Chasidut к Бамидбар 23:19
לֹ֣א אִ֥ישׁ אֵל֙ וִֽיכַזֵּ֔ב וּבֶן־אָדָ֖ם וְיִתְנֶחָ֑ם הַה֤וּא אָמַר֙ וְלֹ֣א יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה וְדִבֶּ֖ר וְלֹ֥א יְקִימֶֽנָּה׃
Бог не человек, что Он должен лгать; Ни сын человеческий, чтобы Он покаялся. Когда Он сказал, не сделает ли Он этого? Или, когда Он сказал, не сделает ли это хорошо?
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 23,19. “G’d is not man that He should lie, nor mortal that He should repent;” Our sages in Taanit 23, commenting on Job 22,28 ותגזור אומר ויקם לך ועל דרכיך נגה אור commonly translated as “You will decree and it will be fulfilled; and light will shine on Your affairs,” divide this verse into two halves, the first half referring to what man decrees on earth, and the second to what G’d fulfils in heaven. This is a way of explaining how it is that the tzaddik can “reverse G’d’s decree.” [The problem is that if so, how can Bileam say that the difference between man and G’d is that the latter does not “lie,” i.e. that His decrees cannot be upset by forces other than Him? The subject has to be studied in the Talmud where the sages debated the right of Choni ham’agel to pray insistently for rain, when apparently G’d had decree a drought. Ed.]
Our author tries to explain these apparent contradictions in a variety of ways. When Moses is referred to as איש האלוקים, in psalms 90,1 the reason is that he tried to be like G’d through invoking repeal of G’d’s harsh decrees against His people. We find something analogous in psalms 106,23 where the psalmist credits Moses with reversing G’d’s decree to annihilate the Jewish people. Our author views the use of the word אלוקים when applied to man as G’d “dressing up” in human garb and then complying with the requests made in the tzaddik’s prayerThis “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This is also the meaning of the words: ה' איש מלחמה ה' שמו, “the Lord is a ‘man’ of war, his name is Hashem.” (Exodus15,3) Moses extols G’d’s “dressing up” in human garb when He destroys the mortal enemies of the Jewish people. He will perform what the tzaddik requests of Him when avenging the wrongs committed by the gentile nations against His chosen people. He will do so, since in the process His name will become sanctified and glorified.
While at first glance it may appear strange that G’d will assume the role of a “warrior” at the behest of one of His tzaddikim when this results in the destruction of His creatures, [something He is so loath to do this that His angels are not allowed to applaud it by singing a song, Ed.], the fact remains that the destruction of the wicked at the hands of G’d represents a major sanctification of G’d’s name, and this is why in the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, He is described not as אלוקים, the attribute of Justice, but as Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, as the merits of this sanctification of His Name accrue to the “victims”, though not knowingly, seeing that at least their death has resulted in the sanctification of G’d’s Name. He thus performed an act of loving kindness for His enemies even while depriving their bodies of their lives.
Our author tries to explain these apparent contradictions in a variety of ways. When Moses is referred to as איש האלוקים, in psalms 90,1 the reason is that he tried to be like G’d through invoking repeal of G’d’s harsh decrees against His people. We find something analogous in psalms 106,23 where the psalmist credits Moses with reversing G’d’s decree to annihilate the Jewish people. Our author views the use of the word אלוקים when applied to man as G’d “dressing up” in human garb and then complying with the requests made in the tzaddik’s prayerThis “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that לא איש א-ל, that G’d in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ויכזב, does not qualify for G’d’s support.
This is also the meaning of the words: ה' איש מלחמה ה' שמו, “the Lord is a ‘man’ of war, his name is Hashem.” (Exodus15,3) Moses extols G’d’s “dressing up” in human garb when He destroys the mortal enemies of the Jewish people. He will perform what the tzaddik requests of Him when avenging the wrongs committed by the gentile nations against His chosen people. He will do so, since in the process His name will become sanctified and glorified.
While at first glance it may appear strange that G’d will assume the role of a “warrior” at the behest of one of His tzaddikim when this results in the destruction of His creatures, [something He is so loath to do this that His angels are not allowed to applaud it by singing a song, Ed.], the fact remains that the destruction of the wicked at the hands of G’d represents a major sanctification of G’d’s name, and this is why in the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, He is described not as אלוקים, the attribute of Justice, but as Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, as the merits of this sanctification of His Name accrue to the “victims”, though not knowingly, seeing that at least their death has resulted in the sanctification of G’d’s Name. He thus performed an act of loving kindness for His enemies even while depriving their bodies of their lives.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 15,3.“The Lord is a man of war, nonetheless His name is Hashem, i.e. the Merciful One.” The author refers to a commentary of his on psalms 90,1 תפלה למשה איש האלוקים, “a prayer by Moses, the man of G’d.” He repeats a theme he has dwelled on repeatedly, that it is the primary effort of the righteous during all of their lives to make their contribution to G’d dispensing the maximum amount of His largesse for His creature. The prayers of the righteous are not concerned with asking for their personal well being, but with asking for the well being of the community within which they live. We perceive of G’d as “garbing” Himself in the mantle woven by the prayers of the righteous. This explains why Moses referred to G’d as איש, “man.” A righteous person in our time is comparable to Moses in his time. The Talmud in Shabbat 101 confirms this by saying that every righteous person in our time may be called “Moses,” hence the commencement of psalm 90 with the words תפלה למשה, do not refer only to the original Moses. The message of the psalm is that the prayers of the righteous in our generation are as effective in their effect on G’d as the prayers of Moses in his time. G’d garbing Himself with the prayers of the righteous is something that is the case only when the result (G’d’s largesse) is to become manifest immediately as beneficial. When G’d responds negatively to our prayers He is never referred to as איש. Hence the meaning of Bileam’s blessing in Numbers 23,19 לא איש א-ל ויכזב, “G’s is not like man who deceives,” teaches that the negative virtue of deceiving is called כזב. We never find the term איש applied to G’d when He is active in His attribute of Justice, decreeing punishment on His people. This remains true even if in answer to the prayers of the righteous He decrees judgment on our adversaries. In such instances He may be referred to as גבור, Warrior, or some other name depicting His attribute of Justice. [This is the difference between G’d as איש מלחמה and elsewhere as גבור מלחמה, (Isaiah 3,2; psalms 24,8) To make the distinction clear, Moses, repeats ה' שמו, His name, predominantly is Hashem, the Merciful One].
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy