* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
In this week’s Torah portion, Bilam plans to curse the nation of Israel and then a small but vital detail is revealed: “Bilam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey.”
Bilam arose early and hurried to saddle his donkey in order to immediately prepare himself to curse the nation of Israel. As Rashi comments: “From here we learn that hatred upsets standard conduct, for here he saddled his donkey himself.”
Bilam had servants who could have saddled his donkey yet he ran to do this himself in order to hasten the opportunity to curse Israel. Hatred leads to upsetting the natural order of things, to a breakdown of standards as we quicken our pace to act inappropriately.
This verse regarding Bilam and his donkey reminds us of another: “And Avraham arose in the morning and saddled his donkey.” On his way to fulfill a different sort of mission — the binding of Yitzhak — Avraham also arose in the morning and saddled his donkey himself, despite having servants who could have done this for him. Concerning Avraham’s act, Rashi comments in a similar fashion: “He himself did it and did not command one of his servants to do it, because love upsets standard conduct.”
It’s not only hatred that quickens our pace, but love as well. We need only examine what motivates and energizes us to act. May we merit to do many things, but only out of love.
From the book הסטטוס היהודי
