It is customary, when travelling by plane, to acknowledge your seatmate when taking
your seat, and maybe even to say a word or two as you deplane. Conversation between
seatmates during flight is uncommon, perhaps, because people have come to enjoy a little time
alone without phone calls and other people to intrude. I am always sure to have a sefer – Torah
book– with me on the plane that I try to learn, to maximize the time.
On a recent flight, my seatmate, who was clearly not Jewish, noticed what I was learning
and, towards the end of the flight, inquired, “That doesn’t look like light reading, what is it?”
I answered, “A scholarly book about the Torah,” and, trying to put it in terms that he
could understand, I added, “the Bible.”
Thinking that I must be learned, he then said to me, “I was always curious to know what
the Jewish people think about Jesus. What do you guys think of him?”
I answered, “We think he was a human being like any other and nothing more. He was
not the messiah, a god, or the son of G-d. We worship the amazing, brilliant, ingenious Creator
of the entire universe and its contents. Jesus could certainly not have created the world, since
he was born long after it was created. If you can worship such an amazing G-d, who needs a
middleman?”
To this he said, “So you don’t believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?”
I said, “No we don’t. G-d is only one.”
I then proceeded to tell him about the Seven Laws of Noach, and that if he kept them
because Hashem the Creator of the Universe has commanded him to, he will merit a place in
the World to Come. I explained that there is no need for Jesus and that one can achieve his
place in the World to Come without anyone’s help, by just doing the seven laws of Noach
because Hashem, the Creator, has commanded them.
The ability for a gentile to earn a place in the World to Come underscores that Judaism
is the only true religion.
The true G-d would have to be the Creator of the world and all the people in it. What
possible reason could an all-powerful, perfect G-d have for creating a world? What benefit could
He possibly derive from it? Indeed, if He needed something from the world, it would be a
contradiction to His perfection. How can you add to perfection? If something is perfect, any
addition would be superfluous and only detract. If the addition doesn’t detract, then it wasn’t
really perfect to begin with, since it only became perfect through the addition.
Our Sages teach us that Hashem created the world to share His goodness with other
intelligent beings that would appreciate His kindness to them. But before the world was created,
there was nothing other than Hashem. This posed no problem For Hashem, for all He needed to
do was create them. And create them He did, along with an entire universe filled with all the
accoutrements necessary for them to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. He created each
person unique, and with a specific mission, and promised him reward in the World to Come for
completing that mission. After a life full of meeting the challenges to complete that mission,
Hashem will share His goodness with that person by rewarding him for overcoming the
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challenges and persevering to complete his mission. The reward will be very sweet since it
comes through his own hard work, and not as a present.
Understanding that Hashem created man to bestow His goodness upon him, it would
make sense that every person Hashem created have the opportunity to receive that goodness.
What would be the purpose of creating 7 billion people if only a small number of them could
earn a place in the World to Come?
According to all the other religions, the only way to acquire a place in the World to Come
is by believing in their god. All others are going to hell (or related locations), no matter how good
they were, and no matter how virtuous a life they led. What kind of god would create a world
where most of the people in it will to go to hell?
One Xmas eve, outside the Ohr Sameach Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, a group of carolers
gathered to sing Xmas carols. Needless to say, the boys were annoyed by them, and asked
them, “Can’t you find somewhere else to sing your carols? Do you have to sing them right here
in front of our holy Yeshiva?”
The carolers responded, “We chose this place deliberately! We are here to save your
souls! If you don’t believe in Jesus, you are all going straight to hell!”
“Really? If I don’t believe in Jesus, I am going to hell no matter how virtuous a life I have
led?” asked one of the boys. “That’s right!” came the reply.
“And if I do believe in Jesus, I will go to heaven no matter how evil a life I have lived?”
asked the boy. “That’s right!” came the reply.
“So let me ask you a question.” The boy responded. “They say that Hitler accepted
Jesus before he died. Do you mean to tell me he is going to heaven?” “That’s right!”
“And the million and a half children that Hitler murdered, are going to hell because they
didn’t accept Jesus?” asked the boy. “That’s right!”
“You know, quite frankly, I would rather be in hell with the million and a half children than
in heaven with Hitler.”
Many people, including a former pastor that I met, have left Christianity on the basis of
this absurdity alone.
This week’s portion, Balak, introduces us to בלעם – Bilaam, history’s only legitimate non-
Jewish prophet. Although many other religions began via a “prophesy” to its leader (hence, so
many religions in the world), they are all impostors. Why? Because, after Bilam misused his gift
of prophecy, Hashem promised that He would never again give prophesy to a gentile.
Indeed, the Sages go to great lengths to explain how it was that Bilam, a scoundrel,
became a prophet to begin with. One must be a very holy person before Hashem will speak with
him.
