Tehillim Call, 06/23/2026, Rabbi Ezra Goldshmiedt

Thank you, Rabbi Herman.

Good afternoon, everybody.

It's a pleasure once again to share some Torah with you.

I understand that some of you out there are calling in from Israel.

This week, we here in Chutz Aritz will finally catch up to you with a double parasha.

So let's go with an idea.

for Parsha Spalak, a Parsha that we share this week.

These days, we do not have prophecy in our world.

We don't have Nebuah.

But even in an earlier era where there was prophecy, to become worthy of it took significant work.

The Rambam describes what such an individual looks like in the seventh chapter of Hilchot Yesodayah Torah.

He says the following, Ein ha-nebuachala ela achacham gadol v'chachma, gibor b'midotav.

Prophecy is bestowed only upon a very wise sage of strong character.

Who's never overcome by his natural inclinations in any regard.

Instead, with his intellect, he overcomes his natural inclinations at all times.

He must possess a very broad and accurate mental capacity.

He'll advance and separate himself from the masses who proceed in the darkness of the time.

He goes on with more, but you get the idea.

Prophecy is only for those who have developed themselves with a lot of hard work, a lot of hard spiritual work, into something very special.

But if that indeed is the case, so of course our parasha poses quite a challenge.

To quote Rashi, who asks this question, he says, Why did God visit his presence onto an evil Gentile.

That individual being the wicked Bilaam, the main character of Parshas Balak, the guy who, even if you're just focusing on the Pesukim alone, and not Midrashim, he's the guy who beats up his donkey, runs to curse the Jewish people, he devises a plan to trap an ASL into immorality at the end of our Parsha.

He doesn't exactly fit that description of the ideal candidates for prophecy, to say the least.

So why then does God speak to him? Rashi continues answering his own question.

He says, This was so that the nations of the world wouldn't have an excuse to say the following.