And Balaam raised his eyes and saw Israel dwelling by its tribes,

and the spirit of God was upon him...

How fair are your tents, O Yaakov, your dwellings, O Yisrael!

(Bemidbar 24:5)

 

Your dwellings [mishkenotekha] - How fair are they even when they are in ruins because then they are a pledge [mashkon] for you [the Hebrew for 'dwelling place'-mishkan- also has the connotation of 'pledge' or 'collateral'- mashkon], and the fact that they are in ruins is an atonement for your souls, as it is said, The Lord has brought His fury to an end (Eikha 4:11). And by what means has He brought it to and end? He has kindled a fire in Zion.

 (Rashi on Bamidbar 24:5, Silbermann translation)

 

and saw Israel dwelling according to its tribes - Not like the first time when he looked at them to give them the evil eye, but rather with the love he comprehended at that hour, and so writes the RaShBaM, and accordingly it is written, and the spirit of God was upon him - that the holy spirit rested upon him out of love and fondness.

(NeTziV MiVolozhin: Ha'Amek Davar Bamidbar 24:2)

 

How goodly are your tents, Yaakov - your dwelling places, Israel. We take note that sometimes we are called 'Yaakov', and other times- 'Yisrael'. Similarly, sometimes the Beit Hamikdash is sometimes called 'Ohel' ['tent'] and sometimes "Mishkan" ['dwelling place']. This can be explained with the help of a citation from the Talmud to the effect that when Israel does God's will, they are called 'Israel', but when they fail to do so they are called 'Yaakov'. We find in the Midrash Chazit that when the Beit HaMikdash is extant, it is called 'ohel', but when in ruins it is called 'mishkan', for it is as a pledge as we find in the Midrash and in Rashi on Parashat Vayakhel. From the midrash we see that when the Beit Hamikdash stood, the generation was evil, but with its destruction, the generation became righteous. According to this, we can understand the passage; "How goodly are your tents, Yaakov' - meaning that when the Temple is called 'Ohel' i.e. when it stands (and that, of course, is good), there is also a negative side - we are then called 'Yaakov', implying that we are labeled malefactors, as mentioned above. Such is not the case when we are in a state of 'mishkenotecha' - 'your dwelling places', meaning that when the Temple is desolate, then it is called 'mishkan' - it has been taken collateral for their sins, but this has its positive side, for then they are 'Yisrael', meaning they are righteous, performing God's will - deserving the title 'Yisrael'.

(Sefer Chanukat HaTorah, by Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, Bemidbar 24:5)

 

 

And the lord your god turned the curse into blessing for you,  for the lord your god loves you

Pinchas Leiser

 

The above dependant clause in Parashat Ki Tetseh, (Devarim 32 4-7) is a kind of "parenthetical statement" appearing in the context of the injunction against Ammonites and Moabites entering the Assembly of the Lord

Neither Ammonite nor Moabite shall come into the Lord's assembly. Even his tenth generation shall not come into the Lord's assembly ever. Because they did not greet you with bread and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and for their hiring against you Balaam son of Beor from Aram Naharaim to curse you. But the Lord your God did not want to listen to Balaam, and the Lord your God turned the curse into blessing for you, for the Lord your God loves you. You shall not seek their well-being and there good all your days, forever.

The main subject is the prohibition against Ammonites and Moabites entering into the Lord's assembly, i.e., permitting them to marry a daughter of Israel. The Torah gives two reasons for the prohibition: Ammon and Moab's refusal to provide the Children of Israel with "bread and water", and the hiring of Balaam to curse Israel. In passing, the Torah tells us that God turned the curse into a blessing.

It is interesting to note that our Sages neutralized the prohibition in two ways:

a.         They restricted the probation to males. The proper nouns "Amoni" and "Moavi" may - according to Hebrew grammar - be read as all (male and female) Ammonites and Moabites, or as specifically male members of said nations. The Sages chose the latter reading, thus excluding females from the prohibition. (Sifri, Devarim, 248; Bavli, Yevamot 69b)

b.        "Came Sanherib and mixed the nations." (Berahot 28a) - the prohibition is no longer in effect because there is no way to identify Amonites and Moabites.

Perhaps one might say that these rabbinical readings in effect turned the curse which lay upon the Ammonites and Moabites into a blessing and facilitated their joining the Jewish people and "the Lord's assembly" as members with full rights.

The transformation of the curses into blessings is not explicitly mentioned in this week's parasha; there may be intimations of such as Balaam seems to repeat himself in different formulations. For example (Bemidbar 24:13):

Should Balak give me his houseful of silver and gold, I could not cross the word of the Lord to do either a good thing or a bad one from my own heart; that which the Lord speaks to me, it alone can I speak.

That is to say: It seems that were Balaam to be given the option of expressing his true feelings, he certainly would have accommodated Balak's desires and cursed Israel; only his being turned into a conduit for the word of God defused the curse.

