Balak - The King's Daughter

B"H

Wow...it's been a while. I know I keep saying this, but sorry...

Given that we're now into Ellul and there's a lot to catch up on, my posts may be a bit briefer than before. Instead, I will try and throw out enough interesting ideas/'loose ends' for anyone interested to delve into further, using of course the handy links to the (untranslated) text to be found here.

Sources:

1) Midrash Tanchuma Balak, Chapter 20 (abridged)

והנה איש מבני ישראל בא. מה ראה לעשות כן. ללמדך, שלא חלק כבוד לשמים ולא לבריות. ועליו נאמר, זד יהיר לץ שמו (משלי כא כד). אמרה לו, איני נשמעת אלא למשה או לאלעזר, שאני בת מלך. אמר לה, אף אני גדול כמותו, ולעיניהם אני מביאך. תפשה בבלוריתה והביאה אצל משה. אמר לו, בן עמרם, זו מותרת או אסורה. ואם תאמר שהיא אסורה, זו מדינית, ואותה שתחתיך מדינית מי התירה לך. נתעלמה ממנו הלכה. געו כלם בבכיה. והינו דכתיב, והמה בוכים פתח אהל מועד. ולמה בוכים. שנתרפו ידיהם באותה שעה. משל למה הדבר דומה, לבת מלך שנתקשטה ליכנס לחופה לישב באפריון, נמצאת מקלקלת עם אחר, נתרפו ידי אביה וקרוביה. וכך ישראל בסוף ארבעים שנה חנו על הירדן לעבור לארץ ישראל, שנאמר, ויחנו על הירדן מבית הישימות עד אבל השטים (במ' לג מט). ושם נפרצו בזנות, ורפו ידי משה וידי צדיקים שעמו, והמה בוכים.

2) Bamidbar 25:1-6 and 25:14-16

וַיֵּשֶׁב יִשְׂרָאֵל בַּשִּׁטִּים וַיָּחֶל הָעָם לִזְנוֹת אֶל-בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב.  ב וַתִּקְרֶאןָ לָעָם לְזִבְחֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶן וַיֹּאכַל הָעָם וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶן.  ג וַיִּצָּמֶד יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר וַיִּחַר-אַף יְהוָה בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.  ד וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַיהוָה נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-יְהוָה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.  ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל  הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר.  ו וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל-אֶחָיו אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית לְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהֵמָּה בֹכִים פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד. 

[....]

וְשֵׁם אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמֻּכֶּה אֲשֶׁר הֻכָּה אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית זִמְרִי בֶּן-סָלוּא  נְשִׂיא בֵית-אָב לַשִּׁמְעֹנִי.  טו וְשֵׁם הָאִשָּׁה הַמֻּכָּה הַמִּדְיָנִית כָּזְבִּי בַת-צוּר  רֹאשׁ אֻמּוֹת בֵּית-אָב בְּמִדְיָן הוּא.  {פ}

טז וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר.  יז צָרוֹר אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִים וְהִכִּיתֶם אוֹתָם.  יח כִּי צֹרְרִים הֵם לָכֶם בְּנִכְלֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר-נִכְּלוּ לָכֶם עַל-דְּבַר-פְּעוֹר וְעַל-דְּבַר כָּזְבִּי בַת-נְשִׂיא מִדְיָן אֲחֹתָם הַמֻּכָּה בְיוֹם-הַמַּגֵּפָה עַל-דְּבַר-פְּעוֹר.

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'V'hineh ish mi'B'nei Israel ba va'yakrev el achaiv et hamidyanit l'einei Moshe u'l'einei kol adat B'nei Israel v'heima bochim petach Ohel Mo'ed'

Just then, a man came from among the Israelites and brought a Midianite woman over to his brothers in the sight of Moshe and the whole Israelite congregation, and they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (Bamidbar 25:6)

The 'incident of Ba'al-peor', with Pinchas's summary execution of his fellow Jew Zimri and the Midianite Kozbi, is both morally problematic for the average reader and - supposedly - one of better known events in the Torah. However, there are a few nuances to this incident picked up on by the midrash at source 1 above which cast a new light on the context in which Pinchas's actions took place.

The average reader will probably 'recall' the chain of events as follows - after the high point of Bala'am's prophecy concerning them, the B'nei Israel immediately sin by allowing themselves to be seduced by Midianite women (and thereby worshipping their idols) in a plot set up by Balak and Ba'alam once it is clear that Ba'alam is unable to curse the B'nei Israel directly. This reaches a climax when Zimri, chief of the tribe of Shimon, deliberately and publicly has sexual relations with the Midianite princess Kozbi in front of the entire people, at which point the pair are killed by Pinchas with a single spear blow of his spear.

