A thought on Parshios Chukas & Balak
"... gader mi'zeh v'gader mi'zeh..."
"...a stone wall to this side and a stone wall to that side..." (22:24)
The Torah goes into detail here about how Bilam smashes his leg into a wall.
The Chezkuni cites a midrashic source which identifies the "stone wall" with the stone monument erected between Yakov and Lavan in parshas Vayetze (Bereishis 31:45-52). The scope of this midrash is that when that monument, known as Gal Eid, was established, two stone pillars were placed to demarcate the territory of Yakov and that of Lavan. A sword was placed in between them.
The two men vowed that this monument (gal) would be a witness (eid) that neither side violate the other nor violate the other's domain.
When Bilam (a descendant of Lavan) violated that covenant by riding toward the Jewish encampment, the stone wall, which was a "witness", fulfilled the Torah's mandate (Devarim 17:7) - "the witness shall be the first to strike him" and thus was used to admonish Bilam. It served as the means of warning him, for he smashed his leg against the wall. The "witness" forewarned him.
Bilam later disregarded this warning sign, and continued his plot to violate our people. Thus, later on (31:8) when the Torah says that Bilam was killed with a sword, the allusion is to the covenantal sword placed between the stones. He was punished by the "witness".
We sometimes wonder about HaShem's ways, and even puzzle over the meaning of His commandments. We must not forget that His ways are actually mirrored through the commandments which He gives us. Take the mitzva of having a witness initiate the punishment of a convicted criminal, or violator of severe Torah transgressions. We might view this as a curious idea, or we might ascribe to it some deep meaning or profound mystical interpretation. We might be right, too.
But what we see from this Chezkuni is that this mitzva is a reflection of a broader universal reality: HaShem has structured into the world a principle that says that a witness to something enters into a relationship with that which is witnessed. When something is wrong, and is being witnessed, then the role of the witness is both to forewarn and to reprimand the violator. Setting up a monument as a witness to a covenant means that there is a retaliatory or reactionary process underway. Even with an inanimate witness, the gal eid, the world must see consequence of that testimony. Hundreds of years later, with Yakov and Lavan long gone, the monument still attested to a pact. When someone dared violate that pact, the role of the "witness" had to be enacted. With no one mortal to admonish the violator, admonishment still had to occur. With no human to mete out punishment, punishment still was needed.
Thus, as Yakov and Lavan had agreed (Bereishis 31:52) "...these stones will serve as witness and this monument will serve as witness..." And so it did.
No event in our world is serendipitous. Nothing is coincidence or happenstance. When something is right, then good will follow it. When something is not right, then there will also be a compensatory follow up. This is cosmic law as well as a law of the Torah, which is saying the same thing. The world is a commentary on HaShem's Torah.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
"...a stone wall to this side and a stone wall to that side..." (22:24)
The Torah goes into detail here about how Bilam smashes his leg into a wall.
The Chezkuni cites a midrashic source which identifies the "stone wall" with the stone monument erected between Yakov and Lavan in parshas Vayetze (Bereishis 31:45-52). The scope of this midrash is that when that monument, known as Gal Eid, was established, two stone pillars were placed to demarcate the territory of Yakov and that of Lavan. A sword was placed in between them.
The two men vowed that this monument (gal) would be a witness (eid) that neither side violate the other nor violate the other's domain.
When Bilam (a descendant of Lavan) violated that covenant by riding toward the Jewish encampment, the stone wall, which was a "witness", fulfilled the Torah's mandate (Devarim 17:7) - "the witness shall be the first to strike him" and thus was used to admonish Bilam. It served as the means of warning him, for he smashed his leg against the wall. The "witness" forewarned him.
Bilam later disregarded this warning sign, and continued his plot to violate our people. Thus, later on (31:8) when the Torah says that Bilam was killed with a sword, the allusion is to the covenantal sword placed between the stones. He was punished by the "witness".
We sometimes wonder about HaShem's ways, and even puzzle over the meaning of His commandments. We must not forget that His ways are actually mirrored through the commandments which He gives us. Take the mitzva of having a witness initiate the punishment of a convicted criminal, or violator of severe Torah transgressions. We might view this as a curious idea, or we might ascribe to it some deep meaning or profound mystical interpretation. We might be right, too.
But what we see from this Chezkuni is that this mitzva is a reflection of a broader universal reality: HaShem has structured into the world a principle that says that a witness to something enters into a relationship with that which is witnessed. When something is wrong, and is being witnessed, then the role of the witness is both to forewarn and to reprimand the violator. Setting up a monument as a witness to a covenant means that there is a retaliatory or reactionary process underway. Even with an inanimate witness, the gal eid, the world must see consequence of that testimony. Hundreds of years later, with Yakov and Lavan long gone, the monument still attested to a pact. When someone dared violate that pact, the role of the "witness" had to be enacted. With no one mortal to admonish the violator, admonishment still had to occur. With no human to mete out punishment, punishment still was needed.
Thus, as Yakov and Lavan had agreed (Bereishis 31:52) "...these stones will serve as witness and this monument will serve as witness..." And so it did.
No event in our world is serendipitous. Nothing is coincidence or happenstance. When something is right, then good will follow it. When something is not right, then there will also be a compensatory follow up. This is cosmic law as well as a law of the Torah, which is saying the same thing. The world is a commentary on HaShem's Torah.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 1:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home