Dear Friends, 
If you walk into our sanctuary and look above the Ark, you will see the Hebrew words:
מַה טֹּבוּ אֹהָלֶיךָ יַעֲקֹב, מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל
“How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel.”
In 2017, we undertook a major renovation of our sanctuary, with the Elias and Yitzchak families stepping forward to help lead the way together with our community. It transformed the space into the beautiful prayer space it is today, a place that welcomes large crowds every Shabbat and so many meaningful moments throughout the year.
As part of that renovation, we carefully chose which verse would be placed above the Ark. There are many beautiful verses that could have been chosen. But we chose these words from this week’s Torah portion, Balak.
In this week’s portion, King Balak hires Balaam, a powerful prophet, to curse the Jewish people. But when Balaam looks out at the Jewish camp, he cannot curse them. Instead, he blesses them.
What did he see?
Our sages explain that he saw the way the Jewish people arranged their tents. The entrances did not face one another. One family was not looking into another family’s home. One person was not busy measuring, comparing, or peering into someone else’s life.
He saw dignity, modesty, and respect. He saw families focused on their own purpose, their own mission, their own home.
That itself was the blessing. And what a message for our time.
We live in a world where so much of life is about looking into someone else’s tent. What are they doing? Where are they going? What do they have? What did they post? How do we compare?
Of course, technology can be used for good. It’s how I share this message with you. But the Torah reminds us that the deepest blessing comes when we know how to build our own tent with peace, purpose, and holiness. Our children need that. Our families need that. We all need that.
We need places where people are not competing, performing, or comparing. Places where they can belong. Places where they can breathe. Where kindness, learning, joy, and care are part of daily life. That is what we try to build every day at Chabad Naples.
Walk into Chabad Naples on any given day and you will see it. Children learning and growing. Seniors being visited and remembered. Families gathering. People being helped. And we continue looking for new ways to bring that blessing to others.
That is why we just launched Kitchen of Kindness, a new way to bring warmth and care directly to those who need it. Volunteers will come together to cook, pack, and deliver fresh food with dignity and love. Because it is never just about the food. It is a message: you are seen, you are cared for, you are not alone.
This is how we continue building tents: more places of warmth, more spaces of kindness, and more ways to bring blessing into people’s lives.
Balaam saw the Jewish people from afar and said, “How good are your tents.”
Thousands of years later, our job is to continue building those tents. In our homes. In our community. In the way we treat each other.
So let us take this verse to heart.
Let us build homes and spaces where our children feel grounded, not pressured. Where families feel connected, not compared. Where each person can live their mission with confidence, dignity, and joy.
How good are your tents. That is the blessing. And that is the work.
Wishing you a Shabbat of peace, purpose, and blessing,
With love and blessings,
Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos
