The Power of Speech- Balak 5785
Two weeks ago while we were visiting my parents in Maryland, we took a day trip to the National Aquarium in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. I grew up going there, but haven’t been back in probably 30 years or so. We were there (no exaggeration) for six hours, from about 10am until 4pm with an hour for lunch at one of the restaurants across the street.
I wasn’t surprised by this; my children love animals and love learning about them. In our home we have a dog and a rabbit as pets, and had fish at one point. Our elder child also wants to get a lizard (my wife is not as enthusiastic about that possibility as she is). At the aquarium we saw giant stingrays, got to touch jellyfish, saw dolphins playing together, and saw and learned about all manner of marine life. It was pretty extraordinary, and a wonderful family day together.
Every morning, I’m the one who takes our dog out for her morning walk and gives our bunny her morning salad. I notice that when I take the time to be with them, it’s very relaxing for both myself and them. And what is one of the key differences between humans and other animals? It’s the power of speech.
In parshat Balak this difference, though, is bridged by Bilaam’s talking donkey in what may be the only comedic passage in the Torah. As our Etz Hayim chumash notes: “Seeing the angel blocking the path [while Bilaam is on his way to curse the Israelites], the donkey can recognize, better than Bilaam does, that what they are setting out to do is wrong. Human beings should have the capacity to know right from wrong. When temptation and weakness blind us to the wrongness of what we are doing, we are no better than…animals.”
Rabbi Shlomo Efraim Luntschitz (known as the Kli Yikar), who served as the head rabbi of Prague during the 17th century, posits that Bilaam and his donkey are actually not so different. G-d opened the donkey’s mouth to chastise him, “which does not naturally speak but, only to honor Israel, Hashem opened its mouth. Bil’am was identical — it was only a necessity for that specific time that Hashem opened his mouth with prophecy to honor Israel.” And indeed, Bilaam tries 3 times at the behest of Balak to curse the Israelites, but is only able to bless them (and tells Balak repeatedly that he cannot curse them).
Even though Bilaam is not an Israelite himself, Balak hires him to commit a major transgression in Jewish law- that of lashon hara, which literally translates to “evil speech”, or speaking negatively about someone else.
Lashon hara, the rabbis teach, is the reason why Miriam becomes afflicted with leprosy earlier in the book of Numbers. When Miriam speaks ill of Moses’ wife, a Cushite woman, she becomes afflicted; it’s only after Moses intercedes for her, with his plea of “El na refa na lach”- Please, G-d, heal her”- that she is healed. Moses’ praiseworthy speech is the antidote to Miriam’s venomous speech. Similarly here, in our parsha, Balak’s derogatory speech towards the Israelites and his desire to curse them are negated by Bilaam’s divinely-inspired blessings.
The only other animal in the Torah to use human speech, notoriously, is the snake in the garden of Eden. The commentators teach that just as Bilaam’s donkey spoke not of its own accord and had its mouth opened by the Lord, so to the snake spoke to Eve only by the influence of HaSatan- the accuser or adversary- Satan.
Both the snake and the donkey don’t speak of their own volition; however, as we know, animals communicate amongst themselves and, yes, with humans, through other means apart from speech. We know when animals are feeling afraid, or content, or sad, or other emotions, and in turn they can sometimes know how WE are feeling and respond to us. The relationship between Bilaam and his donkey, despite their ease of communication, is an adversarial one. Yet, amongst other feelings, our parsha reminds me that other people (and yes, sometimes animals) know what we’re feeling even if we can’t quite name it ourselves.
The donkey as a character recedes to the background in our parsha, yet Bilaam’s repeated blessing of the Israelites earns him a unique place in our history. He, of all people, is the one to bless us with the words that have made our way into our daily liturgy- “How good are your tents, Jacob/Israel, your dwelling places.” Even with the Israelites’ wandering in the desert, covering up “the eye of the land” while complaining for water and food, an outsider still sees them and their situation as “good”.
After nearly each day of creation at the start of the Torah, G-d too calls what has been created “good”- “Va’yar Elokim ki tov”, G-d saw that it was good. Not just the physical world, but our speech should be good as well. In the Talmud in masechet Brachot we learn the personal prayer of Mar the son of Ravina, which he would recite after his formal prayers. It’s made its way into our siddur today, and is a text that I like a lot with a clear connection to Bilaam’s actions. It reads in English:
“My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully. May my soul be unresponsive to those who curse me; and let my soul be like dust to all. Open my heart to Your Torah and let my soul pursue Your commandments. And all who plan evil against me, quickly annul their counsel and frustrate their intention. Act for the sake of Your Name. Act for the sake of Your right hand. Act for the sake of Your holiness. Act for the sake of Your Torah. In order that Your loved ones be released, deliver [with] Your right hand and answer me. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable before You Adonoy, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
May we all guard our tongues from evil speech, and merit to be praised by others. May we continue to forge loving relationships with the natural world, and all its creatures. May Israel continue to be blessed. And let us say: Amen.
