Parshas Balak: The Talking Donkey | Rabbi Yeshaya Levi

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Vayimaen’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

It's an interesting thing that over the summer months, the Parshos Hashavua and Pirkei Avos sometimes intersect. One example of that is Parshas Balak, where we have the famous story of the wicked Bilam and his אתון, and his donkey. And that has a connection with Pirkei Avos. The Mishnah tells us that there were ten things that were created Erev Shabbos at twilight and one of those ten things was the mouth of the she-donkey. The Maharal seems to explain that the reason it's on Erev Shabbos at twilight was because it's still part of the six days of creation, and yet, since it's the twilight before Shabbos, it's so close to Shabbos, the spiritual influence, the holiness of Shabbos had an impact. So therefore, donkeys are part of creation, but a talking donkey that's already an exception, that's beyond the laws of nature, and that was the spiritual influence of the holiness of Shabbos. So my Chavrusa, Nechemya, asked me, he says: Isn't it amazing that here you have such a miracle, and it had to take place through a donkey,

Jump to a moment

1. 0:05It's an interesting thing that over the summer months, the Parshos Hashavua and Pirkei Avos sometimes…
2. 0:37was because it's still part of the six days of creation, and yet, since it's the…
3. 1:07an impure animal? Indeed, if you look in the commentaries, it was just a question of…
4. 1:39of that first holiness of Shabbos and changes the creation? Isn't that something. So I was…
5. 2:10and he has a pure Neshama, as we say every morning in davening, and we are…
6. 2:40we just brush it off, and then we, too, can become a place of Kiddush Hashem,…

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