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June 25, 2021

What a Talking Donkey Teaches about the Limits of Reason Alone

Balaam’s ass, and Buridan’s.

This week’s Torah reading of Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9) tells the story of the Gentile prophet Balaam, who—although he knows God wills it otherwise—seeks to curse the Israelites in exchange for wealth and honor. His jenny attempts to stop him and then, thanks to a miracle, scolds him for beating her. Although the talking ass is the best-remembered part of Balaam’s story, David Wolpe notes that it serves little narrative purpose. Why, then, did God make a donkey talk and, moreover, able to see an angel that is at first invisible to her master?

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June 25, 2021

  1. Israel’s Haredim Are Abandoning Transactional Politics, and Identifying More Deeply with the State

    What’s hidden behind politicians’ angry statements.

  2. City University of New York Faculty Can Fight Back against Their Union’s Anti-Israel Propagandizing

    Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision.

  3. Why Iranians Are Embracing Christianity

    A rejection of theocratic totalitarianism?

  4. What a Talking Donkey Teaches about the Limits of Reason Alone

    Balaam’s ass, and Buridan’s.

  5. How a Soviet Jewish Historian Survived Purges and Repression—and Discovered Jewish Cossacks

    The complicated legacy of Saul Borovoi.