Spiritual and Ethical Issues in the Bamidbar Stories I pray you, curse this people for me" (Bamidbar 22:6){4} by Dr. Meir Tamari It was fitting that miracles should be associated with Bil'am the prophet to the gentiles, and that the nature and character of his prophecy be revealed thereby. "G-d opened the mouth of the she-ass and she spoke" (Bamidbar 22:28). Onkelos translates the verse, "and man became a 'nefesh chaya" (B'reishit 2:7), as 'a creature with speech' rather than the usual 'a living being'; yet here we have an animal acquiring the most distinguishing characteristic of human beings. Further- more, this phenomenon was such a major one that our Sages taught, "10 things were created on Erev Shabbat, at twilight, ...the mouth of [Bil'am's] she-donkey" (Avot 5:6). "Bar Kapara taught: That which cannot normally be seen was seen, as it is written at Matan Torah, 'and all the people saw the sounds' (Sh'mot 20:1); that which cannot normally hear heard, as it is written, 'this stone which heard the words of G-d shall bear witness' (Yehoshua 24:27); that which cannot normally speak, spoke, 'and the she-donkey spoke' (Bamidbar 22:28)" (Midrash Shmuel). "This miracle was greater than the miracle of the opening of the mouth of the earth to swallow Korach and his congregation. There Moshe decreed and the earth obeyed, however, here it is written 'and G-d [Himself] opened the mouth of the she-donkey" (Zohar part 3, 209b). Throughout Tanach we witness such miracles, both revealed and hidden, that negate all forms of idolatry, both ancient and modern. Idolatry sees natural phenomena, events and the fortunes or misfortunes of people and nations, either as the results of natural forces or as pure chance and coincidence or as something that can be explained by human wisdom and science. The miracles, however, attest that natural phenomena have no power of their own but merely reflect the will of G-d, their Creator, that there is a Divine Wisdom beyond the limitations of human knowledge, and that there is nothing due to chance or coincidence but rather only to G-d's involvement in the world that He created. Sometimes the miracles are hidden in the affairs of our daily lives. At other times, G-d in His Wisdom and Mercy changes the workings of nature so that water turns to blood, the Sea is split in two, water flows from the rock, Mannna falls from Heaven, fire and clouds form pillars, and fire comes down from heaven. "No man has any portion in the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu, until he is convinced that all our affairs and chance happenings, just like the routine workings and laws of the universe, in the private, national and public fields, are miracles and are never to be attributed merely to nature" (Ramban). As to what actually happened with Bil'am and the she-donkey, the commentators are divided in a way that they regard all the other miracles in the Tanach. Shmuel David Luzzato explains that, "G-d opened the mouth of the ass and it brayed in an unusual manner; there was a miracle but it was a hidden miracle". Rambam held that the miracles do not signify sudden changes by G-d of the laws of creation, which would signify a limitation of G-d's power but they were built into the original plan of creation. "At Creation G-d implanted in nature the potential power of bringing forth all that was necessary; whether the event was something continuous which we then call natural, or something of rare occurrence which we then term a miracle. And so G-d endowed the donkey with speech; not real speech but merely the vision of Bil'am" (Rambam, Avot 5:6). The predominant understanding among commentators is that of belief in the literal miracle; "I believe in all that is written in the Torah. Why should I not believe the verse, 'and the ass said' or the verse, 'and the donkey spoke'" (Ibn Caspi). All miracles have a purpose and teach us spiritual and religious lessons, so what was the lesson and message of this miracle of the donkey's speech and why does the Torah tell us its story? Surely to comment on the arrogance of sorcerers, to mock the gullibility of those who believe in the power of magic and to expose those who pretend to be able to bless or curse and so to bend supernatural powers to their will. This is exactly what was done by the she-ass to Bil'am, the great sorcerer and arch-type of magicians, of whom Balak had said, "for I know whosoever you bless is blessed and whomever you curse is cursed". "The she-ass saw the angel of the Lord, but initially Bil'am did not. Later, we read, 'G-d then opened his eyes'- was Bil'am then blind before that? This comes to teach us that even our eyes are in G-d's power. 'And G-d opened the mouth of the she-ass', to teach him [and us] that if he sought to curse, nevertheless his mouth was solely in G-d's power. The she-ass said to Bil'am, 'you could only kill me if you had a sword in your hand, how then could you believe that you could uproot and curse a whole nation? Bil'am found no answer to this and held his peace. Then G-d in His mercy and respect for His creatures closed the mouth of the she-ass, otherwise man would never have been able to subject a beast with the power of speech. See how the most powerful of sorcerers and wisest of them all, could not withstand the most foolish of beasts". (Bamidbar Rabba 20). "Bil'am wanted to amend G-d's plan but is blinder than his own animal, he wanted to overcome G-d's wishes but has to accommodate the wish of his own animal, wanted to ruin a whole nation but has to confess his impotence against his own animal; arrogant towards kings and lords he is but a laughing stock before his own servants" (S. R. Hirsch). The whole story presents two important spiritual perspectives: the validity of natural and supernatural miracles, and secondly, how they relate to the nature and form of Bil'am's role as a prophet. 'There is no divination with Yaakov, neither is there sorcery in Israel" (Bamidbar 23:23): "G-d who can grant speech an animal can also use the mouth of a Bil'am to proclaim His Word" (S. R. Hirsch). [The Parshat To-l'dot Homepage]
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