Avodah Zarah 4b — the Talmud in English

As it is written concerning him [Numbers 24]: that he said about himself [pamud.bmp "Exact page location"]

“He knows the knowledge of the Most High.”

“And knows the knowledge of the Most High.”

And it is a wondrous matter: is it

possible

that Balaam the wicked, who did not even

know the knowledge of his animal, [as will be explained]—

as will be explained—

know the knowledge of the Most High—how could he know?!

And the Gemara relates how we find that he did not know the knowledge of his animal.

What does “he did not know the knowledge of his animal” mean?

When they saw him,

when the ministers of Moab saw him

riding on his donkey,

that he was riding on his she-donkey,

they said to him: Why did you not ride on a horse?

Why did you not hurry to come on a horse?

And he said to them

deceitfully:

“In the pasture,

in the meadow, the place of grazing,

I left it,”

I left my horse there, and my horse was not ready for riding.

Immediately—

“And the she-donkey said

to Balaam:

‘Am I not your she-donkey,

which you have ridden from your youth until this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do this to you?’” And if so, why are you lying?

He said to her:

You served me only

for carrying alone,

to carry loads, and not for riding.

She said to him:

A lie!

“Which you have ridden!”

He said to her:

You served me for riding only

occasionally,

by chance, when I did not have a horse ready.

She said to him:

That is a lie! You rode me constantly,

“from your youth until this day.”

And not only this, but I provide you with riding by day and intercourse by night,

that you have intercourse with me .

For

it is written here, “Have I ever been accustomed,” and it is written there [I Kings 1]:

[in I Kings 1]:

“And she became his attendant.”

Just as there this is an expression of warming, so too with Balaam’s she-donkey—thus Balaam did not know the knowledge of his animal; and how would he know the knowledge of the Most High?!

Rather, what

is the explanation of that which is written,

“And knows the knowledge of the Most High”?—

That he knew how to determine the moment at which the Holy One, blessed be He, was angry.

And since he knew how to determine the moment, God performed righteousness with Israel, and during those days He was not angry even for a moment.

And

this righteousness

is what the prophet said

to the children of Israel.

It is stated [Micah 6]:

“My people! Remember now what Balak the king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim until Gilgal, so that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

From the time that they sinned at Shittim until they entered the Land of Israel and sinned at Gilgal—I performed many righteous acts with them.

And what were those righteous acts?

Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My people! See how many righteous acts I performed with you! For I was not angry with you throughout all those days. For had I been angry with you—

not one of the worshipers of the stars would have remained, from the haters of Israel [as a euphemism] even

[this is stated euphemistically] even

a remnant or survivor.

And this is

the meaning of

what Balak said to Balaam [Numbers 23]:

[in Numbers 23]:

“How can I curse—

he has not cursed; and how can I rage—

the Lord has not raged.”

For during those days the Lord did not rage.

And how long

does His

rage last?—

A moment.

And how long

is a

moment?

Ameimar said, and some say

that it was

Ravina who said: “A moment

is

the length of its utterance,”

the length of time it takes to say the word “moment.”

And from where

do we know

that the moment is His anger,

that the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry is only “a moment”?

As it is written [Psalms 30]:

[in Psalms 30]:

“For His anger is for a moment; life is in His favor.”

Thus, “His anger,” which is the anger, is “a moment.”

And if you wish, say:

It is learned

from here,

from this verse: it is stated [Isaiah 26]:

“Hide yourself for almost a moment, until the anger passes.”

Thus, the time of the anger is a moment.

When does He rage,

when is the time of His rage?

Abaye said: During the first three hours.

During the first three hours of the day, which is the time of rising from bed, and then, when the kings rise, place their crowns on their heads, and bow to the sun, the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry for a short time,

when the comb of the rooster is white,

when the rooster’s comb becomes white.

And we object:

Every hour and every hour,

most of the time,

the white is visible,

the comb becomes white, for it is not red with full strength all the time? And we answer:

Every hour,

throughout all the hours of the day, even when it becomes white,

there are in it

some

red streaks,

red threads. But

that particular hour,

at the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, is angry,

there are no red streaks in it,

but it is entirely white.

And the Gemara relates an incident in this connection.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi was being tormented by a certain sectarian,

a certain Christian man tormented him

through Scripture,

in debates concerning biblical verses.

One day

he wanted to curse him at the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, was raging.

He took a rooster

and took a rooster for himself

and placed it between the legs of his bed,

and placed it between the legs of his bed, so that it would be close to him,

and he watched it

and looked at it constantly, because

he thought: When that particular hour arrives,

when the time arrives at which its comb becomes white, and it is the time of the Holy One, blessed be He’s anger,

I will curse him,

I will curse him!

When that particular hour arrived,

when that time arrived,

he dozed off;

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi fell asleep—

He said: We may infer from this

that it is possible to understand from this that

it is not proper conduct to do this,

it is not proper—that is, it is not fitting—to do so, to determine the time of anger, because

“His mercies are upon all His works,” it is written [Psalms 145],

[in Psalms 145], and

and

so

it is written [Proverbs 17]:

[in Proverbs 17]:

“Even punishing—

the righteous, it is not good.”

It is not good for the righteous that creatures should be punished on his account, and not even the sectarians.

A tanna

we learned

in the name

of

Rabbi Meir: When the kings

the kings of the nations of the world

place their crowns on their heads and bow to the sun,

which is during the first three hours of the day,

immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry.

