Vayishlach: Why Mashiach Will Ride a Donkey

On the verse,7 “I have acquired oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants, and maidservants,” the Midrash8 comments: “ ‘Donkeys’ – this refers to the King Mashiach who is described as ‘a poor man, riding on a donkey.’ ”9

The word chamor (חמור), “donkey,” shares the same root letters as chomer (חומר), “material substance.” The Midrash implies that Mashiach’s arrival depends on the Jew’s fulfilling the task of refining the sparks of G‑dliness enclothed in the world’s material substance.10 Through the efforts of every Jew to refine his body, his animal soul, and his portion in this world and use them for a holy purpose, he draws down and creates the setting for the revelations to be manifest in the Ultimate Future.

On this basis, it is possible to understand the sequence of the verses,11 “I sojourned with Lavan… and I have acquired oxen and donkeys.” Yaakov regarded the physical setting in which he found himself as foreign – as reflected in his use of the term גרתי, “sojourned,” which shares the same root as גר, “stranger” – and transformed it into a medium for the manifestation of G‑dliness. These efforts enabled him to make that place his home – as can be understood from an alternate understanding of גרתי, “I dwelled.” As a result of the refinement of these physical entities, Yaakov was prepared to greet Mashiach,as he stated, “ ‘I have acquired… donkeys’ – this refers to the King Mashiach.”²

This was the reason Yaakov sent messengers to Esav, to inform him that he had completed the entire task of refinement allotted to him and was ready to greet Mashiach. He thought that Esav, too, had completed the entire task of refinement allotted to him12 and that he, too, was prepared for the coming of the Redemption.

The messengers he sent returned to him and informed him,13 “We came to your brother, to Esav.” True, you regard him as your brother, for you are already prepared for the Redemption. However, he is still Esav; he is yet to be refined, and as such, the Redemption cannot come now.

The Torah and its lessons are eternal, applicable to all Jews, in all times, and in all places. Accordingly, the above contains a lesson for every Jew. He must realize that even if the world around him is not yet ready for the Redemption, for the world is yet to be refined, he nevertheless must emulate Yaakov. He must prepare himself and his household – his “sheep, servants, and maidservants” – for the Ultimate Redemption.

The way to prepare for this is to follow Yaakov’s example, “I sojourned (גרתי) with Lavan,” to know that one is no more than a stranger in this material world. “I am a stranger in the land;”14this is not my natural setting.

“The years of our lives number seventy; if with vigor, eighty years,”15or, if someone is blessed with extremely long life, “His lifespan will be 120 years.”16 Throughout this entire time, a person should feel that he is merely sojourning. With this approach, material existence will not conflict with the spiritual and he will be able to also enjoy material success, and like Yaakov acquire “oxen and donkeys, sheep, servants, and maidservants,” and other manifestations of material prosperity.

By preparing himself, his household, and possessions for the Redemption, a person also has an effect on the world at large. “The world is equally balanced.”17 Consequently, with but one good deed, a person can tip the scales of the entire world and bring redemption to it.

Thus, Rambam rules,18 “When the Jewish people turn to G‑d in teshuvah, they will be redeemed immediately,” and indeed, even more rapidly, to borrow the wording of the Alter Rebbe,19 “immediately, at once.” Even without considering the situation of the world at large, a person should realize that with teshuvah, he can bring about his own personal redemption and also redemption for the world at large.

Everything that takes place is controlled by Divine providence. The Alter Rebbe’s redemption and that of the chassidic movement on Yud-Tes Kislev, 5559 (1798), occurred in the week following Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach,the week containing the abovementioned directives.

Chassidus endows every Jew with the potential not to reckon with what is happening in the world around him and to carry out his Divine service in a manner of “I sojourned with Lavan,” i.e., to treat physical concerns as transitory. As a result, he can reach the state of “ ‘I have acquired… donkeys’ – this refers to the King Mashiach.”²

Chassidus is a preparation and a medium leading to the revelations of Mashiach. As Mashiach told the Baal Shem Tov,20 “When your wellsprings spread outward, the master (i.e. Mashiach) will come.” May this occur speedily, in our days.

