ספר במדבר

Numbers 23,19. “G’d is not man that He should lie, nor ‎mortal that He should repent;” Our sages in Taanit ‎‎23, commenting on Job 22,28 ‎ותגזור אומר ויקם לך ועל דרכיך נגה אור‎ ‎commonly translated as “You will decree and it will be fulfilled; ‎and light will shine on Your affairs,” divide this verse into two ‎halves, the first half referring to what man decrees on earth, and ‎the second to what G’d fulfils in heaven. This is a way of ‎explaining how it is that the tzaddik can “reverse G’d’s ‎decree.” [The problem is that if so, how can Bileam say ‎that the difference between man and G’d is that the latter does ‎not “lie,” i.e. that His decrees cannot be upset by forces other ‎than Him? The subject has to be studied in the Talmud where the ‎sages debated the right of Choni ham’agel to pray ‎insistently for rain, when apparently G’d had decree a drought. ‎Ed.] Our author tries to explain these apparent ‎contradictions in a variety of ways. When Moses is referred to as ‎איש האלוקים‎, in psalms 90,1 the reason is that he tried to be like ‎G’d through invoking repeal of G’d’s harsh decrees against His ‎people. We find something analogous in psalms 106,23 where the ‎psalmist credits Moses with reversing G’d’s decree to annihilate ‎the Jewish people. Our author views the use of the word ‎אלוקים‎ ‎when applied to man as G’d “dressing up” in human garb and ‎then complying with the requests made in the tzaddik’s ‎prayerThis “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when ‎the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the ‎Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to ‎curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that ‎לא איש א-ל‎, that G’d ‎in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in ‎order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ‎ויכזב‎, ‎does not qualify for G’d’s support.‎This “dressing up” of G’d in human garb occurs only when ‎the prayer of the righteous human being is for G’d’s help to the ‎Israelites. Since wicked Bileam intended to enlist G’d’s support to ‎curse the Israelites, he explains to Balak that ‎לא איש א-ל‎, that G’d ‎in such circumstances would not “dress up as a human being” in ‎order to facilitate such prayers by Bileam. Subterfuge, i.e. ‎ויכזב‎, ‎does not qualify for G’d’s support.‎This is also the meaning of the words: ‎ה' איש מלחמה ה' שמו‎, ‎‎“the Lord is a ‘man’ of war, his name is Hashem.” ‎‎(Exodus15,3) Moses extols G’d’s “dressing up” in human garb ‎when He destroys the mortal enemies of the Jewish people. He ‎will perform what the tzaddik requests of Him when ‎avenging the wrongs committed by the gentile nations against ‎His chosen people. He will do so, since in the process His name ‎will become sanctified and glorified.‎While at first glance it may appear strange that G’d will ‎assume the role of a “warrior” at the behest of one of His ‎‎tzaddikim when this results in the destruction of His ‎creatures, [something He is so loath to do this that His ‎angels are not allowed to applaud it by singing a song, ‎Ed.], the fact remains that the destruction of the wicked ‎at the hands of G’d represents a major sanctification of G’d’s ‎name, and this is why in the victory song of Moses in Exodus 15, ‎He is described not as ‎‏ ‏‎ ‎אלוקים‎, the attribute of Justice, but as ‎‎Hashem, the attribute of Mercy, as the merits of this ‎sanctification of His Name accrue to the “victims”, though not ‎knowingly, seeing that at least their death has resulted in the ‎sanctification of G’d’s Name. He thus performed an act of loving ‎kindness for His enemies even while depriving their bodies of ‎their lives.‎