Parashat Balak 5772 / פָּרָשַׁת בָּלָק
/ 17 Tamuz 5772
Parashat Balak is the 40th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.
Torah Portion: Numbers 22:2-25:9
Balak tells the story of the Moabite king Balak, who hires Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam’s donkey speaks along the way, and Balaam ends up blessing the Israelites. The portion ends with a story about Israelite men sinning with Moabite women and the stabbing of an Israelite and a Midianite. [1]
Full Kriyah
- 1: 22:2-12 · 11 p’sukim
- 2: 22:13-20 · 8 p’sukim
- 3: 22:21-38 · 18 p’sukim
- 4: 22:39-23:12 · 15 p’sukim
- 5: 23:13-26 · 14 p’sukim
- 6: 23:27-24:13 · 17 p’sukim
- 7: 24:14-25:9 · 21 p’sukim
- maf: 25:7-9 · 3 p’sukim
Haftarah: Micah 5:6-6:8 · 17 p’sukim
Triennial year 2
- 1: 22:39-41 · 3 p’sukim
- 2: 23:1-3 · 3 p’sukim
- 3: 23:4-6 · 3 p’sukim
- 4: 23:7-12 · 6 p’sukim
- 5: 23:13-15 · 3 p’sukim
- 6: 23:16-18 · 3 p’sukim
- 7: 23:19-26 · 8 p’sukim
- maf: 23:19-26 · 8 p’sukim
Haftarah: Micah 5:6-6:8 · 17 p’sukim
Alternate Haftarah: Micah 5:1-8 · 8 p’sukim
Commentary and Divrei Torah
Balak: The JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary by Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin (paid link)
List of Dates
Parashat Balak is read in Israel on:References
- Parashat Balak from Sefaria.org
- Sefaria, Inc.
- Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) and Haftarah (Micah 5:6-6:8): The JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS Study Bible) (paid link)
- Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin, Jewish Publication Society, 2017
- The Chumash: The Stone Edition (Artscroll Series) (paid link)
- Nosson Scherman, Mesorah Publications, 1993
- A Complete Triennial System for Reading the Torah
- Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, 1988
- Modification of the Triennial Cycle Readings for Combined Parashot in Certain Years
- Rabbi Miles B. Cohen, 2020
- Haftarot for a Triennial Cycle Torah Reading
- Avram Israel Reisner, 2014
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