The Lesson We Learn from Balam’s Donkey

When Balam’s donkey opened his mouth and spoke to Balam, he obviously failed in learning the lesson that was being conveyed. Before dissecting the donkey’s message for content and delivery, let’s better understand how Balam could have possibly made the mistake.

For starters, Balam was not someone with a stellar character. Our sages gleaned from his story that he was never satisfied, he always wanted more and more wealth. He was exceedingly arrogant and had lustful desires. As a result, he tended to make mistakes in things he did and decisions he made.

In this situation, Balam understood he could not fulfil King Balak’s request to curse the nation unless Hashem agreed, and Hashem was clear that cursing Israel was not a consideration. But Balam thought he was clever enough to fool Hashem, so he made the attempt. For this reason, Hashem set him up to make a mistake. When Balam approached Hashem with his request, Hashem asked him, who were the men with him. From the question, Balam thought Hashem was not Omnipotent, there are things He does not know. This led Balam to try multiple times to fool Hashem in allowing him to curse the people.

As we follow the narrative, we will see again a massive  flaw in Balam’s mental aqcuity. He set off on his donkey to meet King Balak. Hashem sent an angel with a sword to serve as obstacle to him. Balam did not sense the presence of the angel, but the donkey did. The donkey was terrified at the sight of the angel, and she reacted in a bizarre way. She ran off the road and Balam beat her. She walked into a narrow passageway and Balam’s leg was pressed very hard against a wall, which resulted in beating number two. Then the donkey laid down in her place and he beat her in a state of intense anger.

At that point, Hashem opened the donkey’s mouth, and she spoke to Balam. “What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?” The question posed by the donkey was reasonable considering the terrible beating she received. However, the Midrash takes note of the words used for “three times,” that the donkey meant something deeper. The words, shalosh regalim also is the name given to the three pilgrimage holidays in the Jewish calendar, Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Rashi explains the donkey’s message to be, “…you are seeking to uproot a nation that celebrates three pilgrimage festivals each year.” The simple explanation is that the donkey was trying to impress upon Balam the significance of his stupidity, that he had chosen as his victim the people who serve Hashem, which seems to be connected to his original mistake.

But if that is the sole purpose of these words, why didn’t the donkey choose other Mitzvot like Shabbat, tzedakah or kashrut? Moreover, what makes the shalosh regalim a weaker alternative, was its irrelevance at that time when the nation was still in the wilderness. There was no pilgrimage until they lived in the promised land. We must conclude that the choice of shalosh regalim was for a more significant reason. By choosing the three pilgrimage holidays as a message to Balam, the donkey also wanted to give him a message for his character development.

One of the more painful lessons that we learn in the Torah is the nature of people to be awestruck by a holy encounter, and then, afterwards to walk away from it without being permanently impacted by it. Two such examples are the rebelliousness of the people at the Yam Suf just seven days after the last plague that miraculously killed every first born in Egypt, and the worshipping of the golden calf 40 days after Hashem revealed Himself on Sinai.

This nature did not die away with the closing of Tanach. It’s been a yoke on our necks forever. Just consider, perhaps the greatest miracle in our lifetime, the six-day war and the reunification of our holiest city Jerusalem.  Just days after the fighting stopped, talk of Mashiach’s arrival appeared to be imminent. One would have thought the return to Hashem would be not just a tidal wave but a tsunami. In short time it appears that things returned to normal.

As a result of this human weakness, our sages established a powerful paradigm in the acquisition of Torah, “learning for the sake of doing.” HaRav Eliyahu Dessler Z”L explains from this Talmudic passage that if someone learns Chumash, for example, and did not take from it some lesson in middot tovot, it is not called learning.

Based on this explanation, we can draw a contrast between Moshe Rabeinu and Balam. When Moshe came upon the burning bush, he said, “I will turn to see…why the bush is not being consumed?” On the other hand, Balam never bothered to react to his talking donkey. As if Hashem was sending him a signal about His control of who talks and what they are meant to talk about. Rav Avigdor Miller Z” L explained that was the meaning of what Balam said to the angel afterwards, “I sinned, for I did not know you stood before me,” looking for meaning for what was happening to him.

Because it is vitally important for us to understand what we experience, and to take it with us afterwards, Hashem gave us the Mitzva of shalosh regalim, to visit the Bet Ha-Mikdash three times a year. “Three times during the year shall all your men appear before the face of the Master, Hashem.” From this experience, every Jew was meant to internalize the message, I am a servant of the Master. Moreover, the farmers and their families would spend the days of the holiday in the holy city of Jerusalem and absorb its holiness so they can take this awesome feeling with them when they left.

So, in the end, the donkey was telling Balam, how can you, a person who has had a most unusual experience but never reacted to it defeat a nation that has a complete spiritual program called shalosh regalim, which trains them to always be aware of the messages Hashem sends, and grows from them.

Although, we currently don’t have the Bet Ha-Mikdash to truly benefit from the shalosh regalim, there are many opportunities in our lives to witness unusual events and so forth and realize the hashgacha peratit and kelalit.  This is a powerful lesson from the follies of Balam.

Parents and teachers, as the key role models for children, have the awesome obligation to ready the little ones, who Hashem assigned to them, for the days leading up to the ultimate redemption. One of the essential preparations is in internalizing eternal messages at least from world shaking events. Children must learn two things, those events were orchestrated by Hashem, and His purpose for them is to primarily send a message to the chosen nation. It should become second nature to parents and children to respond, “WOW, look what Hashem did, what is He trying to tell us”, even for events in our personal lives.

If we and our children don’t react almost automatically when we see a talking donkey or a burning bush that is not being consumed, we are likely going to miss the greatest experience imaginable, Moshiach’s arrival. It will go right over our heads.