These days, the talking donkey most familiar to Americans is the character from the movie Shrek (2001). Donkey’s predecessor, Francis the talking mule, debuted in a 1946 World War II novel, and then appeared in seven films in the 1950s. But the original is a lot older still — Balaam’s donkey of Numbers 22.
All three donkeys are noticeably smarter than the people who own them; donkeys are jackasses, after all, and granting them intelligence is a favorite artistic strategy.
The rabbis, who think Balaam’s donkey was real, trace its origin to creation itself, when God fashioned a variety of things history would someday require but were put aside until needed. One such was Balaam’s donkey. Another was — the first set of tongs!
A quintessential breakthrough in human material culture is metallurgy: first iron, then the process of heating it above 800 degrees centigrade to “steel” it. But to manipulate iron, you need tongs, and to make the tongs, you need other tongs! It follows, then, that alongside Balaam’s donkey, God must have fashioned a set of primeval tongs, which humans eventually discovered and used to make all other tongs.
Long before metallurgy, there was fire itself, so another rabbinic tale traces that also to God. This story accents Adam, the human being who discovered it, celebrated its heat and light, thanked God, and used it ever after.
To such benchmarks in human progress we add the discovery of writing, the means of transmitting knowledge, which rabbinic tradition ascribes to Enoch. Legend has God allowing Enoch to live among the angels so he might attain their mastery of the natural universe and write it down for humans to learn.
All these tales picture God as welcoming human discovery — unlike Zeus of Greek mythology, from whom Prometheus has to steal these secrets (metallurgy, fire, and script) and give them to mortals, an act for which he is punished by having an eagle rip apart his flesh. The God of the rabbis, by contrast, creates everything we need — writing, fire, tongs, and even a talking donkey — and then glories in our discovering them.
Civilization requires breakthrough inventions, but do we invent them despite creation or does the very plan of creation favor our inventiveness? Judaism’s answer is the latter: God wants us to uncover the world’s secrets. To be a Jew is to value the art of exploring the unknown.
God supplies the world with whatever we might need; we dedicate ourselves to finding it. That, the rabbis say, is what God wants: We are in league with God in manufacturing progress.
But progress is measured in eons, so we must commit ourselves to life for the long haul. Only eventually will we, conceivably, discover miraculous solutions for such problems as intractable disease, endemic poverty, ecological disaster, and war.
We call that eventuality the messianic age, which tradition describes as a messiah arriving on yet another donkey. That too, perhaps, is a holdover from creation, and awaiting its turn on the world stage. Stay tuned. Who knows?
"Mwanamke huyo ambaye anaitwa ""Shrek"" ambaye ni mzungu, ni mmoja wa waigizaji wa filamu ya ""Shrek"" ya mwaka 2001." "Mwanzoni, ""Muzungu"" Francis, ambaye alikuwa na umri wa miaka kumi na sita, aliigiza katika filamu ya kwanza ya Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia, na baadaye akaigiza katika filamu saba za filamu za miaka ya 1950." Lakini ya awali ni ya zamani zaidi, hata punda wa Balaamu wa Hesabu 22. Punda wote watatu ni wenye akili kuliko watu wanaowazalisha; punda ni punda, baada ya yote, na kuwapa akili ni mkakati wa sanaa unaopendwa. "Warabuni wanaofikiri kwamba punda wa Balaamu alikuwa halisi, wanataja asili yake katika uumbaji wenyewe, wakati Mungu alipotengeneza mambo mbalimbali ambayo historia ingehitaji siku moja lakini yaliwekwa kando hadi itakapohitajika.""" Mmoja wao alikuwa punda wa Balaamu. Nyingine ilikuwa <unk> seti ya kwanza ya pini! "Kutoka kwa ""metalurgy"" (mchanganyiko wa chuma) na ""metalurgy"" (mchanganyiko wa chuma) ni mchakato wa kupasha joto chuma juu ya nyuzi 800 C ili kuifanya kuwa chuma." Lakini ili kutengeneza chuma, unahitaji vijiti, na ili kutengeneza vijiti, unahitaji vijiti vingine! Kwa hiyo, ni lazima Mungu awe alitengeneza pamoja na punda wa Balaamu, seti ya mikunjo ya kale, ambayo hatimaye wanadamu waliigundua na kuitumia kutengeneza mikunjo mingine yote. "Kabla ya kutengeneza chuma, moto ulikuwapo, na hadithi nyingine ya kirabi inaonyesha kwamba moto ulitokana na Mungu.""" "Hadithi hii inamheshimu Adamu, mwanadamu aliyegundua, akisherehekea joto na mwanga wake, akimshukuru Mungu, na kuitumia milele baada ya hapo.""" Kwa sababu ya maendeleo ya binadamu, kuna uwezekano wa kugundua maandishi, njia ya kupitisha maarifa, ambayo mapokeo ya kirabi yanamtaja Enoch. Hadithi inaeleza kwamba Mungu alimruhusu Enoch kuishi miongoni mwa malaika ili aweze kupata udhibiti wao wa ulimwengu wa asili na kuandika juu yake ili wanadamu wajifunze. "Mambo hayo yote yanaonyesha kwamba Mungu ni mwenye kukaribisha uvumbuzi wa wanadamu, tofauti na Zeus wa hekaya za Kigiriki, ambaye Prometheus alilazimika kuiba siri hizo (metalurgia, moto, na maandishi) na kuzipeleka kwa watu, tendo ambalo alitozwa adhabu kwa kupasuliwa nyama na tai.""" Kwa kulinganisha, Mungu wa marabi huumba kila kitu tunachohitaji - maandishi, moto, mikunjo, na hata punda anayesema - kisha anastahili tuvute. Utamaduni unahitaji uvumbuzi wa kuvutia, lakini je, sisi huuvumbua licha ya uumbaji au je, mpango wenyewe wa uumbaji unatuwezesha kuwa wavumbuzi? Jibu la Dini ya Kiyahudi ni la pili: Mungu anataka tufunue siri za ulimwengu. Kuwa Myahudi ni kuthamini sanaa ya kuchunguza mambo yasiyojulikana. Mungu hutoa kila kitu ambacho tunahitaji, na sisi tunajitolea kukipata. "Rabbi anasema, ""Hiyo ndiyo Mungu anayoitaka: Sisi ni katika muungano na Mungu katika kutengeneza maendeleo.""" Lakini maendeleo hupimwa kwa eons, kwa hiyo lazima tujitahidi kuishi kwa muda mrefu. Ni wakati tu ambapo tunaweza kupata suluhisho la kimuujiza kwa matatizo kama vile magonjwa yasiyoweza kushughulikiwa, umaskini, majanga ya ikolojia, na vita. "Hii ni kwa sababu ya ""Mashariki ya Kati"" ambayo inatajwa katika Biblia kama ""Mashariki ya Kati"" ambayo inatajwa katika Biblia kama ""Mashariki ya Kati"" ambayo inatajwa katika Biblia kama ""Mashariki ya Kati"" ambayo inatajwa katika Biblia kama ""Mashariki ya Kati.""" Hiyo pia, labda, ni mabaki ya uumbaji, na kusubiri zamu yake kwenye jukwaa la ulimwengu. Endelea kusikiliza. Ni nani anayejua?