{"id":47983,"date":"2019-01-23T10:46:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-23T08:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=47983"},"modified":"2022-08-17T18:31:50","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T15:31:50","slug":"patriarchal-and-matriarchal-merit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/patriarchal-and-matriarchal-merit\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriarchal And Matriarchal Merit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The 23<\/span>rd<\/span> chapter of the book of Numbers continues the narrative of Balak and Balaam. In verses 7 and 8, Balaam addresses Balak and confesses to him that he cannot curse Israel because God has not cursed Israel. \u00a0Then, in verse 9, he continues:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor from the top of the rocks I see it,<\/span>
\n<\/span>from the hills I behold it.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Here is a people living alone,<\/span>
\n<\/span>and not reckoning itself among the nations!\u201d (NRSV, with modifications)<\/span><\/p>\n

This is part of Balaam\u2019s oracle, in which he was meant to curse Israel but ends up blessing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what does this passage mean? \u00a0To what do the terms \u201cthe top of the rocks\u201d (<\/span>merosh zurim<\/span><\/i>) and \u201chills\u201d (<\/span>migevaot<\/span><\/i>) refer? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taken literally, it seems to mean that Balaam, standing on high on the mountains or hills, saw the Israelites encamped below, living separately from others. \u00a0He presents this as a positive feature of the community. \u2018I saw them from a heightened distance, they weren\u2019t bothering anyone, they kept to themselves!\u2019 Balaam seems to be telling Balak. <\/span><\/p>\n

This verse, though, is interpreted differently in rabbinic tradition. \u00a0In the tannaitic midrash Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael (<\/span>Amalek <\/span><\/em>1<\/span><\/i>; ed. Horovitz-Rabin, 179), Numbers 23:9 is understood in light of Exodus 17:10, which states: \u201ctomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill\u2026\u201d. \u00a0Once these two verses are read together, the midrash is able to explain that \u201ctop of the rocks\u201d is a reference to patriarchal merit (<\/span>zekhut avot<\/span><\/em>) and \u201chills\u201d is a reference to matriarchal merit (<\/span>zekhut imahot<\/span><\/em>). \u00a0When these two verses are read together, we see that, according to this midrash, Balaam was not only blessing the community of Israel for its present habits, but also that he was noting that the community of Israel had ancestral merit from the past \u2013 both from the patriarchs as well as from the matriarchs \u2013 that contributed to its grandeur and was worthy of praise. \u00a0This ancestral merit could then be tapped, both by individuals and also by leaders such as Moses (as happens in Exodus 17:10, during the Israelites\u2019 battle with Amalek), during times of crisis and suffering. <\/span><\/p>\n

If the merits of present-day Israelites were not sufficient to merit God\u2019s help, then surely the merits accrued by fore-mothers and fore-fathers would make up the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

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