The transformation of curse into blessing invites us to examine the concepts of blessing and curse, their origins, their influence, their reversibility and their relativity.

What is the power of curses and blessings, and from where does it derive?

God blessed the Sabbath day when he rested from all His labor. He also blessed Adam and Eve with "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth."

The first creation in the Bible to be cursed by God is the primeval serpent in the Garden of Eden - "Cursed be you of all cattle..."

God decreed death for Adam and Eve. Eve was told "In pain shall you bear children", but she was not cursed. Adam was told "The earth shall be cursed because of you."

Cain too, following his murder of Abel, was told by God: "Cursed shall you be by the soil that gaped with its mouth"

The source of these curses is God's response to Man's behavior. The Torah describes in human terms the consequences of his actions when he violates the divine will.

God's blessing of Noah and his sons upon their exiting the ark is similar to His blessing of Adam and Eve.

Noah is the first person in Scripture to curse and to bless; he curses Canaan, son of Ham, for his violation of his dignity, and he blesses "God, Lord of Shem" because Shem and his brother Yafet covered their father's shame.

It is noteworthy that Noah does not attribute the curse to the Lord, but the blessing has a connection to God, Lord of Shem. Is this curse a human emotional reaction, without a divine origin, as against blessings which derive their power from God?

In any case, Avraham is the first person to be notified that God will be involved in the blessings and the curses which people shower upon him, as is written "I shall bless those who bless you, and those who curse you shall I curse". The covenant between God and Avraham transforms, as it were, people's relationship to Avraham into relationship to the God of Avraham, and therefore He responds to these references with complete identification.

The blessing passed on from father to son - the Blessing of Avraham - becomes a central motif in the Book of Bereishit; it becomes the point of contention between Yaakov and Esav; on his deathbed Yaakov blesses his sons "each according to his blessing" (we would hardly be inclined to categorize certain of his messages to his sons as 'blessings').

It would seem, then, that all these blessings are related, in one way or another, to God as the source of the blessing.

Space does not permit dealing with all of the blessings and curses in the Torah; suffice it to recall that which is written with reference to the Priestly Benediction: "And they shall place my name upon the Children of Israel and I shall bless them." The priests are but channels through which God's blessings reach the Children of Israel.

The singular occasion of the proclamation of the blessings at Mt. Grizim and the curses at Mt. Eval (Parashat Ki Tavo) is another example of blessings and curses being transferred though human means although the origin is divine.

Returning to Balaam, we discover that our Sages, of blessed memory (Sanhedrin 105b), attempt - through analysis of the blessing emitting from Balaam's lips - to decipher what was the hidden message he wished to transmit:

And the Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth" - Rabbi Elazar said: An angel. Rabbi Yonatan said: A hook.

Rabbi Yochanan said: From that scoundrel evil man's blessing we can learn what was in his heart.

R. Johanan said: From the blessings of that wicked man you may learn his intentions: Thus he wished to curse them that they [the Israelites] should possess no synagogues or school-houses  -  [this is deduced from] "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob"; that the Shechinah should not rest upon them  -  "and thy tabernacles, O Israel"; that their kingdom should not endure  -  "As the valleys are they spread forth"; that they might have no olive trees and vineyards  -  "as gardens by the river's side"; that their odor might not be fragrant  - "as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted"; that their kings might not be tall  -  "and as cedar trees beside the waters"; that they might not have a king the son of a king  -  "He shall pour the water out of his bucket"; that their kingdom might not rule over other nations  -  "and his seed shall be in many waters"; that their kingdom might not be strong  -  "and his king shall be higher than Agag"; that their kingdom might not be awe-inspiring  -  "and his kingdom shall be exalted".

R. Abba b. Kahana said: All of them reverted back to curses, excepting the one about synagogues and schoolhouses, for it is written, "But the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing for thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee"; "the curse" [in the singular], but not the curses.

Additional Sages deciphered the hidden messages in Balaam's words, reading his blessings as concealed curses. Rabbi Abba goes so far as to claim that some of these veiled curses were actually realized.

Does this mean that one should be concerned when cursed by another, even when the curser is considered by the Torah and the Sages to be a wicked person?

True, Rav Yehuda (Sanhedrin 90b, and other locations) said: "A scholar's curses, even on insignificant matters, take effect." Curses by a sage are dangerous, because they are liable to affect a person even if he is not deserving of punishment. But this is said only in reference to a scholar's curse, and perhaps Rav Yehudah is warning scholars to guard their tongue, as per the admonition: "Scholars, be cautious with your words, lest from your words they [your students] may learn to lie."

It may be that the intention of the Torah and our scholars is to tell us that everyone's curses have power; should someone's curse match God's intention to hurt another, that someone, regardless of his righteousness or his wickedness, becomes a channel for God's will.

