I like questions a lot. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, I have to believe that statement doesn’t come as a surprise to you AT ALL. At the Passover Seder, I always like to spend the most amount of time on the questions in the Haggadah… as well as the ones NOT in the text, but which we, ourselves, might ask. Introspection (asking questions of oneself…) is always a central theme for me during the High Holidays, and whenever I see questions in the Torah text (or have questions of my own *for* the Torah…), I light up! And sometimes the very best questions in the Bible are not, in fact, asked by humans at all. As an aside - and a reward for you blog-readers - I will offer a hint that you might hear more about these Divine Questions in this year’s High Holiday services… There is something really special about the moments when God asks a question - ANY question - in the Torah, for one, obvious reason: Doesn’t God, being Omnipotent, already know the answer?
This week, the question I wanted to focus on is also unique, because it’s not being posed to one of our ancestors, or indeed to any Israelite or even an ally of our forbearers! Our
parashah is entirely depicted from the perspective of Balak, the king of the Moabites, who reaches out to a non-Israelite prophet, Bilaam, to curse the Israelites on his behalf. Theologically speaking, it always fascinates me that God intervenes at all, because I wouldn’t have thought that the curse of an idolatrous prophet would be something God (or we) would worry about at all! Nevertheless, God shows up in this story, and questions Bilaam about his intentions regarding Balak and his emissaries. In one of their first little
tête-à-têtes, we find the question that peaked my interest: “God came to Bilaam and said, ‘What do these people want of you?’” (Num. 22:9) How puzzling, don’t you think, that God wouldn’t know why these emissaries of Moab and Midian have come to Bilaam?? Gosh, and here I thought God was omniscient and all…
As with so many of these wonderful, Divine, often-rhetorical questions, I firmly believe that God already knows the answer. So what, then, is the purpose of asking it in the first place?? Wouldn’t it make more sense for God to say to Bilaam (assuming our God and Bilaam talk at all, which I’ve still not gotten over…), “Don’t speak! I know what you’re going to ask me… and the answer is ‘NO!!’” In my estimation, there’s actually more going on here. God is showing us - here and in several other no-brainer questions - that the real work has to happen inside us. GENUINE learning comes from within, not from an external source. The best teachers know that lecturing from the front of the room only ever gets you so far. If you can provoke students to think critically, challenge assumptions, and draw their own conclusions, that learning may prove to “stick” in their brains a whole lot better. God is modeling that for us, throughout the Tanach.
In Bilaam’s case, God may be curious to see how much the prophet is willing to disclose about why these men are approaching him: “Why do *you*, Bilaam, think they are here… and how do you feel about that?” Every person has a unique and individual perspective, so asking several individuals what they heard, what they understood, and what they think should happen next, may often yield vastly different answers and opinions. So God wants to know, what does Bilaam think is being asked of him, and does he understand the ramifications of cursing an entire people on their behalf? In the end, I feel strongly that God is challenging us to take ownership of our lives and our experiences. Don’t sleep-walk through life and do what’s expected of you or what is comfortable/easy, when you can achieve *so much* more by being active, alert, curious, and interested! We should be pushing ourselves to make a positive impact on the world, and on the people around us, by asking ourselves good and tough questions on a regular basis. And I guess the Torah is cautioning us; if you don’t ask yourselves those questions, God may just show up and ask them of you. What then??
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