신명기 26:19의 유대 사상

From the above it follows that the most advanced of nations, i.e. Israel, were it to perish G'd forbid, would disintegrate more than any other nation; less would be left of it than of any other more primitive society that ceases to occupy center stage in history. This is so because of the sophisticated nature of the body of the Jewish nation, which by implication implies fragility. When the prophet Ezekiel in chapter fifteen, describes the wood of the vines as utterly useless,- not even fit to be used in building,- he tries to tell us that unless it functions as the bearer of grapes, it is utterly without purpose. Similarly, the Jewish people. Unless the Jewish people fulfils its mission, it is utterly useless in the scheme of nature. The lumber of other trees, even if the tree itself is no longer bearing fruit, can serve builders; not so the wood of the grapevine. Gentiles, whose primary function is not the fruit of the intellect, mind or soul, may remain useful in some other capacity, not so Jews. They would only be good for firewood, serve by the very act of their own destruction. The whole purpose of the Jewish nation, allegorically speaking, is to produce the fruit of the vine. This fruit is available in three distinct qualities. 1) Unripe grapes. 2) grapes. 3) wine. Halachah reflects this view by assigning three different benedictions to the three stages of that fruit when one consumes it. For unripe grapes the benediction is borey pree ha-adamah, He who creates the fruit of the earth. Ripe grapes qualify for the benediction borey pree ha-etz, He who creates the fruit of the tree. Finally, wine qualifies for the benediction borey pree hagafen, He who creates the fruit of the vine. The type of benediction recited, corresponds to the degree of excellence of the product it is recited over. Man's function in the scheme of things is similar to the Jewish nation's function in the scheme of civilization, the scheme of nations. Our function embraces three stages of nature; the inert as represented by stone, the vegetative as represented by plants, and the animalistic, human, as represented by the fruits of various plants. G'd calls a human being "Adam when he fulfils his purpose on all three levels. (compare chapter forty four section one based on Talmud Baba Metzia 114) Justification of one's existence stems from one's having fulfilled one's purpose, one's destiny. When one fails deliberately to fulfil one's purpose, one forfeits one's right to exist. When the vine does not yield fruit, the wood supporting its leaves etc. deserves to be burned. When man does not contribute to yishuv ha-olam, civilization, he loses the right to exist. When Israel fails to make its specific contribution to the betterment of mankind, it loses its raison d'etre. This is what Rabbi Yochanan expressed in the paragraph from the Talmud Ketuvot quoted at the outset of this chapter. In the chapter dealing with the red heifer, we explained that impurity and its relative intensity, exists in direct relationship to the belovedness of the creature in the eyes of G'd. The less beloved, the less capable of becoming impure, the more beloved, the more subject to becoming defiled. Similarly, the higher the expectations that have gone unfulfilled, the more the fragility of the vessel becomes evident, the more total its collapse if and when it occurs. Only its continued proper use keeps it in good condition. The same lesson is conveyed to the prophet Jeremiah in chapter thirteen, about the belt buried near the river Euphratus that had been in disuse for many years, only to disintegrate by the time Jeremiah was to use it again. A belt has four functions which can be viewed as paralleling the tasks of the Jewish people. Garments to man are like character traits, as explained in connection with the special garmens of the High Priest and the priest at large. The belt assures the proper functioning of such garments. Leaving the belt buried somewhere, nullifies the value of the garments it was supposed to complement. The point of the parable is, that even a human being, equipped as he is with all the potential G'd has given him, goes to waste, unless he harnesses his potential in the proper manner. Girding oneself with the ezaur, belt, is like hashem oz hitazor, G'd girded Himself with strength. Man in emulating G'd, does likewise. Possibly, this is why Elijah is portrayed as wearing the belt around his loins when we see him function publicly as a prophet. Basically, linen is a durable material, much more so than wool. It is interesting that while wearing the belt, the prophet is not to wash it, though it undoubtedly would become soiled with perspiration. In the parable then, usage does not contribute to disintegration; on the contrary, careful preservation during disuse causes disintegration. When the Messiah is described in Isaiah 11, the belt appears as the well known symbol. The Messiah will wear a belt of righteousness and loyalty. The generation of Jews who had left Egypt had proven inadequate to their lofty mission. They had demonstrated unwillingness to be mosser nefesh, display acts of supreme dedication for Eretz Yisrael. Only the next generation deserved to inherit the land. Quite possibly, the esteem for Eretz Yisrael expressed by the daughters of Tzelofchod is the key to our understanding why that generation was granted entry, and why the sequence of events related in the Torah is such as it is.

Man's achievements are basically in two separate spheres. 1) He can achieve moral perfection, something that the Torah expresses by saying "you who are cleaving to the Lord your G'd are all alive this day" (Deut. 4,4.) The second sphere in which man can achieve accomplishments is that of material and physical well being. This in turn, in order to be meaningful, comprises three parts. A) good health; B) possession of an adequate amount of the material needs to support a comfortable life. C) peaceful surroundings, absence of the threat of war. We find in Samuel I, 12,6, that David hinted at these three blessings when he sent greetings to Naval, saying to him "may you be at peace, may your household be at peace, and may all that is yours be at peace." The reverse of these three accomplishments apply when punishments are under discussion. When David, in Samuel II 24, 12, is offered the choice of three categories of punishment for having subjected the nation to a census, something that the Torah had forbidden, he is offered the choice between a) famine, i.e. lack of life's necessities and comforts, b) War, absence of peace, c) Pestilence, i.e. absence of good health. We see from the above that there are four categories of reward. One is spiritual in nature, the other three are material in nature.

