. That we are still here today after so many years of persecution, it is only once again out of Hashem’s love for Am-Yisroel.

The Navi’s message to us is becoming more and more relevant by the day: We are here to stay! We cannot ruin things for Am-Yisroel, but through limud HaTorah, Shmiras Hamitzvos, and good old Jewish pride we can and will improve things for ourselves.

A very warm Good Shabbos, Rabbi Y. Dov Krakowski