Asks רמה'כ , how does Bilam's answer that I didn't know you were standing there, answer the question of why did you hit the animal? Even if no one is watching, are you allowed to torture animals?
Three maskilim from the Volozhin yeshiva were sitting in their room smoking on Shabbos, when their Rebbi walked in. The first one said, “Rebbi, I forgot it's Shabbos; the second one claimed that he forgot that smoking was forbidden on Shabbos while the third one said "I forgot too; I forgot to close the door!
Of course, even if no one is watching, you can't sin. Bilam's attitude was it's only wrong because I got caught! In order to counteract this attitude, the Rema begins his commentary on the Shulchan Aruch by teaching the verse 'שויתי ה לנגדי תמיד , I place Hashem constantly in front of me as a most important principle that one must follow. This is how the righteous live, with the sense that they are always in His presence & it doesn't matter whether you get caught or not. One must act & speak differently because he is in Hashem's presence.
We can also learn from the other character in this parsha, the donkey. We see the importance of the power of speech - what we say & what we talk about - from the following story.
Once, Reb Moshe Segel was at a gathering of wealthy men to help out the community. As they were getting everyone together, some of the people started arguing with one another, putting each other down saying, “do you know who I am? I'm wealthier than you”. His friend retorted back. “You? Your father was a shoemaker while mine was a great rabbi etc etc”. The rabbi tried to stop this calmly to no avail. Finally, he banged on the table & said quiet! I want to say something.
He stated, “The donkeys & horses came to Hashem with a complaint asking why we are worse off than all the other animals? Wild animals have no master & are free to come & go as they please. The small animals get to live in peace eating during the day & sleeping at night, while we are at the mercy of our owners. We work all day & if something comes up at night, they whip us until we go to work at night, too. We never have peace. Worse, we can't talk. Often, we’re in pain & the owner will hit us where it hurts & we can't even say anything!
Hashem heard their complaint & gave them a chance; He let one donkey talk, Bilam's donkey. What did it say to Bilam? Instead of telling him to be careful how he ties the reins, or what to feed him to make him healthier, or what he needs to be more comfortable, he talks to him about his 'yichus'. “I'm your donkey that you always rode upon etc”. Then the power of speech was taken from him. Concluded Reb Moshe, “Fools! You were given the power of speech; use it constructively & don't destroy your power by bragging or putting down your friends!
Perhaps the lesson we could take from our parsha is twofold: first, we need to learn from Bilam that even if no one is around, we still can't sin. It's not only about getting caught, rather it's about knowing that we are always in Hashem's presence; second we must take our power of speech & use it to do good & not to destroy!
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