Maimonides writes (Foundations of the Torah 7:1):
מיסודי הדת לידע שהאל מנבא את בני האדם ואין הנבואה חלה אלא על חכם גדול בחכמה גבור במדותיו
ולא יהא יצרו מתגבר עליו בדבר בעולם אלא הוא מתגבר בדעתו על יצרו תמיד והוא בעל דעה רחבה נכונה עד
מאד אדם שהוא ממולא בכל המדות האלו שלם בגופו כשיכנס לפרדס וימשך באותן הענינים הגדולים הרחוקים
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ותהיה לו דעה נכונה להבין ולהשיג והוא מתקדש והולך ופורש מדרכי כלל העם ההולכים במחשכי הזמן והולך
ומזרז עצמו ומלמד נפשו שלא תהיה לו מחשבה כלל באחד מדברים בטלים ולא מהבלי הזמן ותחבולותיו אלא
דעתו פנויה תמיד למעלה קשורה תחת הכסא להבין באותן הצורות הקדושות הטהורות ומסתכל בחכמתו של
הקב”ה כולה מצורה ראשונה עד טבור הארץ ויודע מהן גדלו מיד רוח הקודש שורה עליו ובעת שתנוח עליו הרוח
תתערב נפשו במעלת המלאכים הנקראים אישים ויהפך לאיש אחר ויבין בדעתו שאינו כמות שהיה אלא שנתעלה
על מעלת שאר בני אדם החכמים כמו שנאמר בשאול והתנבית עמם ונהפכת לאיש אחר
A foundation of our religion is to know that Hashem speaks to people. A prophesy will
only come to a wise person, one who is in complete control of his personal desires, never
succumbing to them, … when he enters the Kabbalistic realms and is steeped in those great,
distant, lofty matters, understanding them clearly, such that through them he continuously
sanctifies himself, remaining separate from worldly matters, and he rigorously trains himself to
think only holy thoughts, never allowing a mundane thought to enter his mind, rather, his mind is
always attached to Hashem’s Chair of Glory, gaining understanding of those holy and pure
images, and he plumbs the depths of Hashem’s wisdom from the beginning of creation to the
center of the earth, then, Hashem will bestow His Holy spirit upon him.
Bilaam did not possess a single good quality. In describing him to us, the Mishna in
Pirkei Avot says (5:19):
יט) כָּל מִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּיָדוֹ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הַלָּלוּ, מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ. וּשְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים אֲחֵרִים, מִתַּלְמִידָיו
שֶׁל בִּלְעָם הָרָשָׁע. עַיִן טוֹבָה, וְרוּחַ נְמוּכָה, וְנֶפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה, מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַבְרָהָם אָבִינוּ. עַיִן רָעָה, וְרוּחַ גְּבוֹהָה, וְנֶפֶשׁ
רְחָבָה, מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל בִּלְעָם הָרָשָׁע
19) Whoever has the following three traits is among the disciples of our Forefather
Avraham; and whoever has three different traits is among the disciples of the wicked Bilam.
Those who have a good eye, a humble spirit and a modest soul are among the disciples of our
Forefather Avraham. Those who have an evil eye, an arrogant spirit, and a greedy soul are
among the disciples of the wicked Bilaam.
Bilaam had an evil eye and saw only the bad in everyone and everything. He was
haughty and had an insatiable appetite for money. He certainly does not fit Maimonides’s
description of a candidate for prophesy. His prophesy was therefore an exception. One
explanation as to why he became a prophet is that Hashem wanted the gentiles to have a
prophet so they could not claim that had Hashem given them a prophet like Moshe, they also
would have been righteous like the Jewish people. Therefore, Hashem gave them a prophet like
Moshe, yet all he did was use his prophetic abilities for evil.
Our Sages further teach us that prophecy stopped even for holy Jews who satisfied all of
the Rambam’s criteria. One thousand years after the Torah was given, in the year 3348, the last
prophet, Malachi, died. After that, even the holiest Jew who claimed to have had a prophesy
would have been rejected out of hand. Such a thing was no longer possible.
Based on all of this, we can conclude that any person, especially a gentile who has no
qualifications at all for prophesy, who comes with the claim that Hashem, the real Creator, spoke
to him and taught him his religion, is deluding himself. Or, more probably, he is an outright liar.
This undercuts all other religions because they all began when their leaders claimed that they
had received a Divine prophecy revealing to them the foundations and tenets of their new
religion. Because this is impossible, all other religions can have no basis and are false.
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The following analysis is based on a lecture (“A Rational Approach to the Divine Origin
of the Torah”) by Rabbi Leib Kelemen. I recommend that you listen to it, as it is informative and
entertaining. It can be found at: https://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/oral-tradition-
video/.
