“…AND, the First Runner Up: (pause) IS: (pause) Balaam’s Ass”
Ladies and Gentlemen… Tonight’s Award for Second Place, for a talking animal in the Torah; goes to Balaam’s Donkey. Next year, when we again begin to read the Torah from Bereshit, we will encounter that animal who takes away First Place. If… you don’t know who that is you will have to wait until: MID-October.
But: On With Tonight’s Award! This donkey did not make an ass of itself with this performance. NO! This was a part full of drama, suspense, and considerable mystery. And our award winner certainly filled the part well; remaining silent in the face of adversity and letting the tension build until finally it explodes with that memorable line; “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?" And again that famous line that shows that the donkey is more than a little upset: "Look, I am the donkey that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" she says. What pathos this poor animal pours out in just those twenty-nine words! Let me tell you, Ladies and Gentlemen; the Academy had a very hard time choosing between First and Second place this year.
Of course, you can say that Shreck’s donkey had a lot more to say but never did he speak from the heart and reach out to us like this donkey did! By now, my friends, you know the story: Balak is worried about the Nation of Israel and calls upon Balaam to curse them – Our Ancestors! Well, Balaam was not going to take that kind of commission without approval from his superior: HaShem.
But then, I ask, why would G-d condone Balaam's trip in one instant and then condemn it the next? But before we go into that part of the story, let’s look at the film clip where Balaam was riding on his donkey when all of the sudden: "The donkey caught sight of the angel of the L-rd standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand!
The donkey, of course, swerved from the road and went into the fields; and Balaam beat his donkey to turn her back onto the road."
This occurs again! The donkey sees the fiery angel of G-d blocking the path and swerves off the path to try to avoid it. Balaam does not appear to see this angel, and each time he hits the donkey until the donkey veers back onto the desired course. The third time the donkey sees the angel, the donkey lies down and stops moving. This infuriates Balaam, who begins beating the donkey. And then… something strange happens. The donkey talks. She asks Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?" Perhaps even stranger is the fact that Balaam responds to the donkey as if it were normal that the donkey spoke to him. Balaam responds that the donkey has embarrassed him so much that if he had a sword he would kill the donkey on the spot. Obviously the donkey is, as I said before, very upset by this and puts Balaam in his place by saying, "Look, I am the donkey that you have been riding all along until this day! Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" Of course, Balaam can only sheepishly respond "no," and then he sees the angel for the first time and truly understands his error.
There is much that can be said about the story of Balaam and his donkey and many questions that need to be answered. Maimonides, a medieval Jewish philosopher, suggests that the entire incident was a prophetic vision, and none of it really happened. But we need to stop for a moment here and think about this.
As I said before, this is not the only animal with a speaking part in Torah. In the different situations we have the following things to consider:
1. An animal is using human speech,
2. The human, in each situation, does not consider it unusual.
3. The human responds to the animal, and…
4. The animal again speaks.
What’s going on here? I know that when I lived in Japan, I encountered dogs that seemed to understand Japanese but not English – but then they did not talk back either (at least in human voices).
Is this something like Greek Theatre with gods speaking to humans from off-stage? Or is it something that Disney’s Imagineering thought-up and went back and pasted it into the Bible?
HaShem, we know can do just anything He wants… but what is He teaching us here with a taking donkey? A donkey with such reasoning power and emotions?
Let’s look at what Nachmanides, a medieval commentator, suggests. He says that the donkey did in fact talk to Balaam to remind him and future readers that G-d can control even a human's most basic functions. The ability to speak is something that G-d can give even to a donkey and that if G-d can give speech to a donkey then G-d can take speech away from humans.
The Sforno, a Renaissance-era Bible commentator, takes a different approach. He suggests that the story is really about paying attention to signs. The behavior of the donkey should have been a sign to Balaam that what he was about to do was not good in the eyes of G-d. However, I think that at its most basic level this story of Balaam and his donkey is about two very important things. First and foremost, it is about the power and importance of words. Words have the ability to build up or break down, to heal or to hurt, to bless or to curse. The fact that Balaam is seemingly unaware of the power he has to hurt people through his words is what infuriates G-d. We are all given permission by G-d to say whatever we wish. The gift of speech and communication is unlike any other gift that G-d has given us, but it is one that must be treated with respect and with the cognizance of the power it has. And, I might add, that the power to communicate is not always limited to the verbal. And just as words have the power to heal or to hurt, so to are voices of communication found in painting, the written word as prose or poetry, and even, perhaps, in the different forms of dance! But this Parshat, this donkey, this… this is about speech.
Perhaps more importantly, this is a story about trust. Balaam is too consumed with being embarrassed in front of the messengers of Balak who are accompanying him on his journey to "listen" to the advice and warnings of one of his most trusted allies. The donkey may be an animal incapable of speech, perhaps forgotten or taken for granted, but ultimately, the donkey is the only one who can truly see everything that lies in front of her master. The question of who is really the master in this story is an interesting one and leads to one final thought.
In life we can often get stuck on the proverbial high horse and forget that our most trusted companions - and even sometimes the people in our lives who we think cannot possibly see or understand what we are going through - - they are the people with the clearest vision and the people whom we can trust the most. Not everyone will be called upon in life to be a leader or a prophet like Balaam, but it is important to remember that sometimes the most unlikely of people have the clearest vision and are the most capable of leading us in the right direction.
Shabbat Shalom, and I hope that in each Shabbat that you find, is filled with happiness, clarity of vision and trust in those who help you get from one place to the next on your own life journey.
Don’t be an ass. Listen to those people in your life that mean so much to you, and don’t think that they are an ass for wanting to be in your life too.
I share credit for these thoughts with Reuben Posner, Fellow at Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning
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