Monday, June 29, 2015

Balak

Numbers 22:2−25:9

Rabbi Jonathan Lipnick, Jewish Theological Seminary

Reading Parashat Balak along with Rashi, the medieval 12th-century French exegete par excellence, one quickly discovers how vilified Balaam is in Midrash. But not all biblical commentators side with Rashi. There's a fantastic chapter by Nehama Leibowitz (1905–1997) in Studies of Bamidbar entitled "Prophet or Sorcerer?" Rabbi Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010), too, has an article on the subject entitled "Balaam: Saint or Sinner?" in his extraordinary The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers.

The biblical accounting of Balaam's behavior, without rabbinic interpretation, is rather straightforward. Balak, king of the Moabites, has asked Balaam, a non-Israelite sorcerer, to put a curse on Israel. Balak, aware that the Children of Israel have been blessed by God, hopes that a curse will allow the Moabites to be victorious in their battle against the Israelites. After several entreaties from Balak, along with permission from God and a stop along the way with God's angel, Balaam ends his journey at a mountaintop, where he sees from a distance the Children of Israel encamped. From this vantage point, Balaam proceeds to bless the Israelites four times (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 15-24). It is some of the most beautiful poetry in all of biblical literature.

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