Commentary on Parashat Balak, Numbers 22:2-25:9
Every week, Julie Seltzer, artist and Torah scribe, bakes a challah depicting an aspect of the week’s Torah portion.
And he (Pinhas) stabbed both of them, the man of Israel, and the woman, through her belly. (Numbers 25:8)
וַיִּדְקר אֶת-שְׁנֵיהֶם–אֵת אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאֶת-הָאִשָּׁה אֶל-קֳבָתָהּ
A certain Israelite man and certain non-Israelite woman were doing certain things in a certain place, and the zealot Pinhas decided to take things into his own hands by stabbing them to death. From the text, we get the impression that they are stabbed together: forever united.
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challah
Pronounced: KHAH-luh, Origin: Hebrew, ceremonial bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
Torah
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.