Balak (בָּלָק — Hebrew for “Balak,” a name, the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 40th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 22:2–25:9. Jews in the Diaspora generally read it in late June or July.
The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying among years. In most years (for example, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 ), parshah Balak is read separately. In some years (for example, 2009), parshah Balak is combined with the previous parshah, Chukat, to help achieve the appropriate number of weekly readings.
