Avot342
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
Today's shiur is dedicated by Avraham Hasson
in memory of his father,
Yosef ben Miriam ve-Natan z"l,
whose Yahrzeit falls today.
TRACTATE AVOT, CHAPTER FIVE, MISHNAH NINETEEN (recap):
Anyone who possesses these three things is from the students of Father Abraham; but [anyone who possesses] three other things is from the students of Balaam the Wicked: a generous eye, a chaste spirit and a humble soul – [such a person] is from the students of Father Abraham; a miserly eye, a promiscuous spirit and a haughty soul is from the students of Balaam the Wicked. What is the difference between the students of Father Abraham and the students of Balaam the Wicked? The students of Father Abraham enjoy this world and inherit in the next world (for it says [Proverbs 8:21] "I endow those who love me with substance, I will fill their treasuries"); but the students of Balaam the Wicked inherit Gehenna and descend into the pit of destruction (for it says [Psalm 55:24] "For You, O Lord, will bring them down to the nethermost Pit – those murderous, treacherous men; they shall not live out half their days; but I trust in You.").
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
13:
We now turn our attention to the biblical references concerning the vices attributed to Balaam in our mishnah. Firstly, our mishnah says that Balaam had a miserly eye. That is to say that he craved riches and wanted to keep them to himself. This is based on an observation of the Torah. A law is promulgated:
No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the God's congregation; none of their descendants, even in the tenth generation, shall ever be admitted into God's congregation, because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Be'or, from Petor of Aram-Naharayim, to curse you. But God refused to heed Balaam; instead, God turned the curse into a blessing for you, for God loves you. [Deuteronomy 23:4-6]
In other words, Balaam was so desirous of money and riches that he was prepared to hire out his services in order to do what he knew to be wrong.
14:
Our mishnah also says that Balaam was promiscuous. This is derived from a story told in the Torah:
Moses became angry with the commanders of the army, the officers of thousands and the officers of hundreds, who
had come back from the military campaign. Moses said to them, "You have spared every female! Yet they are the very ones who, at the bidding of Balaam, induced the Israelites to trespass against God in the matter of Pe'or, so that God's community was struck by the plague." [Numbers 31:14-16]
According to this, having failed in his attempt to curse Israel, Balaam advised the king of Moab to use subterfuge. Moabite women were to seduce Israelite men to the sexually flagrant celebrations of the god Pe'or.
15:
Lastly, our mishnah attributes to Balaam a haughty soul. This is demonstrated quite clearly in the incantation that he uses as a preface to one of his would-be curses:
This is the word of Balaam son of Be'or, the word of the man whose eye is true, the word of him who hears God's speech and understands the mind of the Most High, who beholds visions from the Almighty, prostrate, but with eyes unveiled. [Numbers 24:15-16]
Only someone with overweening pride would dare to claim that they understand the mind of God.
DISCUSSION:
In Avot 337 we discussed the sin of Jeroboam who "caused the public to sin" by facilitating idolatry. Israel Man writes:
In the USA in order to attract the young generation many Conservative shuls resort to all kind of gimmicks. One of them is an Indian style Service whereby there is a band and a lead singer who sing and play Indian style music, people seat in a lotus posture and the tfilot are abridged to a repetition of one sentence "mantra style". Since Hinduism and other eastern religion are idolatry are those rabbis who introduce these services guilty of "machti et harabim?"
I respond:
I understand Israel's discomfort with such services (and I share it). However, according to what Israel himself says, those who initiate such things are doing so in order to attract young people to Judaism. (I do not understand how Judaism can be made attractive by dressing it in "borrowed robes".) But, as I see it, the organizers would only be guilty of the sin Israel mentions if their purpose was to attract these young people to idolatry, rather than to Judaism.
NOTICE:
The Bet Midrash Virtuali is now going on its traditional vacation for the festival of Passover. The next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on Tuesday 29th April. I take this opportunity of wishing everybody a Kasher and very happy Passover.
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