Welcome to the short, practical Lelamed Weekly Dvar and Daily Aliyah. As always, you can Order The Daily Aliyah <https://mosaicapress.com/product/the-daily-aliyah/> and receive your hard copy of these daily practical and relevant Torah thoughts (all proceeds go to Daily Giving), or join this Whatsapp group <https://chat.whatsapp.com/G35Ne4mpYsm3RLPDPnPSKC> to receive one per day. I hope you find this meaningful... _______________________________________________ The Torah relates the story of Balak, the king of Moav, who sees the Jews conquering his neighbors and tries to get Bilam to curse them before his nation is invaded and falls victim. However, the first mention of Balak does not specify his job (22:2), and in the following pesukim, the people share their fears with the elders rather than with their King Balak (22:3–4). What is happening between Balak and his people? Rav Hirsch posits that King Balak and his people experienced a lack of communication, as his people acted independently from their supposed leader. This back and forth continued almost comically, and to Balak’s dismay, Bilam repeatedly told Balak that he could only say what G-d instructed him to say and then proceeded to bless, rather than curse, the Jews three times. Balak’s episode highlights an important aspect of relationships: communication. If we learn to express ourselves properly when life is going smoothly, we’ll be better equipped to continue paying close attention and listen to each other when tensions arise. Shlomo Ressler _____________________________________________ Quotation of the week: "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."