Adapted from sichos delivered on Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach, 5716 and 5718 [1955 and 1957]

The Midrash cited above²associates “donkeys” with “the King Mashiach.” Explanation is required: Why did Yaakov allude to the Future Redemption specifically by mentioning donkeys? The Talmud21contrasts two verses that mention Mashiach’s coming. One verse states,22 “Behold with the clouds of the heaven, one whose visage was like a man was coming,” i.e., that Mashiach will come on a cloud, but another describes him as “a poor man riding on a donkey.”³

Our Sages¹⁵ reconcile the contradiction: “If the Jews are worthy, Mashiach will come ‘with the clouds of the heaven.’ If they are not worthy, he will come as ‘a poor man riding on a donkey.’ ”

This complicates the matter further. As mentioned above, Yaakov saw himself as ready for the Ultimate Redemption because his Divine service had been completed and he had fully accomplished his life’s mission. Thus, he was “worthy.” Why then does he allude to Mashiach’s coming with the analogy of a poor man riding on a donkey? Seemingly, he was worthy to witness Mashiach coming on clouds.

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer states23 that the donkey on which Mashiach will ride is the same donkey that Moshe used when bringing his wife and children to Egypt, as the verse states,24 “He mounted them on the donkey.” This same donkey was used by Avraham to carry the wood and other materials for the Akeidah, as it is written,25 “He loaded his donkey.”

Avraham, Moshe, and Mashiach represented phases in an ongoing process. Avraham initiated the two millennia of Torah.26 Moshe received the Torah at Sinai and gave it to the entire Jewish people.27 (True, the verse, “He had them ride on the donkey,” describes events that occurred before the Giving of the Torah. However, those events led to the Exodus from Egypt, which was a preparation for the Giving of the Torah, as indicated by the verse,28 “When you take the people out of Egypt, they will serve G‑d on this mountain.”) And the ultimate purpose of the Giving of the Torah will be revealed by Mashiach.

There is a difference between the manner in which the donkey was used by Avraham and Moshe and the manner in which it will be used by Mashiach. Avraham used the donkey to carry the wood and the knife for the Akeidah. He and the youths accompanying him proceeded on foot; only the accessories – articles that assist humans – were placed on the donkey.

Moshe “took his wife and his sons and positioned them to ride the donkey.” A person’s wife and children are obviously so much closer to him than merely wood and a knife. A person’s wife is “a helper corresponding to him,”29 and is considered “like his own self,”30 and “a son is like his father’s leg,”31 a lower part of his own body.

Mashiach is described as “a poor man riding on a donkey.” In other words, not only his possessions or his family will be on the donkey. He will ride on it himself.

A person uses and/or rides on a donkey to reach a destination that – because of its altitude or distance – he and his possessions would otherwise be unable to approach. The same applies to the spiritual parallel of riding on a donkey.

As mentioned, chamor,“donkey,” shares the same root letters as the word chomer,“material substance.” In that vein, the Baal Shem Tov32 gave a renowned interpretation of the verse,33 “When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden…”:

When you see the donkey (chamor) – that is, when you carefully inspect your chomer, your body, you will see…

of one who hates you34 – i.e., it hates the soul that longs for G‑dliness and spirituality. Furthermore, you will see that it is…

lying under its burden – G‑d intended that the body be refined by studying Torah and observing mitzvos, but it is lax in fulfilling its task….

certainly help him – by refining and purifying your body.

The intent is that through refining and elevating our own physical tendencies and the world’s material substance, we elevate ourselves and reach a level that the soul could never attain on its own. In a similar vein, Chassidus35 interprets the verse,36 “Many harvests come through the strength of an ox,” to mean that by employing the power of our animal souls, the G‑dly soul attains a more intense love for G‑d and accomplishes more in its mission of refining the world than it could have on its own.

In the era of Avraham – the beginning of the two millennia of Torah,²⁰ when the Divine service that would bring the world to its consummate fulfillment had just begun – the chomer,the material dimension of existence, was not refined to the extent that it could have a reciprocal effect and elevate a person. That was not possible because the physical substance of the world had yet to be transformed into holiness. As explained in many sources,37at that time, there was a Divine decree separating the physical and the spiritual, in the words of the Midrash,38 “The inhabitants of Rome shall not descend to Syria….” Accordingly, Avraham was only able to have an effect on the accessories he brought to the Akeidah – the wood and the knife. Through his Divine service in refining the world’s material substance, they could be of assistance to holiness at that time.

