Balak: Vision

Balak: Vision

This week's parsha, Balak, is a unique story. It has unique characters: Satan, the talking donkey; and the central character is Balaam: prophet for hire. It is the story of the non-Hebrew soothsayer with powers that seem real. This character highlights the cloudiness of our understanding of prophecy and how poorly we understand the ancient, prescientific world. Our interpretation of the story has implications for how we understand the Torah. 

The story assumes that Balaam did have extraordinary powers. Balak, the king of Midian, presumed that Balaam could use these powers, which involved a special relationship with the Almighty, according to his will. Balak wanted to buy some of this power to turn Gd, who had wrought miracles in support of the Hebrews, against this favored people, and thus help defend Balak's realm. Balaam could only report what his special powers revealed. He could not manipulate the Divine will. Balaam's power was vision, not manipulation. 

 Before his oft repeated, forced, praise of Israel ( mah tovuh), Balaam describes himself: 

וַיִּשָּׂ֥א מְשָׁל֖וֹ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר נְאֻ֤ם בִּלְעָם֙ בְּנ֣וֹ בְעֹ֔ר וּנְאֻ֥ם הַגֶּ֖בֶר שְׁתֻ֥ם הָעָֽיִן׃

Taking up his theme, he said:
Word of Balaam son of Beor,see
Word of the man whose eye is true,

The word that is translated here as "true" , שְׁתֻ֥ם, is a hapax legomena, a word that appears only once in the canon text, and, therefore, has an  ambiguous  meaning.  Generally, anything written in the Torah is ascribed a special level of truth, even if it uttered by a less than trustworthy character. I assume that Balaam did have this special power, and it had some relationship to vision... I am just not clear about what it was. 

Certainly, this special power of perception did not extend to all things. When Balaam sets out for Midian, after Balak's second summons and reluctant Divine permission, Satan, the obstructing angel, is, initially, invisible to him; but his ass, the animal that is the paradigm of stupidity, sees the danger and takes action. The loyal animal is rewarded for saving its blind master with beatings. Errors in vision, varying interpretations, can be destructive to everyone. A simple understanding is sometimes (often?) more important than a sophisticated interpretation. The scholar often underestimates the intelligence of the silent. Deep vision may require disregarding the obvious. 

On three occasions, Balaam invites the special vision. Balaam is brought to look upon the least appealing parts of the Israelite camp. Perhaps Balak hopes that Gd's vision will reflect the scope that Balaam sees. But the reports that are brought back are as global and specific as they need to be to foil Balak's plan of deprecation. They are poetic words of praise and support for Israel.

The third blessing of Balaam, when he turned away from the oracular,  and allowed the depths of his own mind's utterance, is traditionally recited daily: 

מַה־טֹּ֥בוּ אֹהָלֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֑ב מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יךָ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

How fair are your tents, O Jacob,
Your dwellings, O Israel!

Rashi directs us to the talmud, Bava Bathra 

What was it that Balaam saw that so inspired him? He saw that the entrances of their tents were not aligned with each other, ensuring that each family enjoyed a measure of privacy. And he said: If this is the case, these people are worthy of having the Divine Presence

 rest on them.

It is the variety of visions that affords the nation strength. It is the privacy that allows unmolested  personal and small group development that confers the blessing of freedom. 

Sometimes it is important not to look.