[Avodah] Parshas Balak and the root "Kuf Beis"

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 09:03:16PM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: The unusual root "kuf beis" (or some 3-letter variation of it) appears
: several times in Parshas Balak, and I'm curious if there is some kind
: of connection or lesson in this.

The language in Balaq is unique in a number of ways.

Moshe wrote his sefer, parashat Bil'am, and Iyov. -- BB 14b

The difference in style might show that this parashah was the one Moshe
originally wrote as a separate text, and afterward HQBH had him redact
it into the Torah.

There is also evidence of other books that HQBH redacted into the Torah:

"Zeh sefer toledos Adam" (Bereishis 5:1) is taken by Bereishis Rabba
25:1-4 to be literally a book.

In Shemos 17:14 Hashem tells Moshe to write a book and recite it to
Yehoshua. The Ibn Ezra identifies this with the sefer Milkhamos Hashem
of Bamidbar 11:26. R' Qafih, in a footnote in his translation of R'
Saadia Gaon, argues that RSG said they were two different books.

Shemos 24:4 refers to seifer haberis. On the famous machloqes where R'
Yochanan mishum Rebbe says that "Torah megillah megillah nitenah" Rashi
(Gittin 60a, "kesov alai") says "mitekhilah nikhtivah megilas bereishis,
vehadar megillas Noach, vehadar megillas Avraham -- vehainu deqa'amar
bemegilas Avraham 'kesov alai'". Perhaps implying that some of those
megillos might have even predated Moshe, and HQBH dictated to MRAH how
to fold them into Bereishis.

But even without going that far... the first gemara I cited does imply
that parashat Bil'am is a separate text, which could explain its distinct
language.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Our greatest fear is not that we're inadequate,
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