Sounds familiar? Well, a close reading of the text itself (source 2 above) shows some details which are generally overlooked:

• The B'nei Israel are originally described as 'whoring' (both sexually and spiritually) with 'banot Moav' - i.e. not Midianite but Moabite women. It is only with Kozbi that the Midianites enter the scene.*
• Kozbi and Zimri commit their public act only after Moshe has commanded the 'shoftei Israel' (judges/officials of the B'nei Israel) to execute those of their men who had turned to the idol Ba'al-peor.
• It is Zimri who brings Kozbi into public view - i.e. it appears to be Zimri who takes the active role and not Kozbi the Midianite. 

The Midrash Tanchuma picks up on the last two points above and uses the above p'sak from parshat Balak (Bamidbar 25:6) to explore all three issues - in doing so, turning this event from merely being a sordid incident of 'sex 'n' idols to Zimri's expression of rebellion against Moshe's authority as leader and the transmitter of G-d's will.

The midrash opens by declaring that Zimri is an example of the 'zed yachir, letz shmo' (the boastful, haughty man - scoffer is his name (Mishlei 21:24)) because by his actions he is showing lack of honour to both G-d and man. In typical midrashic style, it goes on to explain the above discrepancies in the timing of Zimri's actions and his dominant role by expanding the interactions between Zimri, Moshe, and Kozbi/the 'B'nei Israel (first section underlined at source 1 above):

'She said to him 'I will only listen to Moshe and Elazar, for I am a King's daughter ('bat melech'). He [presumably Zimri] said to her 'But I am as great as they are, and I will bring you before their eyes.' He took her by her hair and brought her before Moshe, saying to him 'Son of Amram, is she permitted or forbidden [to me]? And if you say she is forbidden because she is a Midianite - you who have married a Midianite, who permitted you to do so?'. The halacha was concealed from him [Moshe], so they all burst out crying'.

(It is worth noting that in the midrash itself none of the speakers are identified by name. I am deliberately not identifying the female protagonist here as Kozbi, for reasons which will become clear...) 

Here, we can see the midrash ascribing both physical violence to Zimri (dragging the woman by her hair!) and insolence - first in seeking to place himself on the same level as the divinely-appointed leaders Moshe and  Elazar, and then in directly challenging Moshe's authority to judge and punish others for having relations with non-Jewish women when Moshe himself had married a Midianite. If we bear in mind that this follows G-d's command to Moshe to have all the ringleaders in this affair publicly executed and Moshe's command to the judges/officers to execute those who have been involved in worshipping Ba'al-peor, Zimri's actions as a tribal leader shows his lack of respect for both G-d and Moshe in deliberately calling into question Moshe's  own integrity and worthiness to regulate the behaviour of B'nei Israel in this regard. Putting it bluntly, Zimri is trying to call Moshe out as a hypocrite and no better than anyone else.  

But what of the female protagonist, the anonymous 'bat melech'? Given Zimri's interaction with her, it is reasonable to assume that the midrash does at least partially identify her with Kozbi, the Midianite princess. However, the midrash continues with a masha'al (parable) of a bat melech who is discovered on her wedding day to have already had sexual relations with another man, so distressing her father and family that they became weakened and unable to take any action - just as Moshe and the community members with him were apparently unable to do anything other than weep in the face of Zimri's public sin. Here, the bat melech on the verge of entering under the chuppah on her wedding day is identified with B'nei Israel camped on the banks of the Yarden and about to enter Eretz Yisrael and a new relationship with G-d following their forty years wandering in the midbar. 

Through this masha'al, the midrash may actually be conflating Kozbi with the B'nei Israel in the female protagonist's earlier dialogue with Zimri, in which she proclaims loyalty to Moshe and Elazar as a 'bat melech'. Given this and the midrash's description of Zimri violently coercing Kozbi/the B'nei Israel into coming with him before Moshe, it is worth questioning what exactly Kozbi and the Midianite's role was in this whole incident. Who was more to blame here - the tempting women of Moav and/or Midian or the rebellious souls within B'nei Israel itself? 

Shavua tov,

RPT

PS For time reasons, I have not considered the end of the midrash - however, you may find this interesting to explore yourselves :-)

*It is worth considering why, if this is the case, it is the Midianites who are singled out for revenge concerning this incident... (see Bamidbar 25:16-18).