After we have said that the first three hours are the time of “wrath,” when the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry, and it is a time of judgment, the Gemara derives a halakha from this.

Rav Yosef said: A person should not pray

should not pray

the Musaf prayer

the Musaf prayer

during the first three hours of the day

during the first three hours of the day, which is the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, becomes angry,

on the first day of the beginning of the year,

on the first day of Rosh Hashanah,

alone,

in an individual prayer, and the reason is—

perhaps

it is possible

that when the judgment is assigned,

when his judgment is assigned —

perhaps they will examine his deeds,

they will examine his deeds,

and thrust him away for rejection,

and they will reject him.

And we object:

If so,

if there is concern for this, why is the concern only when he prays alone?

With a congregation also,

why should we not be concerned in this way also regarding the congregation’s prayer?

And we answer:

For the congregation, its merit is greater,

their merit is great, and it will be accepted even during these hours.

And we object:

If so,

if there is concern for this, why specifically the Musaf prayer?—

The individual’s morning prayer

the morning prayer of an individual

also should not

the individual should also not pray the morning prayer at that time?

And we answer:

Since there is a congregation that is praying,

for they pray the morning prayer in all places at that time, his prayer is included within the congregation’s prayer

and is not rejected

and they will not reject his prayer . But the Musaf prayer, since its time is the entire day—some pray it in the morning and some delay it—therefore it is not certain that his prayer is at the time of the congregation’s prayer, and he is not included with them .

And we object: How did they say that he will be judged during those three hours—

But you said,

behold, it was said [in the earlier discussion]:

The first

three

hours—

the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and engages in Torah,

and only during the second three hours does He sit and judge the world.

Thus, He does not judge the world during the first three hours?

And we answer:

Reverse it,

reverse the words of Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav, and teach them as follows: During the first three hours He sits and judges the entire world; during the second three hours He sits and engages in Torah. According to this, indeed the first three hours are the time of judgment.

And if you wish, say: In truth, do not reverse it,

indeed there is no need to reverse it, and during the first three hours the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and engages in Torah, while during the second He sits and judges the entire world—as Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav said.

And the reason for what Rav Yosef said, “Perhaps they will examine his deeds and reject him,” is that when the Holy One, blessed be He, sits and engages in

Torah, concerning which “truth” is written, as it is written [Proverbs 23],

“Acquire truth and do not sell it” —

“Acquire truth and do not sell it” —

the Holy One, blessed be He, does not act

then

beyond the strict line of judgment,

and therefore these hours are not the suitable time to rise from the throne of judgment and sit upon the throne of mercy.

But

judgment,

that is, during the hours when the Holy One, blessed be He, judges the world,

about which “truth” is not written,

at that time

the Holy One, blessed be He, acts beyond the strict line of judgment,

as Rabbi Yehuda in the name of Rav said, that He rises from the throne of judgment and sits upon the throne of mercy.

Day, testifies, seizes, with the calf—

a mnemonic.

These are four statements that Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said, which relate to what was stated above.

The matter itself,

we learned above:

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: What

is the explanation of that

which is written [Deuteronomy 7]:

And

“Which I command you today, to perform them”—

Today, to perform them, and not tomorrow, to perform them. Today, to perform them, and not today, to receive their reward,

as explained above.

And

further

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: All the mitzvot that Israel performs in this world come and testify concerning them in the World to Come. As it is stated [Isaiah 43]:

these are the idolaters,

“Let them present their witnesses and be justified; let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’”

“Let them present their witnesses and be justified”—

these are Israel; “let them hear and say, ‘It is true’”—

these are the worshipers of the stars,

as explained above.

And

further

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: All the mitzvot that Israel performs in this world—

come and strike

with a blow

the worshipers of the stars in the World to Come across their faces. As it is stated [Deuteronomy 4]:

Moses our teacher said:

“You shall observe and perform them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples.”

“Before the peoples,”

which would have implied in relation to the peoples,

was not stated. Rather, “in the eyes of the peoples”

was stated, implying directly opposite their eyes.

This teaches

the verse

that they come and strike the worshipers of the stars across their faces in the World to Come.

And

further

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: Israel did not make the calf,

meaning, the children of Israel were mighty and could have mastered their inclination and refrained from making the calf,

but

their inclination overcame them by decree of the Holy One, blessed be He. And the reason was in order

to provide an opening for those who repent

in every generation. For if the sinner says, “Why should I repent? The Holy One, blessed be He, will not accept me,” they say to him: “Go and learn from the incident of the calf. They committed a great sin and denied the Lord after the revelation at Mount Sinai, and nevertheless the Holy One, blessed be He, accepted them when they repented”—

As it is stated

[Deuteronomy 5] Moses our teacher said to Israel at Sinai in the name of the Holy One, blessed is He:

"Who will give that their heart should be this, for them to fear Me and to observe all My commandments all the days, so that it may be good for them and for their children forever."

Behold, they were mighty and courageous of heart in the fear of Hashem.

And this is

a similar statement to this, that

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai:

not David

the king

was deserving of that act

involving Bathsheba,

and Israel were not deserving of that act of the calf —

David was not deserving of that act, as it is written

[Psalms 109], which David said about himself:

"And my heart is slain within me,"

and we expound: the evil inclination is within me as a “corpse,” as one dead, and it has no power to rule within me—

and Israel were not deserving of that act, as it is written: "Who will give that their heart should be this, to fear Me all the days."

Rather, why did they do it?