The houses of Egypt were filled with a mixture of wild animals along with the ground upon which they live. Chazal say, every animal came with its climate – the Adnei HaSadeh with its piece of land, the bear with its forest, the monkeys with the coconut trees, etc. The Adnei HaSadeh made their debut in Egypt. Although it walked, it was connected to the ground. The Vilna Gaon explains that Eisav had great expertise in how to hunt it. This creature is also mentioned in the prohibition of not turning to ghosts or spirits – אַל תִּפְנוּ אֶל הָאֹבֹת וְאֶל הַיִּדְּעֹנִים. The Yidoni was made from the bones of the Adnei HaSadeh; whose form is that of a human face with hands and feet, connected at its navel by a large cord coming out of the ground. No creature can approach it within the full length of the cord, because it kills and preys on anything that who nears it. When they want to hunt it, they had to shoot arrows at the cord until it is cut; it would then cry out bitterly and immediately die. Eisav, however, knew how to hunt it alive.
Let's throw it out while it's still alive – let it rot on the street!” They released it, and the donkey brayed the entire way back to Rabbi Chanina’s house. Hearing its voice, his son recognized it, and Rabbi Chanina instructed him to open the door, noting it must be starving. He opened the door and placed straw, barley, and water before it, and the donkey ate and drank. It was said that the righteousness of early tzaddikim extended even to their animals.
The Donkey of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair
The second donkey mentioned (Bereshit Rabbah 60:8; Chullin 7b), even more elevated, is that of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair, which was also stolen by thieves. The thieves kept the donkey for three days, but it too refused to eat. Concerned it would die and stink up their cave, they released it. When the donkey reached Rabbi Pinchas’s house, it brayed, and his students recognized its voice. He instructed them to feed it barley, but it wouldn’t eat. When they informed Rabbi Pinchas, he asked if they had separated tithes (ma'aserot) from the barley. They confirmed that they had, and Rabbi Pinchas then asked about the Demai – separating ma'aserot, as a precaution, from produce purchased from a person who is not trustworthy regarding their separation. Rabbi Pinchas explained that despite the Halachic exemption of Demai for animal feed, his donkey was exceptionally stringent!
Another donkey mentioned by Chazal, which our Gemara somehow ignores, is that of Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat. The Gemara says (Ta’anit 24a), his donkey would be rented out each day – the original Avis! In the evening, the renter would send it back with the rental fee in its saddlebag, and it would return to its master's house. If they paid any more or any less than the exact rental fee, the donkey would not move. One day, the renters forgot a pair of sandals in the bag, and it did not move until they took the sandals out, and then it went home. Why doesn't our Gemara count this donkey of Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat? Seemingly, this particular donkey is more special than those which didn't eat for three days, is it not?
Pay attention to what the Gemara refers to. The Gemara refers to two donkeys that were special with respect to eating – they were careful not to eat from food that was not tithed. They behaved this way because their masters behaved this way; both Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair were very careful about matters of food, as found elsewhere in the Gemara (Berachot 17b; Chullin 7b). These actions of the Tana’im influenced the donkeys. The Maharsha explains why this last donkey wasn’t included. It is because the donkey learned to be cautious with money while in the house of Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat. To the donkey, it made no difference whether it was one ruble or ten rubles – it was simply influenced by its owner’s house, where they trembled from money not belonging to them. The donkey’s behavior was a testament to its owner’s greatness, not its own. The donkeys of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair and Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, however, fasted for three days – and a donkey that fasts for three days is something truly special! They didn’t merely copy an act of their masters; it was a direct reflection of the animals themselves!
Since we mentioned Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat, I’d like to bring forth another Gemara (Ta’anit 23b). A student of his, Rabbi Yossi bar Avin, left his yeshiva to instead study with Rav Ashi. When asked why he departed, he responded, “I was concerned and left because he is so severe and unforgiving. He is a man who has no mercy on his own son – how, then, could he have mercy on me?”
What happened? Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat hired workers for his fields but was delayed in bringing them food one evening. Hungry, they complained to his son, who, seeing a nearby fig tree which had not yet bore fruit, said, “Fig tree, fig tree, bring forth your fruit so my father’s workers may eat!” The tree miraculously produced fruit, and the workers ate. When Rabbi Yossi arrived with food, he apologized for the delay, explaining he was preoccupied with a mitzvah. The workers praised his son, saying, “May the Merciful One satisfy you as your son satisfied us!” Rabbi Yossi then learned what had happened.
