Mishpatim: The Donkey in the Well

By Mindy Campeau, delivered Feb. 24, 2006

In this week's Torah portion, Mishpatim, we learn the importance of a code of laws and regulations. This code is in place to guide us in our daily conduct, our treatment of our fellow human beings, and our treatment of the animals with which we share this space. I'll direct my comments to the treatment of animals.

Mishpatim talks about laws regarding oxen and donkeys; it talks about oxen goring man, oxen striking another oxen, oxen and donkeys falling into holes. Lots about oxen, but try as I may I could not find anyone who uses oxen. So how can this be relevant to us today? Well, a lot of us have animals as pets - dogs, cats, birds, turtles, fish - and although we do not use them as beasts of burden, they are nevertheless important to us.

Many of us purchase a puppy when our kids are little. They are great company and they teach our children to be responsible, for these pets now need us to feed and care for them. They must be exercised, bathed, and taken to the vets, for now they are members of our family. In our throw-away society, our pets are not thrown away; they ought not be easily disposable.

This is a lesson our dear friend Daphne could teach. She and Ivan schlepped their family pet, a small, white, furry dog all the way from South Africa to Kingston. As the years passed and "Snowy" grew old and sick, Daphne cared for the dog as if it was her child. Even when it became incontinent and ruined her good rugs, she still cared for 17 year old Snowy. That's 119 in dog years.

Which brings me back to the oxen and donkeys. It is too bad this farmer did not know Daphne...

"One day this farmer's donkey fell down into an empty well. The donkey cried and brayed for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided that the animal was old anyway, and the well dry, so why not just cover the donkey with earth and fill up the well at the same time? Old and not worth worrying about. He got his neighbours to help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt in the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening, and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovels later, the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. As every shovelful hit the donkey's back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer and his neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off."

So what is the moral? The farmer learned not to judge too quickly the worth of this donkey, for he had many more productive years left in him. As Judaism teaches, a man must look after the animals in his care.

And what can we learn? To be patient. Not to judge too quickly. That people and pets are not disposable. It reinforces the Torah teaching that cruelty to animals is strictly forbidden.

And should we find someone who uses oxen, we can always tell them the story of the donkey in the well.