Timeless Torah

The greatest director of all time was about to stage his masterpiece. First he turned up the spotlights. Then he scattered his props large and small exactly where they would produce the most effect. Finally, he brought on the actors, Adam and Eve. The human drama was about to begin.
Everything that was required for man to act out his Divine role was standing in readiness. For it was during those six primordial days that G-d concluded His magnificent universe with its vast array of forces and forms of life to the very last detail. All that was needed was Shabbat, the Day of Rest.
Suddenly, in that brief moment of time, between the mundane and the spiritual, between the natural and the supernatural, ten miraculous phenomena were created by G-d. These ten singular creatures or events did not appear at that time. Instead, they were scattered throughout history, some to amaze, others to confound. But each one of them could be categorized as the extraordinary and the paranormal. It is no accident that they were conceived in the twilight zone.
Among the list is one that figures prominently in our Biblical portion. Bilaam, prophet, wizard and seer is hired to lay his potent curse on the Israelites. In his eagerness, Bilaam himself saddles the donkey. The Almighty is quite angry and decides it is time to teach the wicked mercenary a lesson. An angel, invisible to the prophet but seen by the creature, is sent to block their path. Three times, the poor animal tries to retreat or turn to the side, and three times the donkey receives a beating from his master.
At that point, G-d opens the mouth of the beast and she says to Bilaam, "What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?" And Bilaam replies, "Because you have made sport of me. If there were only a sword in my hand I would kill you now." The Sages add that the donkey retorted, "You cannot kill me unless you have a sword; how do you expect to destroy an entire people with your tongue!" That this donkey would one day have the power of speech, is one of the ten remarkable things preordained at that moment between the weekday and Shabbat.
Many lessons are derived from this Biblical narrative. Primarily, that if Heaven willed, a seer can be blind and a dumb beast can speak. There is however another issue that should be addressed. According to the Rebbe, those items that were created before Adam were pre-placed so that they would be in a state of preparedness. Man could then fix, purify and complete those objects and thus bring them into the sphere of G-dliness, the moment that man made his entree.
In contrast, those entities that came into being at twilight (after man was already formed) are perfect and do not need man to rectify them. In fact, their purpose is to teach man a thing or two, like if inanimate objects or beasts of burden can be of service to G-d, then surely we, who are created in His image, should attend to His wishes. It was for this reason that they were formulated just prior to the onset of Shabbat, which itself is day of rest from work. The inference being, that these items need no perfecting.
This explanation coincides with a basic axiom of Chassidic philosophy. Since the beginning of Creation, a piece of the world has been waiting for you to purify and repair it. And your soul, from the time it was first given independent existence, waited above to descend to this world and fulfill that mission. If you see what can be repaired, then you have found a piece of the world that G-d has left for you to complete. But if you only see what is wrong and how ugly it is, then it is yourself that needs repair. And that lesson can be taught even by a donkey.