More on Donkeys

From another recent alum, Gabrielle Hiller:

Rabbi Besser mentioned that because the word describing the donkey in the Bilaam story is aton and not chamor, there might not be a pattern at all. However, it's possible that there is and just like the Torah says 'VaYikar' when Hashem talks to Bilaam and 'VaYikra' when He talks to Moshe, showing us (according to Rashi) that Bilaam is on a completely different level than Moshe, so too the Torah wants to teach us the same lesson whenever a donkey comes up, but Hashem wanted to differentiate between Bnei Yisrael and Bilaam. Interestingly enough, every time a donkey was mentioned, it was connected to bringing people to a higher spiritual level (which is even more interesting if a chamor is supposed to represent materialism- the Torah is taking what is often considered bad and using it for good). Redeeming a first born donkey is clear- you're forced to realize that whatever you have is from Hashem and therefore you have to give some sort of thanks. When Moshe said he never even took a donkey from Bnei Yisrael, his point was that he has remained a good leader- he remains on a high level of spirtiuality and listens to Hashem. He has not become a leader who no longer cares about his people and is only concerned with riches and other materialistic things. Finally, the donkey in the Bilaam story is responsible for helping Bilaam to see the angel that tells him that he must listen to whatever Hashem says to him.This fits with the vayikar/vayikra idea that puts our focus on levels of spirtituality and also makes sense with Aviva's idea that Bnei Yisrael were so focused on physical things. If a chamor, which is seen as the height of materialism, can change and be used for good, Bnei Yisrael should learn that they too can and should work to place more focus on the spiritual rather than the physical.