Rabbi Kelemen, who studied many religions in college, identified a pattern common to all
religions and subsequently developed an algorithm through which he was able to unravel the
asserted truth of any religion in about a minute and a half. Here is his algorithm.
When someone approaches you and asks you to join his religion, your initial reaction is
to ask him, “Why should I? What do I have to gain from joining your religion?”
Your interlocutor will then list for you his religion’s various benefits: You will achieve
internal peace, a oneness with the universe, a front-row seat in the world to come, a better
professional life, a better personal life, etc.
You then ask, “Is it possible to achieve these benefits from any religious system other
than yours?” The answer will invariably be, “No! To receive these benefits, you must belong to
our religion. If you don’t belong to our religion, you are doomed to failure, if not perdition.”
At this point, you respond, “Since these benefits can be achieved only in your religion,
you must be privy to secret information. How did you come upon this secret information that no
one else knows?”
To answer this question, your interlocutor will share with you his religion’s “Revelation
Narrative.” The revelation narrative is the story of how the leader who started the particular
religion came to possess the secret information that one needs to know to achieve their
benefits.
Note that all revelation narratives follow the same pattern. They begin with one person
who supposedly received a prophetic revelation with the tenets and benefits of that particular
religion, who then taught and convinced others of its validity. From an academic standpoint,
there is no reason to believe the encounter. With so much to gain, he surely made it up! As the
leader of a religion, he would enjoy fame, honor and power and so many other “perks” that
come with being the head of a religion. He surely made it up!
All of the world’s major religions started this way. For example.
Christianity started when Paul, then Shaul, a Jew, was on the road to Damascus, when
Jesus, who had been dead for 30 years, appeared to him, told him his whole life story, and
started the Christian religion. Paul converted on the spot and came back to teach the world
about the new religion that he had discovered.
Islam starts when Mohammed falls to the ground in what looks like an epileptic seizure,
gets up, and explains that he had just experienced a prophesy, and this is what G-d has just told
him. Over many years Mohammed had many of these “prophesies” and, after each one, he
“wrote down” the messages that he found in his head. That information became the Koran, a
collection of his revelations.
Mormon begins when Joseph C. Smith, a 17-year-old boy, claimed that an angel Moroni
appeared to him. Moroni revealed that Smith had been selected to translate the Book of
Mormon, a sacred text that was written around the 4 th century, and named after Moroni’s father,
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Mormon. According to Moroni, this spiritual book contained information about the ancient
people who inhabited the Americas. He revealed that the book was inscribed on golden plates
near Palmyra, NY, which was close to where Smith lived at the time. He translated them and
published the Book of Mormon in 1830. (Those gold plates, of course, were somehow “lost,”
rendering verification quite impossible.)
Rabbi Kelemen thus debunked every religion, since they all began with one charismatic
person who convinced many others to join his religion, which snowballed into a major religion,
as more and more people believed the lie. Because the first person was an imposter, the whole
religion has no basis.
The only exception to this is the Jewish religion, which is based on Hashem having
spoken personally and publicly to roughly 3 million (!) people at the foot of Mt. Sinai when
Hashem Himself gave the first two commandments to the Jewish people. The Talmud reports
that so intense was the spiritual experience that their souls actually left their bodies upon
hearing Hashem’s voice. Every person deeply experienced Hashem’s communication with him
so much so that Hashem had to revive them after both commandments. From that point on, the
people requested that Moshe deliver the remaining eight.
The Torah records this entire account of the Mount Sinai event. This Torah is the very
same Torah that resides in Holy Arks in thousands of Shuls around the world. Our Torah scrolls
are copies of Torah scrolls that are copies of the original 12 Torah Scrolls written by Moshe on
the last day of his life and given to each of the tribes. The same people who experienced the
Sinai event later saw in print Hashem’s narrative of that event. If it was off by even the smallest
detail, would the entire Jewish nation have accepted it? They personally experienced it firsthand
and knew what happened. There would be no way to fool them with false information!
If I were a very convincing person, I might be able to convince you that I had lunch with
President Trump in the White House last week. To make it sound realistic, I would add details
about the meeting, what we discussed, and what I said. I would also add clear descriptions of
the White House and much other information to try to convince you that I really had lunch with
the President. If I did a really good job, you may come away from our conversation thinking,
“Maybe he really did have lunch with President Trump! What do I know?”
But is there any way in the world that I would be able to convince you that you were
there with me at the White House with the President? Of course that would be impossible!
So how could Moshe have convinced the people that they experienced events that they hadn’t
really experienced?
