חדש באתר: מיכי-בוט. עוזר חכם על כתבי הרב מיכאל אברהם.

Difficulties in the Black Affair

שו"תקטגוריה: philosophyDifficulties in the Black Affair
שאל לפני 5 שנים

Peace and blessings,
I wanted to raise some of the difficulties I feel every year in the Black affair.
1. First, the origin of the story is very unclear. The story includes precise quotes from dialogues between two strangers – Balak and Balaam, between whom Moses apparently had no direct connection. Who conveyed the description of the incident to Moses (near the time of its occurrence), with all its details? Where did Moses get the authority to describe the sequence of events and the things that were exchanged between them in this way?
2. The language gap. There was apparently a language gap between Balaam and the Israelites. Even if someone were to bridge the gap, the quotation of Balaam's poetry seems a bit strange. Was the quoted poetry translated and adapted to the Hebrew language?
Balaam's "blessings" include synonyms and figurative expressions: "How good are your tents, O Jacob, and your dwellings, O Israel" – does the people of Israel also have two names in the Midianite language – "Jacob" and "Israel"?
3. The description of the miracle of the talking donkey also sounds strange in relation to the miracles described in the Bible, in which there are almost no animals that speak (except for the snake in the book of Genesis). It is a completely supernatural miracle, perhaps far beyond other miracles. Apart from the fantastic nature of the description, the miracle also seems unnecessary. Why would God make the donkey speak to Balaam? What benefit is there in that?
4. The parsha leads to the characterization of the writer of the Torah as a believer in superstitions. Today, anyone who believes in the power of a "magician" to destroy an entire nation with the words of his mouth would be perceived as primitive, but it seems that the writer of the Torah truly believed that certain people had "supernatural powers," and that with the help of "magic" and "divination," they could destroy nations.
In conclusion, there are several questions here that really bother me. Each can be justified in different ways, but in my opinion they are not convincing. I would love to hear your opinion!
Thank you very much and have a good week.


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מיכי צוות ענה לפני 5 שנים
In general, the Torah is a primitive matter. Who today believes in prophets, miracles, the giving of the Torah, in God? I don't understand all these questions. If you assume that there are no miracles, no spells, and no magicians, then everything seems strange to you, and if you don't assume this, then it's not strange. Regarding the language and description, if you think the Torah is from God, then what's the problem? And if it's not from Him, then none of this matters.

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