There is something unsettling about the times we are living in. Around the world, and even here in America, Jew-hatred is becoming louder and more brazen. We find ourselves asking a question Jews have asked for thousands of years: How are we still here? How has a tiny nation survived exile, persecution, expulsions, inquisitions, pogroms, the Holocaust, and now yet another wave of hatred? How do certain performers continue to operate while espousing such reprehensible beliefs?
The answer, as always, lies in this week's double Torah portion, Chukas-Balak. King Balak hired the greatest prophet of the nations, Balaam, to curse the Jewish people. Yet every attempt failed. Frustrated, Balaam exclaimed, "How shall I curse whom G-d has not cursed? How can I invoke wrath when G-d is not angry?" He recognized that the Jewish people possessed something no curse could penetrate: their secret strength. "From their beginning, I see them as mountain peaks, and I behold them as hills; it is a nation that will dwell alone and not reckon itself among the nations." Our Sages explain that the "mountain peaks" refer to our Patriarchs, and the "hills" to our Matriarchs.
Balaam understood something that even many Jews forget. Our strength has never come from our military, our wealth, our influence, or our numbers. It comes from our foundation. A building can only stand as long as its foundation remains strong. Our foundation is Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. It is the values they passed on: faith in Hashem, kindness, courage, family, Torah, and an unwavering sense of purpose. Every generation that reconnects to that foundation becomes impossible to uproot.
History has proven Balaam's words to be true. The greatest empires have disappeared. Nations that once sought our destruction are now chapters in history books. Yet the Jewish people continue to thrive. Those who hate us often assume our survival is a mystery. Balaam saw that it wasn't a mystery at all. It was a promise. As long as we remain connected to the mountains and hills from which we came, no curse, no hatred, and no enemy can define our future.
This week, instead of allowing the headlines to fill us with fear, let them remind us of where our strength truly comes from. Open a Jewish book. Put on tefillin. Light a Shabbat candle. Tell your children the stories of our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, your Bubbies and Zaidys, Sabas and Savtas. Remember that every mitzvah reconnects us to the foundation that has carried our people for thousands of years. Balaam's blessing still echoes today, reminding us that our survival has never been an accident. We are here because we remain rooted in Jewish life, and every Jew-hater knows that. Now it's time for each of us to accept and live this simple truth.