The Talmud tells us the secret of Balaam’s prophetic powers.
The Gemara asks: And is there anger before the Holy One, Blessed be He? Can we speak of God using terms like anger? The Gemara answers: Yes, as it was taught in a baraita, God becomes angry, as it is stated: “God vindicates the righteous, God is furious every day” (Psalms 7:12). How much time does His anger last? God’s anger lasts a moment. And how long is a moment? One fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eighth of an hour, that is a moment. The Gemara adds: And no creature can precisely determine that moment when God becomes angry, except for Balaam the wicked, about whom it is written: “He who knows the knowledge of the Most High” (Numbers 24:16). This should not be understood to mean that Balaam was a full-fledged prophet. Now, clearly, Balaam did not know the mind of his animal; and he did know the mind of the Most High? If he could not understand the rebuke of his donkey, he was certainly unable to understand the mind of the Most High. Rather, this verse from Numbers teaches that Balaam was able to precisely determine the hour that the Holy One, Blessed be He, is angry. At that moment, Balaam would utter his curse and, through God’s anger, it would be fulfilled (Berachot, 7a).
From the pages of our daf yomi…
There was an incident involving one High Priest who exited the Holy Temple and everyone followed him. When they saw Shemaya and Avtalyon, the heads of the Sanhedrin, walking along, in deference to them they left the High Priest by himself and walked after Shemaya and Avtalyon. Eventually, Shemaya and Avtalyon came to take leave of the High Priest before returning to their homes. Envious of the attention they received, he angrily said to them: Let the descendants of the gentile nations come in peace. Shemaya and Avtalyon descended from converts, and he scornfully drew attention to that fact. They said to him: Let the descendants of the gentile nations come in peace, who perform the acts of Aaron, who loved and pursued peace; and let not a descendant of Aaron come in peace, who does not perform the acts of Aaron and who speaks condescendingly to descendants of converts (Yoma, 71b).
Mah Tovu
Background:
Parashat Balak tells the story of King Balak of Moav’s attempts to hire a non-Jewish prophet named Bilaam to go and curse the Jews. Balak saw that the Jews were strong, and he was afraid of them. He thought that if Bilaam could curse them it would weaken the Jews and Moav would be safe from them. However, much to Balak’s fury, every time Bilaam opens his mouth he blesses Israel instead of curses them! One of Bilaam’s blessings even makes it into our davening:
מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!
Bilaam seems to praise the Jewish people for their tents, and their structures. However, he doesn’t elaborate on this praise, so we don’t know what exactly he meant. Here are three different opinions:
Rashi: Bilaam praised the Jews’ tents because they were arranged in such a way that one tent’s window didn’t look into the window of the tent next to it. This made it possible for them to be modest because they couldn’t see into their neighbors’ homes.
Seforno: Bilaam was praising the Jews’ batei midrashot. We know this because the word ohel, or tent, often refers to a beit midrash.
Chizkuni: This is just language that Bilaam used to describe the Jews because Yaakov is referred to as an “איש תם יושב אוהלים”, or “a simple man who sat in tents.”
Questions:
- According to Rashi, what was Bilaam praising about the Jews? Why do you think this was important enough to be mentioned?
- According to Seforno, what was Bilaam praising about the Jews? Why do you think this was important enough to be mentioned?
- According to Chizkuni, is mah tovu a special praise about the Jews? How does the Chizkuni’s opinion change our understanding of this phrase?
Download a printable version here
The name of Ruth’s podcast, Life Imitates Torah, is very clever. This week, it’s awkward. In Parshas Balak, Hashem speaks to Bilaam through a donkey. Readers may have encountered others in various walks of life speaking out of their, um, donkeys. Hameivin Yavin. Anywho, not going to overthink it this week. We have a talking donkey. Let’s go with that. We’ll have a hee-hawing competition, which kid can do the best hee-haw. We’ll look for duration, pitch, and attitude. Here’s a paper from a physicist and animal scientist on the characteristics of a hee-haw. The paper notes, “This characteristic sound (bray) is produced by vocalizing both on the exhaling of air (producing the "haw") and also - and this is what makes it unique - on the inhaling of air too (giving the "hee").” Consider the fact of this paper when deciding whether to support your child’s interest in pursuing a career in academia. Anyways, I’ll be practicing. Please enjoy ten hours of donkey sounds.
Yoni Friedman.
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