The Torah portion of Balak introduces us to the shadowy character of Bilaam, a heathen prophet who tried to manipulate G-d's will to suit his own agenda.

He was an itinerant occultist who, way back then, sought to prove that Israel does not have the right to exist.

In this week's Jerusalem Lights podcast, Jim Long and Rabbi Chaim Richman examine this mysterious prophet through a contemporary lens, and find that the modern scourge of antisemitism has much in common with Bilaam's twisted, baseless and ancient hatred.