An Outsider’s Perspective
Once in a while, an outsider鈥檚 view yields a crystal clear vision of essential qualities not quite visible to those on the inside. And once in a while, an attribute鈥檚 inside, its lore or narrative, matches up perfectly with its outside, its nomos, or law.
To illustrate and give life to these assertions, I share with you a very short Talmudic conversation (Bavli Baba Batra 60a) that begins with a statement from the Mishnah: 鈥淲ithin a communal courtyard, a person may not open a door directly facing another door, nor a window directly facing another window.鈥� That鈥檚 the law. Homes built around a shared courtyard, as many in the ancient world were, had to be constructed so that the privacy of each resident was guarded. As Rashbam (R. Shmuel b. Meir, twelfth-century France) puts it in his comment on this clause: 鈥淭he reason is on account of modesty.鈥�
The Gemara, in a succinct, but I believe far-reaching, two-and-a-half lines, dramatically broadens the horizons of the Mishnah鈥檚 legal norm. The Gemara begins with a question, 鈥淗ow do we know this?鈥� or literally, 鈥淔rom where are these words?鈥� What Biblical verse or verses justify the Mishnah鈥檚 statement of law? Very frequently, the Gemara holds the Mishnah accountable with this precise question. 鈥淧rove your claim,鈥� the Gemara鈥檚 sages seem to say to their elders, the rabbis whose views shaped the Mishnah. 鈥淩eveal your sources.鈥�
Rabbi Yohanan, a third-century rabbinic giant from the land of Israel, answers the question with a verse (or more properly part of a verse) from this week鈥檚 parashah. 鈥淎nd Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw the people of Israel encamped by tribes (Num. 24:2).鈥� Balaam, an ancient Near Eastern seer for hire, is engaged by the namesake of this week鈥檚 parashah, Balak the king of Moab, to pronounce curses on the Israelites, whose military might he fears. No matter how hard he tries, Balaam can only offer blessings on Israel鈥檚 behalf, words that flow out of him in the form of beautiful and flowery poetry. The verse cited by Rabbi Yohanan introduces the best known of Balaam鈥檚 poems of blessing, an oracle inspired by his gazing out on the Israelite encampment.
Verse in hand, Rabbi Yohanan now offers a gorgeous piece of midrash, a narrative that both expands the Torah鈥檚 tale and provides a lovely counterpoint to the Mishnah鈥檚 statement of law. 鈥淲hat did he (Balaam) see? He saw that the openings of their (the Israelites鈥�) tents were not directly oriented toward one another. He then said: 鈥楾hese are worthy of having God鈥檚 presence (Shekhinah) rest upon them.鈥欌�� That鈥檚 the lore that corresponds to the Mishnah鈥檚 law, or in classical Hebrew terms, the Aggadah that matches the Mishnah鈥檚 halakhah.
For me, this tiny sugya (a self-contained Talmudic discussion) opens up two reflections that I want to share this Shabbat. The first deals with the relationship between halakhah and Aggadah, the two broad categories of writing and speaking that make up Rabbinic Judaism. In our frequent debates on issues large and small, we tend to emphasize one genre to the near and sometimes total exclusion of the other. Rabbi Yohanan鈥檚 take on the Mishnah and on this week鈥檚 parashah stakes a claim for full integration of narrative and nomos. In this one instance, at least, they form two inseparable component parts of a larger whole. That degree of integration is the ideal for we which we should strive in all instances.
Balaam鈥檚 outsider status enables him to see something essential about Israelite life that, I suspect, the Israelites themselves overlook. Balaam takes note of one of the central and defining elements of living within a community. That thought is the second reflection that I offer to you. A community is a space, actual or imagined, in which people live together. Balaam鈥檚 observation, as teased out by Rabbi Yohanan and as canonized in the Mishnah, highlights and resolves the inherent tension of protecting one鈥檚 individuality and asserting one鈥檚 autonomy while continuing to live in community. Balaam sees with absolute clarity how our ancestors, apparently effortlessly, negotiated that challenge. The Mishnah normalizes Balaam鈥檚 vision and Rabbi Yohanan completes the circle by filling in the Aggadah that grounds the halakhah. Rashbam鈥檚 comment on the Gemara, itself very succinct, puts all the metaphors together: 鈥淭he encampment of Israel is analogous to a shared courtyard.鈥�
The contemporary encampment of Israel, the 绿帽社 community in which we all reside, is also analogous to a shared courtyard. Our task, perhaps the eternal task of the people of Israel, is to create a coherent sacred community in which no one鈥檚 tent opens directly toward another鈥檚. In our time of sovereign selfhood, that鈥檚 a very difficult task, for to live in community does ultimately mean to relinquish a bit of one鈥檚 autonomy. Our tradition insists on the worthiness of that deal, and we know it from our own experience. Living in community enriches our lives in myriad ways. It just takes work to pull it off. It also enables us to feel God鈥檚 presence in our midst. Or, in Balaam鈥檚 original and most famous words, it enables us to lay claim to this most poetic of his many blessings: 鈥淢a tovu ohalekha Yaakov, mish鈥檏鈥檔otekha Yisrael!鈥� (How pleasing are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!) (Num. 24:5).
The publication and distribution of the JTS Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee and Harold (z鈥漧) Hassenfeld.
