(Yitro) asks, why are these lots not included in the list of items created at sunset on the sixth day of Creation? The unique donkey that opened its mouth and spoke to Bilaam last week is in that list, so why are these lots left off?
Interestingly, this question is asked by the Tzeida LaDarech not here in our Parsha, but back in Parshat Yitro. Why is that? What suddenly spoke up in Parshat Yitro? According to Rashi, the first inanimate object to speak out loud was Har Sinai: לֵ אמֹר וְהִגְבַּלְתָּ אֶת־הָעָם סָבִיב. If someone were approached Har Sinai, the boundary called out to them: “Stop! Do not proceed any further!” It is unclear, however, whether the meaning is that the boundary actually spoke or perhaps, as some commentators suggest, it spoke to the approaching person figuratively, just as something we believe in strongly, or fear intensely, speaks to us and calls our name. Tzeida LaDarech says that was not the case though, and there is no vagueness or indirectness in this picture. The boundary itself spoke, with a loud voice, just as the lots in our Parsha were audible. If so, why was this miracle not listed alongside the miracle of the donkey opening its mouth and speaking words? In his opinion, the miracle of the boundary and the lots speaking is far greater than Bilaam’s donkey giving him a verbal message, because in the philosophical and Kabbalistic works of Chazal, the entirety of creation is divided into four realms or kingdoms: domem, the silent or inanimate creations; tzomeach, growing things; chai, the animal world; and medaber, the speaker – i.e., man. The lowest level is that of the inanimate object, and seemingly, inanimate objects such as the boundary and the lot s speaking is a bigger chiddush. It is a bigger leap and miracle than a chai (donkey) speaking. If so, why was it not included in the list?
His answer is tremendous: In a place of kedusha, even the domem speaks! In a place of holiness, animals speak, as do trees and members of all four realms! This is as designed by Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and no extraordinary measures are required. The Yaavetz says, while the world around us was created to run according to the laws of nature, there is one exception – the Beit Hamikdash, which runs according to miracles. Does this mean just the Beit Hamikdah proper? No! It means every place of pure and true kedusha.
We can bring several examples to support this. We’re familiar with the two cows used to return the stolen Aron back to the Mikdash, as described in the Neviim (Shmuel I, 6:12). At the advice of their priests and magicians, the Plishtim sent the Aron back to Bnei Yisrael by placing it in a chriot that was pulled by two nursing cows. They wished to see if the cows would unnaturally march on and return it, or if they’d turn around to their calves left behind – something expected of them. The cows went straight ahead along the road to Beit Shemesh ignoring their calves left behind and never turning back. According to the Gemara (Avodah Zarah 24b), וַיִשַּׁ רְ נָה הַפָּרוֹת – they did so while singing songs of praise. When they reached the camp of Am Yisrael with the Aron in tow, David Hamelech received them and adopted their song for the Levi’im to sing alongside the Korban HaTamid (see Rav Rosenblum English Shiurim – Bo 5783). Do cows suddenly sing? Is this not a miracle just like Bilaam’s donkey? What about the serpent in Gan Eden that spoke to Chava? Is it suddenly normal for serpents to talk? The answer is, in a place of kedusha, it is no surprise or miracle that animals speak. Bilaam’s donkey, on the other hand, was in a place of impurity, and a great miracle was thus required to deviate from the laws of nature. No miracles were needed for the boundary’s voice at Har Sinai during Matan Torah, or the lottery’s voice at the doorstep of Eretz Yisrael when the holy nation was set to enter.
The entire world can feel a makom kadosh – a holy place. Birds knew not to fly above the First Beit Hamikdash for 410 years due to the holy Aron standing within it (unlike the Second Beit Hamikdash where spikes needed to be installed atop the walls due to the Aron bot being present). Elisha HaNavi was perceived by the Shunamit woman as a holy man: לֹהִים קָדוֹשׁ הוּא עֹבֵר עָלֵינוּ תָּמִיד-הִנֵּה־נָא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אִישׁ אֱ – Behold now, I perceive that he is a holy man of G-d who passes by us continually. How did she know? The Gemara says (Berachot 10b): ֹא רָאֲתָה זְבוּב עוֹבֵר עַל שׁ ֻלְחָנוֹ ּ שׁ ֶל – She never saw a fly pass over his table. That’s how she knew, but how did the fly know? It is because a makom kadosh is palpable. It knew from the Mishna Avot (5:5): וְ לֹא נִרְ אָ ה זְ בוּב בְּ בֵ ית הַ מִּ טְ בָּ חַ יִם – No fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse [of the Beit Hamikdash]. There were no nets, nor were there any blue zapper lights, or sticky fly paper to catch them – the Mikdash did not look like our Succah, filled with contraptions to trap all the unwanted guests. There were no flies, no cockroaches, no bees, nor any other insects in the holy domain of the Beit Hamikdash. Never did a serpent or a scorpion harm anyone in Yerushalayim either (Avot 5:5). Were the snakes there never hungry or angry? In a holy place, there is nothing for the serpents or jookim to look for! And how do they themselves know? They feel the holiness of the place, and they know not to enter. The same for the birds overhead.
