Balak (parsha) - in The Liturgy

In The Liturgy

Some Jews read about how the donkey opened its mouth to speak to Balaam in Numbers 22:28 and Balaam's three traits as they study Pirkei Avot chapter 5 on a Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 571, 578–79. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)

The Passover Haggadah, in the concluding nirtzah section of the Seder, quotes the words “who can count them” from Numbers 23:10 to invoke blessing on the Jewish people. (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 107. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9.)

Balaam’s blessing of Israel in Numbers 24:5 constitutes the first line of the Ma Tovu prayer often said upon entering a synagogue or at the beginning of morning services. These words are the only prayer in the siddur attributed to a non-Jew. (Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 61. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8. See also Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 192. Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for Weekdays with an Interlinear Translation, 14. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-686-8.)