If we reflect on the phenomenon that when sunlight is concentrated in one spot through the use of a convex lens, it intensifies to the point where enough heat is generated in a small area to start a fire, Balak's intention may become clear. He hoped that the power of Bileam's evil eye when applied to a concentrated area rather than when diffused over the entire mass of the people, would be that much more effective. When, later on, Bileam views the whole nation, and he no longer bothers with magic formulas, he is called "the one of the seeing eye." 12) This is because the spirit of G'd had come to rest on him, and he no longer attempts to oppose the will of G'd. At that moment Bileam's undistorted eyesight both physically and spiritually becomes operative. The references in 23,19, to the steadfastness of G'd in honouring promises once made are not a repetition, but rather explain the nature of broken promises. 13) There are basically two reasons for not honouring promises. These can be subdivided into four sub categories. 1) A change of mind in the heart of the person who has made the promise. 2) A lack of sincerity already at the time the promise had been made, one had never intended to keep it. Bileam says "the Lord is not like a man who deceives, i.e. G'd makes no phony promises. Concerning the other reason he says "nor is He human to have regrets." G'd does not change His mind in midstream. The other reasons for not honouring promises have to do with the inability of the one who has made the promise to honour it. This may be due to a change in the circumstances of the "donor" by the time the promise had to be made good. Alternately, outside pressure may be applied to the "donor" to prevent him from making good on his promise. Concerning the inability to make good on a promise, Bileam says of G'd "will He say something He cannot do?" Concerning the last possibility, Bileam says "would He say something that He could be prevented from making good on?" Bileam goes on to say "I have undertaken to bless, and I will not renege on the blessing." Concerning the other side of the coin, i.e. the recipient s fitness to receive the blessing, which could cause eventual non performance, Bileam says "I have not seen any injustice among Jacob i.e. there is no reason to renege on a promise made to this people, their conduct does not give rise to this. Bileam now hastens to confess that Israel's departure from Egypt had in fact been G'ds doing, not as he had previously tried to misrepresent it, Israel's own accomplishment. "The Lord took them out of Egypt," not as previously "the people who came out of Egypt." This nation does not require artificial and unreliable means such as kessamim and nechashim, various kinds of enchantments to aid them in realising their destiny, but rather, it is serene in its confidence of G'ds achievements. 11) Bileam now has to confess his third error, that of describing the Jewish nation as a disorderly herd, comparable to animals on the march. He extols the civilisation and morality of the Jewish people, exclaiming "how goodly are your tents, O Jacob!" Their progress in the world will be growing constantly, just as "little brooks turn into streams." Their dwelling places will be like gardens on river banks, but sufficiently elevated to be safe from flooding. 14) The reference to the kingdom of Israel being greater than that of the kingdom of Agag, refers to the kingdom of David. The idea is that the kingdom of David, representing as it does the concept of the Messiah, will commence immediately upon the death of the former. As soon as Saul had defeated the Amalekites, Samuel had been dispatched to anoint David as G'ds chosen king. Only after the formal defeat of the kingdom of Amalek, could the Messiah begin his career on earth. After all the wrangling between the forces of anti-G'd and Israel will have ended, Israel and its messianic king will emerge as mightier than the forces of the anti-G'd. The letters in the name David, when added to the letters in the name Agag, produce the holy number seven. If, say you have a gambling cube, you will observe that the numbers are arranged in such a fashion that opposite sides always total seven. For instance, the digit three will be opposite the digit four, the digit five opposite the digit two etc. If you were to arrange the cube with the letters in the names of David and Agag instead of using numbers, the same result would be achieved, seeing that the numerical values in the two names correspond to the digits 4-6-4, and 1-3-3. When suitably arranged, with the letters of David's name on top, the letters of the name of "Agag" will all be at the bottom. When Bileam extols the future feats of Israel in 24,8-9, he is in fact confessing that all the feats of grandeur he had once thought himself as capable of, will in fact be performed by Israel. In refusing to be ousted by Balak, he states "I will walk back to my people." 15) However, he offers Balak a free piece of advice concerning what Israel would do to Moab in the not so immediate future. (Thus he reassures Moab regarding its own future for some time to come) Concerning his own well being, Bileam says that he will be quite comfortable among his own people; however, in view of what he foresees about the future of Moab, he tries to convince Balak that to wage war against Israel would be futile. He does not, -as Rashi suggests,- advise the seduction of Israel to commit immoral acts, but expresses continuous thoughts all of which are summarised by the idea that opposing Israel would be an exercise in futility. All this, is of course, the exact opposite of what Balak had invited him for, and therefore completes Bileams' utter humiliation. When, finally, he announces the advent of the Messiah, he completes his repentance concerning his fourth sin, namely having denied the Jewish people their status as human beings. By allowing that it is Israel who will produce the redeemer of mankind in the person of the Messiah, he admits that Israel is more qualified than anyone to lead mankind to its ultimate goals. Contrasting the eventual fates of the Amalekites and the Kenites, he emphasizes that those who choose true values will survive, whereas those who choose to continue living by the values of Edom will ultimately perish. If the Torah describes Balak as "Balak went on his way this shows that he accepted Bileam's advice. If later, the punitive expedition is sent by Moses only against the Midianites, this supports the view that the Moabites had abstained from hostile action against Israel. Our commentary follows the tradition of our sages as recorded in Vayikra Rabbah 81, namely that Bileam's prophecies were aimed at benefitting Israel. This is also the meaning of the verse in Micah 6,5, "O My people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised, but what Bileam the son of Peor answered him." Forcing Israel's enemy to bless her instead of cursing her, was the ultimate honour that could have been bestowed upon this nation. Just as Esau at the time had had to acknowledge that Jacob was entitled to his father's blessing, this was he highest accolade that could have been received.