When Animals Talk: A Close Look at the Snake in the Garden and the She-Ass on the Road Shavuot Teaching 2023/5783

(15) God ה' settled the Human in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. (16) And God ה' commanded the Human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; (17) but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

(25) The two of them were naked, the Human and his wife, yet they felt no shame. (1) Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the animals of the field that God ה' had made. It said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (2) The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. (3) It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” (4) And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, (5) but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.” (6) When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

(22) And God ה' said, “Now that humankind has become like any of us, knowing good and bad, what if one should stretch out a hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!” (23) So God ה' banished humankind from the garden of Eden, to till the humus from which it was taken: (24) it was driven out; and east of the garden of Eden were stationed the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

(21) When he arose in the morning, Balaam saddled his ass and departed with the Moabite dignitaries. (22) But God was incensed at his going; so a messenger of ה' took a position in his way as an adversary. He was riding on his she-ass, with his two servants alongside, (23) when the ass caught sight of the messenger of ה' standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. The ass swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat the ass to turn her back onto the road. (24) The messenger of ה' then stationed himself in a lane between the vineyards, with a fence on either side. (25) The ass, seeing the messenger of ה', pressed herself against the wall and squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he beat her again. (26) Once more the messenger of ה' moved forward and stationed himself on a spot so narrow that there was no room to swerve right or left. (27) When the ass now saw the messenger of ה', she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam was furious and beat the ass with his stick. (28) Then ה' opened the ass’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” (29) Balaam said to the ass, “You have made a mockery of me! If I had a sword with me, I’d kill you.” (30) The ass said to Balaam, “Look, I am the ass that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing thus to you?” And he answered, “No.” (31) Then ה' uncovered Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the messenger of ה' standing in the way, his drawn sword in his hand; thereupon he bowed right down to the ground. (32) The messenger of ה' said to him, “Why have you beaten your ass these three times? It is I who came out as an adversary, for the errand is obnoxious to me. (33) And when the ass saw me, she shied away because of me those three times. If she had not shied away from me, you are the one I should have killed, while sparing her.”

(1) Now Balaam, seeing that it pleased ה' to bless Israel, did not, as on previous occasions, go in search of omens, but turned his face toward the wilderness. (2) As Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the spirit of God came upon him.

(15) He took up his theme, and said:
Word of Balaam son of Beor,
Word of the man whose eye is true, (16) Word of one who hears God’s speech,
Who obtains knowledge from the Most High,
And beholds visions from the Almighty,
Prostrate, but with eyes unveiled:

And the snake. There are those who say that the woman understood the language of animals. And they explain 'and the snake said' as figurative. And others say he is Satan but how do they see the end of the chapter, for how would Satan go on his belly and eat dust? And what is the reason for the curse, he will step on your head? And many have gone astray looking into why the snake was cursed and whether he had intellect. Or if it was commanded in order to keep it from marrying the woman. And R Saadiah Gaon said, after concluding that there is only speech and intellect in man, we have to say that neither the snake nor the donkey spoke. Rather, an angel spoke for them... And in my eyes, the matter is as it sounds. The snake spoke and walked upright and Who placed intellect in man placed it in the snake. And what is written in the verse states that he was more 'arom' than any animals of the field, but not as much as man. The explanation of 'arom' is intelligent, that he heaped his words. And don't wonder that arom comes after arumim, they stand for different things...

And man was naked, etc. Until Gd made coverings for them. There are three opinions about the snake's story and speech.

[1] The opinion of those who say that the snake was originally created intelligent and speaking, and walked upright and in its sin its intellect, speech, and feet were removed...

[2] And the opinion of the one who says the speaking snake was Satan who appeared to man in the shape of a snake like R Saadiah Gaon and others because they were really thoughts, and not real.

[3] And the third opinion from the Rav, that the simple interpretation of the verse isn't anything, but rather an allusion from natural and Godly wisdom.

Because I have already told you that it's unfitting to deny one story in its entirety which is testified by the text of the Torah. And therefore my opinion about the snake and the nature of this story, I will tell you here, is a fundamental of this section and its truth, which is that the snake never spoke to the woman, nor the woman to him, because he wasn't a man of words.

Thus the verse doesn't say to us, "And Gd opened the mouth of the snake," as it says with the ass of Bilaam, for there in order for the ass to speak by way of miracle it says, "And H' opened the mouth of the ass," but with the snake it doesn't say that Gd opened his mouth, because he didn't speak at all: not naturally and not miraculously.

Rather, she saw a snake climbing the tree of knowledge and eating its fruit time after time without dying and without being harmed at all, and the woman thought about it and searched within herself as if she were speaking with the snake and as if by going up the tree and eating its fruit he said to her, you will surely not die. So she in her thoughts answered this...

And don't be troubled by the verse, and he said to the woman. Because this saying refers to the instruction of his actions and what she thought about it... And that's why it says at the beginning that the snake was the most 'arom' of all the animals of the field, and this characteristic wasn't knowledge and wisdom and eternal claims but rather in ascending the tree to eat from its fruit, which the other animals of the field could not do, which is why the birds aren't mentioned but rather the animals of the field. And that's also why it doesn't say 'more than man,' because its cleverness was not in intellect and speech like man but rather in seeking its food more than any other beast. And it says 'that Gd made' to tell us that Gd created the snake with great cleverness intentionally, in order to test woman and man as it explains, because in going up there and eating from the fruit of the tree the woman reflected and went back and forth in herself, as if the snake said to her all that is written. If so, the truth is that the snake brought about this evil and the fault lies with it, but didn't actually speak at all.

Gd said to the snake etc. With Adam there was discussion, with Chava there was discussion, with the snake there was no discussion. Rather the Holy One said this snake is an evildoer full of answers, and if I say to him now he'll say to me, you commanded them and I commanded them, why did they let your commandment go and went with mine? Rather Gd sprung upon him and sentenced him.

(6) Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight, and these are they: [1] the mouth of the earth, [2] the mouth of the well, [3] the mouth of the donkey, [4] the rainbow, [5] the manna, [6] the staff [of Moses], [7] the shamir, [8] the letters, [9] the writing, [10] and the tablets. And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses, and the ram of Abraham, our father. And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

(9) Rejoice greatly, Fair Zion;
Raise a shout, Fair Jerusalem!
Lo, your king is coming to you.
He is victorious, triumphant,
Yet humble, riding on a donkey,
On a jackass foaled by a jenny.