Midrash su Numeri 24:3

R. Jochanan said: "Bil'am was lame on one foot and blind in one eye, as it is said (Num. 24, 15) Whose one eye is open."

(Numb. 23:11-14:) “And Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me; to curse….’ And Balaam answered and said, ‘Is it not that that which God places into my mouth….’ And Balak said to Balaam, ‘Please go [and] I will take you….’ So he took him to the Field of Zophim [at the top of Pisgah].” He saw that Israel would be breached there, for it was there that Moses died, as stated (in Deut. 3:27), “Go up to the top of Pisgah …, [for you shall not cross over this Jordan].” Is there a breach greater than this? What he saw was through divinations, and he was of the opinion that because of him they would fall there. (Numb. 23:14-16:) “And he built seven altars [and offered a ram and a bull on each altar]. Then he said unto Balak, ‘Stand here [beside your burnt offerings and let me make myself available to the Lord over there]….’ And God appeared to Balaam and he placed a word (davar) in his mouth.” Like a man who places a bit upon the mouth of his animal and twists him to where he wants [it to go]. So was the Holy One, blessed be He, twisting his mouth. When he said to him, “Return to Balak and bless them,” he said, “Why should I go to him to anguish him?” [So] he sought to go to [his own home] and not to Balak. The Holy One, blessed be He, put a bit into his mouth, [and said] (in Numb. 23:16, cont.) “Return to Balak and speak thus.” (Numb 23:17:) “So he [came] unto him, and there he was standing beside his burnt offerings together with the ministers of Moab.” Concerning the first occasion, it is written (in Numb. 23:6), “with all the ministers of Moab.”⁵⁹Numb. R. 20:20. When they saw that they had derived no benefit at all, they left him; and only a small portion of the ministers of Moab were left with him. (Numb. 23:17:) “Balak said to him, ‘What did the Lord say?’” When he saw that [Balaam] was not in control of himself to say what he wanted, [Balak] sat himself down and mocked him. As soon as he saw that he was mocking him, Balaam said to him, “Get up from there. It is not fitting to sit while the words of the Omnipresent are being spoken.” (Numb. 23:18:) “Rise up Balak and listen; give ear to me, you son of Zippor!” Both of them were [distinguished] sons of [undistinguished] fathers, for they had made themselves greater than their fathers.⁶⁰On the importance of having a distinguished lineage, see, e.g., Ta‘an 21b. [Hence (in Numb. 24:3),] “An oracle of Balaam son of Beor (literally, his son is Beor)”; (in Numb 23:18) “give ear to me, you son of Zippor (literally, his son is Zippor)!” ⁶¹The unusual wording of Numb. 23:18 and 24:3 suggests that Balak and Balaam both had fathers undistinguished enough to be called their sons. (Numb. 23:19:) “God is not a human, that he should speak falsehood.” He is not like flesh and blood. [When a person of] flesh and blood acquires friends and finds others nicer than they, he forsakes the former ones. But [the Holy One, blessed be He,] is not like that. It is not possible [for Him] to be false to the oath of the early ancestors. (Ibid., cont.:) “Has he promised and not fulfilled?” (This phrase can also be read as, “He has promised and not fulfilled.”) When he promises to bring evils upon them, He will cancel them, if they have repented. You find it written (in Exod. 22:19), “Whoever sacrifices to a god shall be devoted to destruction.” When they made the calf, they merited destruction. So I thought to curse and destroy them. But when they repented a little, He suspended [any punishment] and (according to Exod. 32:14) “The Lord repented of the evil which He had planned to do to His people.” And so too in many places. As he said to Jochaniah (in Jer. 22:30), “as none of his seed shall succeed….” But He said to his son’s son (in Hag. 2:22), “And I will overturn the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the might of the kingdoms of the nations,” since it is stated (Hag. 2:23), “’On that day,’ declares the Lord of Hosts, ‘I will take you, O My servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and make you as a signet.’” And so He suspended what He said to his [grand]father (in Jer. 22:24), “’As I live,’ declares the Lord, ‘if you, O King Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, of Judah, were a signet on My right hand, I would tear you off even from there.’” And so with the men of Anatoth, it is written (in Jer. 11:23), “No remnant shall be left of them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth.” [But] once they repented, see what is written (in Neh. 7:27), “The men of Anatoth were one hundred and twenty-eight.”

