Quick Thoughts on the Parsha

In the third aliyah of Parshat Balak, God miraculously opens the mouth of Bilaam’s she-donkey. Despite the fact that she saves him from death, Bilaam beats her three times because he does not see the angel of the Lord threatening him. Shocked by Bilaam’s beating, the she-donkey says,הֲלוֹא֩ אָֽנֹכִ֨י אֲתֹֽנְךָ֜ אֲשֶׁר־רָכַ֣בְתָּ עָלַ֗י מֵעֽוֹדְךָ֙ עַד־הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה הַֽהַסְכֵּ֣ן הִסְכַּ֔נְתִּי לַֽעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְךָ֖ כֹּ֑ה, “Am I not your she-donkey on which you have ridden since you first started until now? Have I been accustomed to do this to you?” It is striking that the miraculous words we hear from an animal in the Torah are these. The she-donkey is the voice of someone who has always supported another but is repeatedly overlooked. We have all probably experienced this same disappointment in our own lives as well-- feeling that others are ungrateful for the love and support we show them. But when reflect on the role of Parshat Balak in Sefer BaMidbar as a whole, we see that this voice poignantly echoes God’s experience with Dor HaMidbar, the generation of the desert. Like the she-donkey (kivyachol!), God constantly cares for and carries B’nai Yisrael but instead receives beatings in the form of insults, rebellions, and doubt. With this insight, we not only feel God’s pain, but we also learn the importance of giving hakarat hatov, gratitude to those who support us. The she-donkey asks that Bilaam have faith in her because she has always been there for him. We too must practice gratitude and have faith in those who carry us-- most important of whom is God.

--Rabbanit Alissa