Classic Questions

Why did G‑d make Bilam's donkey speak? (v. 22:28)

Kli Yakar: G‑d was telling Bilam that just as it is not a donkey's nature to speak, and it only was able to do so for the sake of the Jewish people, likewise, Bilam's prophetic powers had only been granted for the sake of the Jewish people.

Sforno: This miracle was intended to make Bilam repent, when he would be reminded that "the utterances of the tongue come from G‑d" (Proverbs 16:1).

Ramban: Bilam was a sorcerer, so G‑d made a startling miracle to warn him not to use sorcery to curse the Jewish people.

Ralbag: The entire story of Bilam's donkey was merely a prophetic vision of Bilam. For otherwise how would one explain: 1.) Why Bilam, who was a prophet, did not see G‑d's angel at first, whereas his donkey did (v. 23). 2.) The point of G‑d sending the angel to deter Bilam from his journey if he was not able to see it. 3.) The astonishing miracle of a speaking donkey, which does not appear to have been for any purpose, although we are told that G‑d does not make a miracle in vain.

 

The Rebbe's Teachings

Bilam's Talking Donkey (v. 28)

Ralbag writes that the account of Bilam's donkey was a prophetic vision and did not actually occur, due to a number of serious questions he poses at the literal level.

Rashi, however, maintains that Bilam's donkey was real, as he writes below that the donkey was not allowed to live "so that people should not say, 'This is the one that silenced Bilam with her rebuke, and he could not respond'" (Rashi to v. 33).

Why does Rashi not address the issues raised by Ralbag, which clearly require clarification at the literal level?

The Explanation

In his commentary on verse 22, Rashi explains why G‑d's angel was placed on the road to obstruct Bilam: "It was an angel of mercy. [G‑d] wanted to prevent him from sinning, so that he would not die because of his sins." With these words, Rashi indicates that the miracles which were about to occur were not in vain, but rather, an act of G‑d's mercy to help Bilam repent.

However, this begs the question: Since G‑d knew that the miracle of a speaking donkey would fail to inspire Bilam to repentance, and it would prove necessary for G‑d to "open Bilam's eyes" so that he could see the "angel standing in the road with a sword drawn in its hand" (v. 31), what was gained by making the donkey speak? Surely G‑d could have just opened Bilam's eyes to see the angel in the first place?

In truth, however, G‑d's way is to send successive messages of increasing intensity to a person in order to inspire him to repent. This concept is already familiar to the reader from one of Rashi's earlier comments, where he explains the message behind the sequence of laws in chapter 25 of the book of Vayikra:

"These passages were said in sequential order: First we are warned about the Sabbatical year (25:1ff.). If a person desired money and was suspected of trading in the Sabbatical year, he will ultimately have to sell his belongings. And that is why the next passage states, 'When you make a sale to your fellow' (v. 14). If he still does not repent, he will ultimately have to sell his hereditary land (v. 25). If he still does not repent, he will ultimately have to sell his house (v. 29). If he still does not repent, he will end up borrowing at interest (v. 36-37)—each of these cases getting progressively worse. If he still does not repent, he will end up selling himself as a slave (v. 39-43). If he still does not repent, he will not only sell himself to a Jew, but even to a non-Jew (v. 47)" (Rashi on Vayikra 26:1).

We could ask a similar question here: If G‑d knows that the person will not repent with a smaller sign, why does He not just send the bigger sign first? Clearly, we see that G‑d's approach to inspire a person to repentance consists of a series of progressively stronger signs.

Likewise, G‑d first sent Bilam the miracle of a speaking donkey in order to inspire him to repentance, and when this failed, G‑d sent him an even greater miracle, that he was able to see "G‑d's angel standing in the road with a sword drawn in its hand" (v. 31).

Why was seeing the angel considered to be a greater miracle than the speaking donkey? Again, the matter can be gleaned from an earlier statement of Rashi. When Bilam told Balak's messengers to "stay here overnight, and I will give you an answer when G‑d speaks to me" (v. 8), Rashi explains, "The Divine Spirit rested on him only at night, and the same applied to all gentile prophets."

Thus, in order for Bilam to see an angel of G‑d during the day, when his journey took place, G‑d had to change the nature of prophecy itself. And since this was a much greater miracle than changing the nature of an animal, G‑d first performed the lesser feat in an attempt to inspire Bilam to repentance. Only when this failed did He perform the bigger miracle of changing the nature of prophecy itself—all in a merciful effort, "to prevent him from sinning, so that he would not die because of his sins."

We might still ask: Being that the donkey was able to speak, why did it not simply tell Bilam that it had seen an angel of G‑d, rather than complaining, "Do I normally do this to you?" (v. 30)?

This, too, is clarified by another comment of Rashi, who explains that the donkey was not allowed to live after its conversation with Bilam "so that people should not say, 'This is the one that silenced Bilam with its rebuke, and he could not respond,' for G‑d cares about people's dignity" (Rashi to v. 33). From this it follows that if Bilam had known that the donkey had seen G‑d's angel, while he had not, it would have been an insult to his dignity. So being that "G‑d cares about people's dignity," He spared Bilam this humiliation.

(Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Balak 5733; for an alternative explanation, see Likutei Sichos vol. 28, pp. 341-2)