The Torah recounts in detail the lengthy process of the redemption from slavery and the
miraculous exodus from Egypt. This process that took almost a year, starting with the Egyptians
tossing Jewish baby boys into the Nile, through the ten plagues, and culminating with the grand
finale – the splitting of the Reed Sea and the drowning of the Egyptian army. The people who
later read the narrative of these events, as told by Hashem to Moshe, verified every detail.
There were no discrepancies between what they personally experienced and what they found
written in the Torah.
This Torah was intensely studied and passed down from generation to generation
without interruption until today. It is the very same Torah we read in shul every Shabbat, with no
changes.
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This is why we are commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt twice every day.
We must always bear in mind that our belief in Hashem in not predicated on the claim of one
man who successfully created a movement and a following for his personal story. Our belief in
Hashem is predicated on the first-hand personal experience of millions of people, documented
in the Torah, and passed from generation to generation without interruption.
The celebration of the Festival of Pesach – celebrating the exodus, Sukkot – celebrating
the miraculous clouds that surrounded the Jewish camp in the wilderness, and Shavuot –
celebrating the Sinai event, which continue until today, are further evidence that these events
happened. How else could Jews all over the world keep the same holidays commemorating the
same ancient events on the same days of the calendar year? The only possible answer is that
they celebrated these holidays with their parents, who celebrated them with their parents, all the
way back to the very first time the holidays were celebrated in the wilderness after the exodus
from Egypt by the people who experienced the events.
In the Torah we find repeatedly that Hashem reminds the people, “You saw these events
with your own eyes.” (Deuteronomy 4:15, 29:1.)
Each of the new religions referenced above also came with a “bible,” a collection of
writings that comprise the religion’s stories and laws. The Christians have the New Testament,
Islam the Koran, and the Mormons, the Book of Mormon. A look at their bibles should show us
something about their religion.
They are simplistic books with contradictions and mistakes. There is no depth to them
and no scholarship associated with them.
On the other hand, the scholarship on the Torah is unfathomable. The Torah has been
studied for millennia, by the greatest and most brilliant minds, and has never been exhausted.
These sublime, intellectual minds have spent their every waking moment studying the Torah
from all of its aspects. Yes, there are seeming contradictions but no mistakes. Every
contradiction or nuance of writing is deliberately planted to elicit a lesson or law. The wisdom of
the Torah is infinite, as is its author, Hashem.
A young man was considering converting to Christianity. His rabbi could not talk him out
of it, but, in a last-ditch effort, told the boy, “Before you convert, please complete the following
assignment. Go to any church, and ask the Pastor to show you, his library. Then go to any
Rabbi or any shul and look at the library there and tell me what you find.”
The boy was blown away. In any church he went to, he found maybe one bookcase with
books, and most of them were just extra copies of their bible. Any shul he went to, had an
extensive library of holy books taking up walls of space.
Also note, that any true nugget of wisdom found in any other bible was taken from our
Torah.
A friend of mine was looking to purchase the house of a Reverend. On the Reverend’s
desk was a blue ArtScroll Chumash, the very same one that is in all our shuls. He asked the
Reverend, “What’s that for?” The Reverend answered, “Oh, my best sermons come from that
book.”
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Rabbi Dr. Sholom Srebrenik, a renowned Arachim lecturer, once recounted in a lecture
that the Koran says numerous times, “The Koran is true as you can see from this text,” implying
that there is something in the text of the Koran that indicates its truth. He studied the entire text
and could not find any especially intelligent information revealing its truth. He asked a Koran
scholar, “What is meant by this? I did not find anything profound in the Koran.” He responded,
“Well, Mohammed was illiterate, and the Koran is written in an intelligent way. So, it must be
divine or else how would it be written down?” The answer is that he dictated it to his Jewish
servant who was literate and helped him with the content, too.
How fortunate we should feel to know that our Torah is true. It was given to Moshe,
taught to the Jewish people, and studied diligently since then for thousands of years. We can
avail ourselves of that Torah and see for ourselves that it is truly full of wisdom that we can feast
our minds on.
The messages that come straight from Hashem to Bilaam are taken quite seriously. One
has even been incorporated into the daily prayers (Numbers 24:2):
מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂראל
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.
The Seforno explains that the tents refer to theבתי מדרשות the Torah study halls, and
your dwelling places refers to the Shuls in which the Jewish people pray. These institutions
are what keep the Jewish people alive – Torah and Tefillah (prayer).
When one is privileged to study the Torah as all of you at Partners are, one sees very
clearly that the Torah could have only been written by Hashem the most brilliant author possible.
Through this most powerful medium we are able to recognize the Divinity of the Torah and its
Divine Giver. We should avail ourselves of the opportunity to study the Torah as frequently and
as much as possible, for it will connect us ever so much more to our amazing Creator, Hashem.
