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By Rabbi Mario Gurevich,
Beth Israel Synagogue, Aruba

Translated by Inés Baum - Proofreading by Ellen Zindler

This Shabbat we read two parashiot, Chukat and Balak, and in both we find animal stories difficult to understand. In the first case, it is the statute of the red cow, and in the second, the talking donkey of Balaam, the pagan prophet.

The statute of the red cow is perhaps the oddest in the Torah. This rule commands us to sacrifice a red cow, perfectly unblemished (it could not even have a hair of a different color), upon which no yoke has been laid.

What is strange in this sacrifice is that it operated quite differently from all the rest: anyone who had contact with the sacrifice would be unclean, while those who, being unclean, came into contact with its ashes, would be ritually clean.

From the start, we know that this commandment is a Chok, a statute which we are not even supposed to understand.

However, and as always, rabbis and teachers have tried out the most diverse interpretations. Some were partially successful from a dialectic point of view, but to the end, nobody has managed the perfect explanation.

Perhaps the one who came closest was a commentator who said that the red cow was a symbol of the people of Israel. Because no one understands the red cow precept, and neither does one understand the People of Israel.

Oddly, the second animal – the talking donkey – is easier to understand. And not – and I’ll say this before any of you says it – because we find donkeys that speak every other day, but because its symbolism proves to be quite obvious.

Balak, king of Moab, terrified of Israel’s power, sends Balaam, a pagan prophet, to curse the people.

Balaam saddles his she-donkey but on the way, an angel appears with sword unsheathed. The she-donkey sees it but its rider does not, and he beats it when she turns aside from the road. This happens three times, until the she-donkey complains, in speech, and Balaam finally sees the angel and understands what is happening.

Why did the she-donkey see the angel, but the prophet do not? Why does the she-donkey speak and the prophet answer, accepting a person-to-person argument without showing any surprise, barely annoyance?

The truth is that Balaam, haughty and proud with the king’s commission, cannot see what is obvious even to the she-donkey in her simplicity. And when conceit blinds the eyes of the great, the donkey proves itself wiser.

We can live without entirely understanding the meaning of the red cow, but we cannot allow pride, vanity or conceit to prevent us from perceiving the truths, small and large, that surround us, or allow them to blind us in the presence of the obstacles we face along the paths we must travel.

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Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama.
Translated by Inés Baum and proofread by Ellen Zindler, from B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica.

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