In Moshe’s time, through the donkey, i.e., material existence, the lower, material dimensions within the human sphere could also be elevated. For after the Egyptian exile and the Giving of the Torah, the material substance of the world was refined to the extent that it also could become holy through a mitzvah.

As is well-known, there is a fundamental difference between the spiritual climate that prevailed before the Giving of the Torah and that which prevailed in the era that followed it. Before the Giving of the Torah, the world’s physical substance was not a medium that could become one with the spiritual. Man’s Divine service involved toiling to ensure that the world would not oppose G‑dliness, and could even facilitate G‑dliness being drawn down. Nevertheless, it was not until the Giving of the Torah that it became possible for the world’s physical substance itself, even its inner dimension,39 to become holy.

A classic example of this concept was Yaakov’s placing the rods from the poplar, chestnut, and hazelnut trees into the watering troughs of Lavan’s flocks.40 The spiritual service Yaakov performed with these rods and gutters drew down a G‑dly light comparable to that drawn down through the mitzvah of tefillin.41 Nevertheless, this light was not internalized within these physical objects. After Yaakov completed his spiritual service, no Divine light remained within them, because even beforehand – while he was carrying out his service – the light had not been internalized to the extent that it became one with the rods and gutters.

By contrast, after the Giving of the Torah, when one performs a mitzvah with a material entity, its material substance itself becomes holy. The very physicality of the world becomes a medium for G‑dliness.

Nevertheless, in Moshe’s time, the reciprocal effects of the elevation of the material dimensions of existence did not encompass a person entirely. True, it included his wife (who is like his own person)²⁴ and his sons (who are “extensions” of him,²⁵and it involved the revealed powers of the soul that descended to this physical plane and enclothed themselves in the body. However, the effect of man’s service of refining material existence on the higher levels of the soul was yet to be manifest.

The coming of Mashiach will bring about an even more encompassing elevation of material existence and, thus, a greater ascent within the soul: “A poor man will himself ride on a donkey.” The advantage that the body has over the soul will be manifest.42As alluded to by the verse,43 “A woman of valor is the crown of her husband,”44 even the higher levels of the soul, the chayah and yechidah,45will be raised to a higher level through the Divine service of refining the body.

With the coming of Mashiach, the true source of the yesh,material existence, will be revealed. It will be manifest thatG‑d’s Essence, the true Yesh, is the truth of the being of the yeshus that characterizes material existence.46

Therefore, refining the yeshus of material existence will tap into that essential energy and bring about an ascent for the essence of the soul.

On this basis, it is also possible to understand the allusion in our Sages’ statement:¹⁵ “If the Jews are worthy, Mashiach will come ‘with the clouds of the heaven.’ If they are not worthy, he will come as ‘a poor man riding on a donkey.’ ”

Our Sages’ words can be understood with a positive connotation. Zachu,translated as “worthy,” shares the same root as the word zach,“pure.” Through Divine service with pure and spiritual entities, Mashiach will come on the clouds of heaven, a revelation of or yashar,“direct light,”47light that shines from Above to this physical plane.

Through lo zachu,48Divine service with entities that are not yet pure and elevated, i.e., through refining physical and material entities, there will be the revelation of “a poor man riding on a donkey,” a revelation that follows the motif of or chozair,49through which a loftier and more powerful light is generated from below and radiates upward. As a result of the light generated by the chamor,the donkey – the chomer,the refinement of the world’s physical substance – the soul will reach heights that it could not attain on its own.

This is what Yaakov was communicating with the words, “I have acquired oxen and donkeys.” Specifically, through his Divine service in Lavan’s home that involved refining physical and material entities, he prepared himself to receive the loftiest revelation, “a poor man riding a donkey.”

Likkutei Sichos, Volume 1, P. 69ff. (Adaptedfromsichos delivered on Yud Tes Kislev,5718 [1957])