Balak was the foreign king who sent his prophet Bilam to curse the Israelites. Eager for a job, Bilam complied, but the donkey he rode made his mission challenging. The Torah tells us that an invisible angel got in the donkey’s way, thwarting Bilam’s ability to curse the Israelite people as he was hired to do. Again and again, the donkey swerved, but Bilam, unable to see the angel, only assumed the donkey was stumbling on her own. Finally, Bilam understands what has happened, and he ends up blessing the Israelites instead of cursing them.
But our tradition looks at this donkey in an interesting and elevated way - not simply an animal. Pirkei Avot teaches that there were 10 things created on the 6th day of Creation (Friday), just under the wire before that first Shabbat. These ten things were created in the last moments that anything was created in that first week. This teaching insinuates that these ten things were crucial to the foundation of the world. The mouth of the donkey, Pirkei Avot teaches, was created in that final moment, necessary for us in the world, representing something important.
But why? What was so auspicious and holy about this donkey, that his mouth is built into the world, for each of us? I think the donkey represents the ability we each have to turn something around. For Bilam, that meant turning curse into blessing. But for each of us, no matter how silly of a symbol it seems, the donkey can be a reminder that the direction in which something is headed is not where it has to end. The Donkey reminds us that we have the power to change course, that not everything is a foregone conclusion.
There may be times where we feel like there is only one possible outcome. There may be times where we don’t feel like it can be different. The rabbis built the donkey into the fabric of the world to remind us that change is always possible, that the path isn’t already forged. Whatever we are each working through, whatever path we are each on, I hope we are each able to remember, just like Bilam, we can change course.
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Sarit
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