(Numb. 24:3:) “So he took up his theme and said.”⁷⁶These words also appear in Numb. 23:7, 18; 24:15, 20, 21, 23, but the context of this verse certainly fits the sense of the midrash. Let our master instruct us:⁷⁷Yelammedenu rabbenu. When these words appear at the beginning of a section along with the response, “Thus have our masters taught…,” they commonly introduce a new parashah. In the case of one who eats without washing his hands, what penalty will he incur?⁷⁸Numb. R. 20:21. Thus have our masters taught: Washing hands before the meal is an option; after the meal it is an obligation.⁷⁹Hul. 105a, but not in the Mishnah. It once happened that there was an Israelite shopkeeper who would cook [and sell] both clean meat and pork, so that they would not notice that he was a Jew. Now his custom was this: Whenever anyone came into his shop and did not wash his hands, he knew that he was a foreigner and he would set pork before him; but whenever anyone washed his hands and recited the blessing, he knew that he was a Jew and would serve him clean meat. Once a certain Jew came in to eat there but did not wash his hands. Thinking that he was a foreigner, he set pork before him. He ate without saying the blessing. When he came to settle the account with him for the bread and for the meat, the pork was expensively priced. He said to him, “I have such and such against you over the meat which you have eaten, for the slice is worth ten manah.”⁸⁰Gk.: mna. He said to him, “Yesterday I ate it for eight. Now today you want ten!” He said to him, “This which you ate is from a hog.” When he said this to him, his hair stood on end, for he became terrified and afraid. He said to him privately, “I am a Jew and you have given me pork!” He said to him, “A curse upon you! When I saw that you ate without washing your hands and without a blessing, I thought that you were a foreigner.” Hence the sages have said, “The [omission of the] first water (before the meal) caused him to serve him pork; [the neglect of] the latter water (after the meal) took a life.”⁸¹Yoma 83b; Hul. 106a. [The second part of the previous statement is due to] a story about a certain person who ate pulse without washing his hands. When he went down to the marketplace, his hands were filthy from the pulse. When an acquaintance of his saw him, he went and said to his wife, “Your husband has mentioned as a token⁸²Siman. Gk.: semeion. to you [of my authenticity] that he has just now eaten pulse.⁸³I.e., the fact that he knew what his friend had just eaten would be evidence of his having spoken with him. Send him that ring.” [So] she gave it to him. After a time her husband came. He said to her, “Where is the ring?” She said to him, “So and so came with your tokens, and I gave it to him.” Becoming filled with rage, he arose and killed her. Therefore the sages have said, “Whoever does not wash his hands after the meal is like one who takes a life.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, has warned Israel not to transgress even insignificant commandments, as stated (in Deut. 32:47), “For it (the Torah) is no empty thing for you, [in that it is your very life].” Even some commandment that you consider to be empty and insignificant has within it life and length of days, as stated (in Deut. 32:47, cont.), “and through this thing you will lengthen your days upon the land.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “If you keep My commandments, I will cast down your enemies before you,” as stated (in Ps. 81:14-15), “O that my people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways. Then I would virtually [subdue their enemies…].” When Balaam saw how Israel observed [even] the insignificant commandments, he said, “Who can curse these people, when they observe commandments and when His name is engraved upon them.” (Numb. 23:21:) “The Lord their God is with them.” Whoever curses them curses himself, because His name is joined with them.”⁸⁴I.e., the name El (“God”) forms part of the name Israel. He began turning to oracles, as stated (in Numb. 24:3), “So he took up his theme” This text is related (to Prov. 27:14), “Whoever rises early in the morning to bless his neighbor in a loud voice shall have it reckoned to him as a curse.” When Balaam came to curse Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, diverted his tongue, so that he began to bless. It is so stated (in Deut. 23:6), “But the Lord your God did not want to heed Balaam; so the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you.” The Holy One, blessed be He, put power in his voice and his voice went from one end of the world to the other, so that the nations would hear that he was blessing [Israel]. Now it is stated concerning him (in Prov. 27:14), “Whoever [rises early in the morning to] bless his neighbor in a loud voice [shall have it reckoned to him as a curse].” [This is] as stated (in Numb. 24:14), “come, let me advise you.” Then he killed twenty-four thousand. There is no curse [as damaging] as this.