On Strange Things, Kept Things, and Local Things

One must encounter no small number of strange things as a prophet-for-hire. It surely leaves Balaam, the anti-hero of our story tonight, pretty jaded.  When his donkey starts talking to him, it doesn’t faze him at all.  In fact, when she asks Balaam why he keeps hitting her,Balaam responds that she’s lucky he doesn’t have a sword handy or he’d kill her.

It reminds me of the three-legged cow that could predict the weather.  If a tornado were going to come, it would stand facing south and moo.  If flash floods were immanent, it would stand facing west and moo.  Heavy Snow? East.   When asked what happened to the cow’s missing leg, the farmer replied, “A cow that smart, you don’t eat all at once.”

 So, like the farmer, if Balaam’s impressed with the talking donkey, he isn’t THAT impressed.  But we should be.  For it turns out, that donkey is indeed something very special. 

 In fact, that donkey, it is taught, was one of the very first things God created.  And it is the mommy donkey of the donkey that Abraham took with him when he brought Isaac to the mountaintop, the same donkey that Moses rode, and, as it goes, the donkey that the future King of Israel, the messiah, will ride.

 Taken in context, even within the story of Balaam, the donkey plays a small part, but she provides us the opportunity to talk about some very important things.

 Balaam’s donkey sees the Angel standing in the road, sword outstretched, when Balaam cannot.  Now, we might think that this makes the donkey unusual.

 Rashi explains it this way: God permitted a beast to perceive more than a man. Since he [man] possesses intelligence, he would become insane if he saw demons. 

 Angels and demons surround us, and without getting too far off-track, like the donkey did, we’d lose our minds if we saw these things.  Animals, with their simpler minds are able to assimilate the kind of things they see and we can’t. 

Now, before we dismiss this as sheer fiction, consider for a moment how true this statement of Rashi is.  Dogs can sniff out explosives.  They can smell a decomposing body through 40 feet of water or tons of rubble.  They can hear the faintest cry of people trapped in mines. 

 A dolphin can tell if a woman is pregnant...they are walking around--okay, swimming around--with literal sonogram machines in their heads. 

 If you could hear the underground clattering of insects or smell every squirrel, raccoon, deliveryman, gardener, and dog for hundreds of yards upwind, you’d go mad. 

 Thank God we don’t have the sensory capabilities of our animal friends. 

 And when the donkey starts talking? Balaam is either too wicked, too foolish or both to realize how miraculous that is.  The sages, who point out how detestable a figure Balaam is, say this demonstrates that the donkey and Balaam are equals--so of course she can speak to him.  He’s a native speaker of her language.  He’s a--donkey--just like her.   Actually I think that’s really unfair to donkeys.

 The donkey asks why Balaam is beating her.  I’d kill you if I could, he says.  The donkey asks if she’dever wronged him to that point. No, says Balaam.  God reveals the angel to Balaam, and the angel also asks Balaam what his major malfunction is.  If the donkey had continued on the road, the angel says, he’d have killed Balaam and spared the donkey.  Rather than be angry with the donkey, Balaam should be grateful beyond words to his faithful animal companion.

 Jewish tradition demands that we treat animals with respect and love. From the injunction to shoo a mother bird away from her nest before harvesting her eggs to the strict laws of kosher slaughter, we concern ourselves with the well being of animals.

 One who keeps animals must see that theyare fed before we eat.  Even on Shabbat, we are obligated to milk cows because not to do so would cause the cow to suffer, and on the Sabbath, even our animals deserve a break and must be allowed to take the day off. 

 Our willingness and our ability to care for animals directly relates to how we relate to our fellow human beings.  It is no accident that Abraham, Mosesand David were skilled and compassionate shepherds.  It is no accident that the matriarch Rebecca establishes her reputation by seeing not only to the needs of a stranger but to the needs of his camels as well.  It is no accident that one of the great villains of the Torah is depicted time and again beating his donkey. 

 Even in modern times, people who care for animals become a source of enduring blessing.  The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd who, according to the popular account, was trying to scare one of his goats out of a cave, lest it wander in too far and be lost.   When he threw a rock into the mouth of the cave, he heard the sound of pottery shattering. He investigated and found ancient parchment scrolls had been stored inside clay jars and hidden in the cave his goat was exploring. The rest is history.

 For most of us, our interaction with animals in our day comes in two forms. We keep animals as pets, and we eat them as food.  When we keep them as pets, we are obligated to provide them good medical care, to be kind to them and to see to their needs.  Most pet owners don’thave a problem here.  In fact,we’re probably over-indulgent.  The most difficult thing we have to face is the euthanization of a beloved animal.  We can take our best comfort in knowing that we make that decision under the obligation of Tzar Ba’alei Hayyim--being responsible for the suffering of living creatures.    Nothing makes it easy.  It’s among the hardest thing someone can go through.  But knowing we walk in the ways of an ancient people who were above all else, shepherds and keepers of animals makes it more tolerable.  We must speak for our animals, because unlike Balaam’sdonkey, ours can’t really speak to us in our language. We tell ourselves they tell us it’s okay.  They can’t, but they do trust us and love us and that is enough.  We convince ourselves that they understand.  But they don’t.  And that’s a gift that God has given them.  They see more than we do, smell and sense things we cannot perceive, and in exchange, we can understandand perceive things that they cannot conceive of.  That’s why we are able to work together so well.

 The second way in which we relate to animals is as food.  Now, I can easily start pushing vegetarianism.  It’s the original diet of the Garden of Eden, we know that.  Whether it is the best diet for us spiritually remains arguable, but between us, it’s kind of an uphill battle to say vegetarian living isn’t more responsible, more ethical and more considerate of the planet and the ecosystem.  But animal proteins like, you know, slow smoked beef brisket, Roasted Turkey and Braised Lamb Shanks are, well, awesome.  Plus, I tried going vegetarian and it was not pretty.  Wine and cheese are both vegetarian choices, and a great way to gain 15 pounds in a month.

The point isn’t eliminating animal products from your diet.  Of course, if you choose to, go right ahead, it’s a mitzvah.  But it isn’t a sin to eat meat.  It’s a sin to eat meat the way we do.  We have lost all connection, most of us, to the food we eat.  We pick up flank steak like it’s a bag of frozen peas.  We treat animal flesh as though it grows on trees--and that does bother me.  I do it too--all the time, though less than I used to. I still break down and eat fast food on occasion, but I feel more and more guilty every time.  And that’s good. I should feel guilty.  There is nothing, in any way shape or form about that kind of stuff that is in any way, shape or form, kosher. 

 Kashrut as older generations of Jews understood it doesn’t seem to have much pull on us. Yet, there’s a new movement about that emphasizes “justice”.  Choosing to buy and use cruelty free products.  Demanding animals be treated as living beings, not as vegetables that walk around and make noises.  Responsible fishing. Sustainable farming practices. We might want to think about how we can support this kind of approach to the food industry.   And no,buying “Kosher” meat doesn’t address this issue at all.  

 For starters, I’m going to try to buy asmuch local produce and products as possible.  Since I’m new in town I’ll need you all to show me where the local poultry farms and farmer’s markets are.  

I can find my own way to the oneg,thanks.  See you there.