But perhaps the most important lesson to be learned from the story of Balaam's curses/blessings and other passages relating to the story is that curses and blessings are reversible and relative. It seems to me that both Balaam's attempts to view Israel from different angles and the placement of the blessing at Mt. Grizim and the curse at Mt. Eval come to instruct us that blessings and curses are often dependant upon points of view and meanings attached to the words. We are not dealing with absolute and irreversible concepts.

Sometimes there is a tendency to view a certain situation as a fateful curse. Such a deterministic view can lead us to despair and indifference; we feel that "there's nothing we can do" because in any case "nothing will ever change". Such feelings exist both in trying personal situations and in periods when the national and social mood is, in many aspects, at a nadir.

It seems to me that "the mouth of the ass", created on Sabbath eve at twilight, is a metaphor for hidden potentials for hope which exist within the seemingly cursed reality, coming to teach us that it is in our power to place the word of God within our mouths and to look at the world and all its inhabitants through a prism of blessing. The blessing pronounced by the priests prior to the Priestly Benediction may be understood as a reminder to bless the Jewish people "with love", - to transfer to us the ability to love and to strive for peace with all the universe's creations.

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist.

 

There is a People that Dwells Apart - Promise or Challenge?

A people that dwells apart [levadad] - as he said: The Lord alone [badad] did guide it - so how can I destroy them?

(Seforno Bamidbar 23:9)

 

The Lord alone did guide it - He guided them in the wilderness alone (unassisted) and yet in security.

No alien god at His side - for not one of the gods of the other peoples possessed the power to display its might and to war with them. Our rabbis, however, explained it as a promise referring to the future, and so, too, does Onkelos render it.

But I say that they are words of reproof which he said with the view of calling heaven and earth as witnesses against them, and also in order that this song should be witness, because He knew that they would in future prove faithless and would bear in mind neither the past deeds that He performed for them nor those that would come to pass, which at a future time He would do for them. For this reason it is necessary to make the text fit in with this and with that (the past and the future). Indeed, the whole section is to be connected with, Remember the days of old, consider the years of generation after generation (32:7): Thus has He done for them and thus will He in the future do for them - all this they ought to bear in mind.

 (Rashi on Devarim 32:12, Silberman translation)

 

There is a people that dwells alone - It will live in an insulated land without much intercourse with other nations, living its "internal" national mission as an am [people] as a national social body, and will not seek its greatness as goy [nation] among goyim [nations], not as a powerful imposing national body among the other individual nations.

 (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on Bamidbar 23:9, Levy translation)

           

Shall dwell alone - The nations take no account of him because he has no land. What blessing can there be in his [Balaam's] saying that Yaakov has no land?! Therefore say I that "Dwells alone" means that he is different from the nations, and therefore he will not stray from the right and just path, and thus his Lord God will accompany him to success. In similar fashion I explain "and the nations take no account of him", meaning that he does not count himself among the nations, indicated by the use of the reflexive verb. Ralbag explains in like fashion.

 (Shadal ibid., ibid.)

 

This is a nation which shall dwell alone, and the nations take no account of him - The Israelite nation is a nation unto itself". It has 613 commandments and many warnings and precautionary rulings which, if violated, are considered transgressions. Among these are acts which are not at all considered sinful by the nations. For example; Should a person transgress though sight or speech, etc - we considered this to be a sin; the nations do not consider it as such. This explains the text: "They are a nation which dwells alone", they are a nation "unto themselves' "And they are not considered by the nations" - they do not reckon them as sins.

 (Rabbi Yehuda Zvi of Stretin)

 

Israel's Great Can Also Err In Identification Of The Maschiach

"A star rises from Yaakov" - Because the Messiah will gather the dispersed of Israel from the ends of the earth, he compared him to a star rising in the firmament from the ends of the earth.

 (Ramban, B'midbar 24:17)

 

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: Rabbi Akiva would expound "A star has risen from Yaakov" - Kozba [Bar Cochba] has risen from Yaakov". When Rabbi Akiva would see bar Kozba, he would say: This is the anointed King - the Messiah. Said to him Rabbi Yochanan ben Tortah: Akiva, grass will sprout from your cheeks and still the Messiah will not arrive.

 (Yerushalmi, Taanit 4:5)

 

Don't imagine that the Anointed King [Mashiach] must perform signs and miracles and create new things in the world or resurrect the dead, etc. Such is not the case, for we see that Rabbi Akiva was a great sage among the sages of the Mishna, and he was the 'arms bearer' of King Ben Kozibah, and he said of him that he is the Messiah, and he and all the sages of generation thought that he was the Messiah. When he was killed because of his sins they realized he was not. The sages did not ask him to show a sign or a miracle. The main principle is as follows: This Torah, its precepts and rulings are eternal, not to be added to nor detracted from.

(Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 11:3)

 

 

 

 

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