Parshas Balak: The Beauty and Modesty of the Jewish Home

I hear it is said that most people do not get along with their in-laws.  I should consider myself very blessed, then, that I absolutely love my in-laws.  They are crazy and I love it.

The laws of yichud dictate when a man and a woman can be alone in a room.  Two men can be alone with one woman or three women with one man.  But the Talmud brings down something extremely interesting: two women can be alone with one man if those two women are sister-in-law.  The Talmud teaches that sisters-in-law are natural enemies.  I guess they haven’t met my sister-in-laws then!  Because mine are awesome.

So it is that we are currently traveling to Canada to meet Rabbi Ben’s family for the wedding of his younger sister Devora.  It is fitting, then, that this week’s parsha is full of curses-turned-blessings.  Just as my relationship with my sister-in-law is “naturally” a bad one, but instead is wonderful, so too, are Bilaam’s words turned backwards from natural curses to easy blessings.

And of course, one of the most famous lines in the Torah comes from his mouth. “How beautiful are your tents, Oh Jacob, your dwelling places, Oh Israel.”  We learn that this is because the Jewish tents were turned so the entrances faced away from each other.  The Jewish people are modest: we don’t go peeping into other peoples’ homes.

So, too, my sister-in-law Devora now will be forming her own Jewish home.  We learn that Jewish women are renowned for their modesty – indeed, that modesty sets the Jewish woman apart.  We are surrounded by the secular world, which venerates the exact opposite.  So Devora will now have the chance to build a beautiful, special, and precious new Jewish home, using this unique Jewish quality of tzniut.

At this time of her wedding, we give her a blessing that she should indeed have a home filled with spiritual beauty, modesty, and Jewish values.

Mazal tov!

Read more on Parshas Balak: Instead of Putting Others Down, Build Yourself Up!

Read more on Parshas Balak: Listening to Hashem’s Messages

Read more on Parshas Balak: Here’s to Bilam (Who’s Really Not Such a Bad Guy)