Let's continue. The Mishna says (Makkot 3:12): A person who committed a transgression for which he is liable to lashes – they lash him. And how do they do this? With a whip made up of two parts.
חַזַּן הַכְּנֶסֶת עוֹמֵד עָלֶיהָ. וּרְצוּעָה שֶׁל עֵגֶל בְּיָדוֹ, כְּפוּלָה אֶחָד לִשְׁנַיִם וּשְׁנַיִם לְאַרְבָּעָה, וּשְׁתֵּי רְצוּעוֹת עוֹלוֹת וְיוֹרְדוֹת בָּהּ:
The attendant of the congregation stands on it with a strap in his hand. It is a strap of calf hide, and is doubled, one into two, and two into four, and two straps of donkey hide go up and down the doubled strap of calf hide.
Why specifically straps of donkey leather? The Gemara says (Makkot 23a), donkey leather is required is because the Navi says: יָדַע שׁוֹר קֹנֵהוּ וַחֲמוֹר אֵבוּס בְּעָלָיו יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יָדַע עַמִּי לֹא הִתְבּוֹנָן – The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's trough; but Yisrael does not know, My people takes no thought. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is saying: “Let the one who recognizes its master's trough come and exact punishment from the one who does not recognize its master's trough.” The sinner who denied the goodness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and sinned against Him is lashed with the leather of the donkey who recognizes the one who feeds it but not G-d. If Yisrael does not even recognize that Hakadosh Baruch Hu feeds them, the donkey is better than them!
There is another donkey-related element that will help build the foundation of our next shiur. The Mishna says (Arakhin 5:1): הָאוֹמֵר, מִשְׁקָלִי עָלָי, נוֹתֵן מִשְׁקָלוֹ. אִם כֶּסֶף, כֶּסֶף. אִם זָהָב, זָהָב. .. מִשְׁקַל יָדִי עָלָי, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, מְמַלֵּא חָבִית מַיִם וּמַכְנִיסָהּ עַד מַרְפֵּקוֹ, וְשׁוֹקֵל בְּשַׂר חֲמוֹר וְגִידִין וַעֲצָמוֹת וְנוֹתֵן לְתוֹכָהּ עַד שֶׁתִּתְמַלֵּא.
One who says: “It is upon me to donate my weight,” gives his weight (to the treasury); if he specified silver he donates silver, and if he specified gold he donates gold... One who says: It is upon me to donate the weight of my forearm; Rabbi Yehuda says: He fills a barrel with water and inserts his arm up to his elbow. And he weighs donkey flesh, and bones, and sinews and places it into the barrel until it fills.
How does one weigh their hand? It’s impossible, for if a person wants, he makes it heavier, and if he wants, he makes it lighter. This reminds me of a story I once heard about a Jewish confidant to the king of Portugal, who had access to all the safes and money. The other non-Jewish ministers envied him, especially the local priest, who had a special hate towards him and sought his dismissal. One day, millions were stolen from the treasury, and the ministers, naturally, accused the Jew. "Your Majesty, you trusted a Jew?! You got burned!" The king was set to arrest him when the Jew proposed a polygraph, “I’ll bring a lie detector test for you to administer to your entire cabinet; when the thief places his hand on it, it will make its sound." The king agreed. The Jew then produced his ‘machine’ – a rooster covered from head to toe in black shoe polish! And not the thin liquid you apply in ten seconds; the old-school thick polish that took a half-hour to rub in before you’d see a shine emerge on Erev Shabbat! The group gathered and were told this special rooster was an expert in thief identification – once sunrise passed, the only sound it ever made was when touched by a thief. "Mr. Finance Minister, please, place your hand on the rooster" – no sound; "Mr. Bank Governor, please place your hand on the rooster" – no sound; "Mr. Tax Commissioner, you’re next" – no sound. The king’s entourage passed by one by one until they reached the final member – the priest. "Go ahead and place your hand on the rooster" – no sound! Twenty people passed, and not a single cock-a-doodle-doo! Everyone rejoiced and pointed to the Jew! “We told you! He’s the thief!” But the Jew quickly called out, "Now, everyone raise up your hands!" Nineteen hands were black, and one was pristinely clean – the priest! He was scared to touch the rooster because he was the thief!
The same is true for weighing a hand. The generous person will press hard on the scale while the miser will barely touch it! So, how does one determine how much to donate?
The Mishna asks, how do you weigh a hand? Rabbi Yehuda says, you fill a barrel with water and insert your arm into the water. And to measure the displacement, you weigh donkey flesh and bones and place them into the barrel until the water level reaches the top of. You then donate the weight of that meat and bones to the Beit Hamikdash treasury.
Why donkey meat and not beef or veal? The Bartenura says, it is because the weight of donkey meat is like the weight of human flesh. A donkey and a human are the same – when it comes to flesh.
With this, we can move to yet another layer. The Gemara (Ketubot 66b) recounts that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was leaving a poverty-stricken Yerushalayim on a donkey, with his students following him. He saw a young woman gathering barley from within animal dung to eat. She covered herself with her hair and pleaded, “Rebbe, sustain me.” He asked who she was, and she replied, “I’m the daughter of Nakdimon ben Gurion.” Rabbi Yochanan asked where all her father’s wealth had gone, and she answered, “מֶלַח מָמוֹן חֶסֶר” Just as salt preserves meat, tzedakah preserves wealth. “Because my father did not give proper charity, his wealth was lost.” When asked about her father-in-law’s wealth, she explained it had been combined with her father’s and lost as well. She then reminded Rabbi Yochanan of when he signed her ketubah, and he recalled it recorded a large dowry of one million gold dinars from her father, in addition to her father-in-law’s contributions. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai then wept and said, “Fortunate are you, Yisrael, when you do the will of Hakadosh Baruch Hu – no nation rules over you. But when you do not – you are handed over to a lowly nation, and even to the animals of a lowly nation.” The Maharal asks, what kind of אשריכם is this?! A woman forced to gather barley from animal dung? Is that a fortunate position to be in?
