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“And Hashem opened the mouth of the she-donkey … And the she-donkey said to Bilaam, ‘Am I not your she-donkey that you have ridden all your life until this day?'” (22:28,30)

The “mouth of the she-donkey” — or the miracle of the she-donkey’s speech — is mentioned as one of the ten supernatural phenomena which originated during the period of time between the end of the sixth day of Creation and the commencement of Shabbos. We can glean profound lessons from the necessity for such a miracle.  We would like to place emphasis upon the actual statement the she-donkey made and the lessons we learn from it. Horav Yitzchak Rabinovitz, z.l., who was better known as Reb Itzele Ponievezer, used the following homiletic illustration to admonish a group of ill- mannered…

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“And the she-donkey turned away from the road and went into the field … and the angel of Hashem stood in the path of the vineyards, a fence on this side and a fence on that side … and (the angel) stood in a narrow place, where there was no room to turn.” (22:23,24,26)

Rashi cites the Midrash Tanchuma which explains that the angel’s threefold appearance symbolizes that Bilaam’s efforts to curse the Jews, descendants of the three Avos, Patriarchs, were all in vain. It was as if each time a different Patriarch blocked the path of Bilaam’s donkey. The first time the angel appeared, ample space remained for the donkey to escape on either side. This indicated that had Bilaam wished to curse Avraham’s descendants, he would have had two options. He could curse the offspring of either Avraham’s son, Yishmael, or of Avraham’s wife, Keturah. He was not, however, permitted to curse…

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“And he (Balak) sent messengers to Bilaam the son of Be’or to Pethor.” (22:5)

The main character in our parsha is Bilaam. This parsha, however, is called Balak after the evil king who invited Bilaam to join him in cursing and destroying the Jews. This emphasis implies that the individual who is maliciously manipulating behind the scenes is more ruthless than he who does the actual cursing.  Regrettably, we are often confronted with people who put on a veil of piety and religious superiority while subtly slandering others in such a manner that no one would ever connect them to any malevolent activity. They incite others to do their destructive work for them. These…

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