There’s something unusual about Parshat Balak. It’s the only parsha in the Torah where the Jewish People, the “stars of the show” seem to only have a “walk-on” part. We see Bilam and Balak close up as they plot to destroy the Jewish People, but Israel is only seen in the background – almost off-camera. Why is this?
This was about 75 years ago. It was a very difficult time in Eretz Yisrael. It was just after the war.
It was the time of the tzena – there was almost nothing to eat.
My father bought a donkey and a plow and hired himself out as a ploughman. It was very hard work. My mother learned to sew and worked as a seamstress - and that's how they make a living.
It wasn’t a great standard of life, but they survived. And the years passed by. Slowly, they saved some money, and decided to plant a vineyard...