Episode 3 – Balak: Blessings or Curses for a People That Dwells Apart |This week, we unpack Parshat Balak, and the story of attempted curses turned into unexpected blessings. Why does the Moabite king hire Bilam, a foreign prophet with unclear loyalties, to curse Israel with words? And why does the Torah choose him to utter some of its most poetic visions of the Jewish people? |We explore:• Why does Balak fight the Israelites with speech instead of substance?• What does it mean that the Torah’s greatest blessings come from outside the "tribe"?• What is the torah and contemporary meaning of a “rising lion/ess”?• Why does Balak, of all people, get a parsha named after him?• How does Bilam compare to Moshe and Avraham—and what makes a prophet legitimate?• What does it mean to be a “people that dwells apart”?

| Parshat Balak 5785 Torah: Numbers 22:2–25:9 | Haftarah: Micah 5:6–6:8 |

https://miko284.com/2025/07/10/balak-the-1st-operation-rising-lion/

Episode 2 – Chukat: The Red Heifer, Losing Leaders, and What We Cannot Explain | This week, we wrestle with Parshat Chukat, a portion packed with paradox: the mystery of the Red Heifer, the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, and Moses hitting the rock and losing the chance to enter the Promised Land. |

We explore:

• What does it mean to keep a mitzvah that is outside human reason?

• What do animal sacrifices, processes, and rituals say about our relationship to death, purity, and responsibility?

• Why does the loss of a leader (Miriam, Aaron) provoke such different responses from the people?

• What does Moses’ punishment teach us about leadership, anger, and consequences?

| Parshat Chukat 5785 Torah: Numbers 19:1–22:1 | Haftarah: Judges 11:1–33 |https://miko284.com/2025/07/03/and-you-will-love-in-the-storm-the-torah-portion-of-chukat/

Episode 1 – Korach: Revolt, Chosenness, and the Blooming Almond
This week, we begin our Torah journey with Parshat Korach—a story of rebellion, holiness, chosenness and leadership that still echoes today.

We explore:

• Who was Korach, and why did he challenge Moses and Aaron?

• Is the holiness of Am Israel collective or individual?

• What does a society's religious focus tell us about their cultural character?

• The deeper meaning behind the earth swallowing dissent, and the miracle of Aaron’s almond-blossoming staff.

• Torah as history or metaphor: what does this story teach us about conflict, and chosenness?

• Plus: how the Haftarah from Samuel echoes and critiques Korach’s challenge.

Korach 5785 Torah: Numbers 16:1-18:32 Haftarah: I Samuel 11:14-12:22

https://miko284.com/2025/06/26/it-blossomed-sprouted-buds-and-borne-almonds-the-torah-portion-of-korach/