Tzeida LaDarech tells us, the world feels a makom kadosh and reveres one who is holy. The Keruvim that sat atop the Aron were made of gold, and the Gemara (Bava Batra 99a) says they at times faced one another and at times turned away from one another. When Am Yisrael were fulfilling the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu they’d face each other, and when Am Yisrael were not – they’d turn away. How did they turn? Was the gold flexible? No. They were made from a solid piece of pure gold – so how did they swivel? Was there a rotating tray underneath them? No, it’s not even a question! In the Kodesh HaKodashim, is there any doubt how they could turn? There are no laws of nature or physics for metals in such a space of kedusha! No rules and no restrictions exist.
Similarly, at the foot of Har Sinai, a place on which we are told any trespasser would be killed, there is no question as to how something against the laws of nature occurred. Obviously, the boundary can talk, because the place is one of the utmost kedusha. Similarly, the lottery and the talking lots. There is no question as to the limitless capabilities in such a realm of holiness, and no need to call out what would be a miracle anywhere the laws of nature prevail and a special creation – established during the days of Creation before the laws of nature were set in motion – is needed to overcome them.
Let’s bring one more proof. In Megillat Esther, late one night, the king couldn’t sleep: ְ ַיְלָה הַהוּא נָדְ דָה שְׁנַת הַמֶּלֶך ּ בַּל . What did the restless Achashverosh do? He commanded that the book of records of the chronicles be brought, and they be read out to him. Yalkut Shimoni points out, it does not say ִ קְ רְ א ו ּ ּ וַ י לְפָנָיו – that the servants read from the book to him. Rather, it says ְ ִהְ יוּ נִקְ רָ אִ ים לִפְנֵי הַמֶּלֶך ּ וַי – the book read itself! The staff opened it up, and it sounded its own voice, narrating its own contents. Why? Because the Iranian hooligans did not want to read out what Mordechai had done, setting the Jew up for great reward. So, they opened the book and flipped back several pages to another chapter. But the book jumped back on its own and told the story of Mordechai itself. They tried flipping ahead a few chapters, but once again, the book returned to the desired spot and continued its narration. Hakadosh Baruch Hu was behind the entire story of Purim and held this book of chronicles in His hand. Why is this miracle not mentioned among the others of Purim in the liturgy established by Chazal? Why is this speaking scroll not listed in the Mishna?
The Midrash (Tanchuma Ki Teitze) says, we have 248 ( רמ"ח ) positive Mitzvot, equal to our number of limbs, and each day they scream out to their owner, “Use me for Mitzvot and gain life in this world!” We also have 365 ( שס"ה ) negative commandments, corresponding to the days of the solar year, and at the start of each day, it (the day) screams out, “Don't transgress the commandments with me!” Do limbs and days suddenly speak? Can they suddenly relay messages to their bearer? The Midrash says, both the hand and staff of Moshe Rabbeinu indeed spoke upon arriving in Egypt. They recounted to Bnei Yisrael the miracles that just occurred at the burning bush, and how they had been temporarily covered in leprosy and transformed into a snake, respectively. Why are these two miracles not recounted in the Haggadah on the Seder night? Why are they not in the Mishna?
The answer is, in a place of pure holiness, sticks can speak, hands can speak, and scrolls can find the page on their own and read aloud. Unlike in the case of Yam Suf, whose intermediary argued with Hakadosh Baruch Hu prior to the sea splitting, when it came to Har Sinai and the lottery, they spoke directly. Just as the well of Miriam spoke two weeks ago, and the mouth of the earth spoke up against Korach the week prior. The laws of nature do not apply in places of holiness, and the miracles stemming from special creations and predetermined deviations made at sunset on the sixth day of Creation are not needed. The donkey requires a miracle to speak the words of Ruach Hakodesh to its wicked master, because it was in a place of impurity, in the home of Bilaam.
That needs to be called out; we need to be told when that special scenario was set up as it deviates from the laws of nature. The rest need no proof and no explanation, however. Holiness speaks for itself.
And with this, we end with our question that will B’ezrat Hashem be addressed next week: Why when it comes to the division and allocation of Eretz Yisrael, do we require the directive of Yaacov Avinu, the Urim V’Tumim, and a lottery that both displays and speaks its results? The magic of Eretz Yisrael will be revealed next week. ◊