If someone came to me and told me a story that my son successfully got a fig tree to produce fruit so the hungry could eat, I would be the happiest person in the world! I would immediately turn him into a Baba, buy him a Mercedes, attach black curtains – and voila! I’d lead him to an ATM and say, "Repeat after me – ATM, ATM, bring forth your fruits so that father, grandchildren, great-grandchildren may eat!" But Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat had different plans and told his son, “My son, you troubled your Creator to bring forth the fig's fruits out of season, and a person who troubles his Creator this way will be taken from the world out of season.” This is why Rabbi Yossi bar Avin did not want to learn with him and considered him dangerous – “He killed his son!”
Why did Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat do this and call for his son’s life to be cut short? The Gemara says (Shabbat 32a), a person should never stand in a place of danger and say that a miracle will be performed for them, lest a miracle is not performed; and if a miracle is performed for them, it deducts from their merits. Avraham Avinu, who brought droves of people closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, went out to the war with the four kings, and upon returning said, "I am at a zero balance, I have no merits!" Avraham reasoned, "I returned alive from the war – so surely, they deducted my merits!" He was only calmed when told: אַל־תִּירָא אַבְרָם אָנֹכִי מָגֵן לָך הַרְבֵּה מְאֹד שְׂכָרְךָ – Do not fear, Avram, I am your shield; your reward is great.
Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat said to his son, "Do you think miracles roll in the streets?! You go to a fig tree and tell it to bring forth figs out of season?! You’re now at a zero balance! You studied Torah, grew in holiness and purity, yet despite this you’re now left without merits – you used them up to bring forth figs out of season!" Seemingly, couldn't they wait in heaven another half hour? His son would surely would have performed more mitzvot and accrued merits to continue living! The answer is, if they had waited, he would have returned to perform another similar miracle, and he wouldn’t have remained at zero balance, but rather, he’d be in the negative!
The Da’at Shraga (Ma’amarei Chodesh Elul) raises a significant question – an incredible wonder! On one hand, Rabbi Yossi punishes his son for troubling Hakadosh Baruch Hu to perform a miracle, yet on the other hand, he himself relies on Hakadosh Baruch Hu for his livelihood, such that if a renter placed more or less than the due fare on his donkey, it would not move. Is that not considered a miracle? Why did Rabbi Yossi not object to it? When Eliezer, the servant of Avraham, arrived at Lavan's house, Lavan came out to greet him:
וַיֹּאמֶר בּוֹא בְּרוּךְ ה' לָמָּה תַעֲמֹד בַּחוּץ וְאָנֹכִי פִּנִּיתִי הַבַּיִת וּמָקוֹם לַגְּמַלִּים׃
Lavan said, “Come, you who are blessed of Hashem, why are you standing outside? I emptied the house and a place for the camels.”
What does "a place for the camels" mean? Avraham’s camels did not enter a house where idolatry was present – Lavan had to first clear the house of idols! Eliezer arrived at Lavan's house, but the camels stood still refusing to enter. How did they know Lavan had idols in the house? Were they equipped with special sensors? According to what we just learned, the answer is simple. Since Avraham Avinu was very careful not to bring idol worshippers into his house, this behavior influenced his camels to also be careful of idols!
The Da’at Shraga says, indeed, Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat did not approve of troubling Hakadosh Baruch Hu for miracles, and when his son decided to bring forth figs out of season, he was strict with him. The fact that his donkey behaved miraculously by not agreeing to take more or less money than due – this was not a miracle, but nature. The donkey grew up in the house of a divine Tanna, and absorbed the immense caution against theft, and the care with money that was not one’s own. The house of Rabbi Yossi of Yokrat was wrapped in superior virtues and spiritual holiness, and it is no miracle that the donkey absorbed these traits and acted accordingly.
So, we asked, why do Chazal immediately compare us to a donkey and not to the monkey in the middle? The Gemara says (Pesachim 118a), when Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Adam HaRishon, “וְקוֹץ וְדַרְדַּר תַּצְמִיחַ לָךָ – Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,” Adam’s eyes filled with tears, and he said, “Ribbono Shel Olam, will I and my donkey eat from the same trough?!” It was only when Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, “בְּזֵעַת אַפֶּיךָ תֹּאכַל לֶחֶם – By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread,” that his mind was eased. Why did he ask about he and his donkey? If it were an ox or monkey eating alongside him, would that not bother him? What is so bothersome about the donkey?
