Parashat Balak

We Must Save Others from Shame
 
"And the angel of the Lord said to him [Bilaam]: Why have you smitten your donkey these three times?  Behold I went out to hinder you for your way is contrary unto me; and the donkey saw me, and turned aside before me these three times, unless she had turned aside from me, I would have slain you and her. I would have kept alive." (Bamidbar 22:32, 33) 

 
The Midrash adds that the angel said, "But now since she spoke and rebuked you, and you were not able to withstand her rebuke, I have killed her lest people say: 'This is the donkey which rebuked Bilaam and he was not able to answer.'  "The Almighty has consideration for the honor of mankind."

Bilaam reached the zenith of wickedness by waiting to destroy the entire Jewish people. Even the miraculous occurrences of his donkey’s speaking to him did not effect a change of attitude in Bilaam.  But G-D has consideration even for such a person’s honor, and does not want him to suffer unnecessary humilation.  All the more so we must be careful not to shame our friends and neighbors.

After Shabbat, Rabbi Yehoshua Diskin used to lecture on the weekly Parasha, a certain person used to bring him tea to drink during the lecture. Once, the person made a mistake and instead of adding sugar, he put in salt. The person always used to put in a large amount of sugar, so this time Rabbi Diskin’s tea contained a large amount of salt.

Rabbi Diskin drank the salty tea as if there was nothing unusual about the taste. A few minutes later, his wife discovered the error, and came running in to take away the cup which was almost empty. Afterward, a few of the students tried to taste the tea and were amazed that their teacher had drunk such salty tea.  After most of the students left the house, Rabbi Diskin’s wife asked him why he did not say anything. The excess salt could have had a bad effect on his health. 

Rabbi Diskin’s reply was, “How could I embarrass someone just because he made an error?"                                                                               from Sefer “Love Your Neighbor"

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Benhamu