"And every firstborn donkey shall you redeem with a sheep, and if you do not redeem it, you shall slaughter it..." (Shemos 13:13)

The Gemara (Bechoros 5b) and the commentators note that the donkey is the sole non-kosher animal whose firstborn undergoes redemption. Rashi, partly based on the same Gemara, explains the rationale of the donkey being designated for this special status: "Because the firstborn Egyptians were compared to donkeys, and donkeys assisted B'nei Yisroel (by providing transport) when they departed Mitzrayim." (Rashi on Shemos ibid.)

What is the underlying significance of this explanation for why the firstborn donkey must be redeemed?

Throughout the Torah, the donkey is portrayed as the ultimate work animal. (See e.g. Rashi on Bereshis 49:14.) Unlike the horse, which is also utilized for show and vanity (v. Targum Yonasan b. Uziel on Devarim 17:16), and unlike the camel, which is featured in the Torah primarily for long-distance travel, and unlike the ox and kosher breeds of domesticated animals, whose bodies have produce value, the donkey, due to its strength, versatility and absence of produce value, is featured in the Torah as the choice animal for hard labor.

As such, the donkey represents the slavery of B'nei Yisroel in Mitzrayim. The donkey is the symbol of performance and endurance of heavy work, with no glory or glamour. Hard and total labor is the only thing associated with the donkey - and such was the role of B'nei Yisroel in Mitzrayim.

Per this approach, we can better appreciate the symbolism of Pidyon v’Arifas Petter Chamor – the mitzvos to redeem, or slaughter, the firstborn donkey.

The enslavement of B’nei Yisroel in Mitzrayim and the subsequent Ge'ulah (Redemption) served the purpose of creating and developing a Jewish nation which would fulfill Hashem’s mandate in the world and bring the world closer to Him. B’nei Yisroel’s enslavement reinforced their identity, caused them to cry out to Hashem, and imbued them with a fidelity to Hashem, by virtue of Moshe and his mission. The liberation from slavery was not merely to relieve the nation of its burdens; rather, it was to bring B’nei Yisroel into an intimate relationship with Hashem and induct them into His service.

One might err and proffer that Yetzi’as Mitzrayim (the Exodus) was simply an escape and liberation to unbounded and undefined freedom, rather than an act of Hashem bringing the nation close to Him for an eternal relationship and for Avodah (Divine Service). Some Jews have in fact taken the former approach, and it has to a degree tainted the significance and meaning of Jewish settlement in Eretz Yisroel and Jewish freedom (in any location), at times transforming our freedom of religious practice and our settlement on holy land into freedom from religious practice and settlement with no holy or heightened purpose.

The mitzvos of Pidyon v’Arifas Petter Chamor speak to this misguided approach and affirm the true function and purpose of Shibud Mitzrayim (the Enslavement of Egypt) and Yetzi’as Mitzrayim. We are instructed to view the hard labor and slavery in Mitzrayim as the preparation of B’nei Yisroel for redemption toward encountering the Shechinah and Kedushah; this is symbolized by the firstborn donkey being redeemed with a sheep via a Kohen – reflecting the donkey, the animal of hard labor, being associated with spiritual elevation. The sheep represents the Korban Pesach, which transformed the captive and enslaved nation into one of Avodah and Kedushah. Just as our hard labor and slavery prepared us for the Ge’ulah, so too does the donkey, the animal of hard labor, precipitate spiritual elevation via its redemption.

On the other hand, if the donkey is not redeemed, it must be slaughtered. This symbolizes the erroneous approach that the Ge’ulah was merely a liberation from harsh slave work to unbounded and undefined freedom. This appraoch renders the slavery in Mitzrayim purposeless, maintaining that it was not designed to spiritually cultivate the nation and lead to a redemptive relationship with Hashem. The Torah answers this approach with a command that the donkey, symbolic of hard labor and deemed by its owner as unworthy of redemption, be slaughtered and thereby rendered useless, just like the servitude in Mitzrayim, according to this erroneous approach. Because the donkey's owner refused to perform Pidyon Petter Chamor and thereby associate the donkey with spiritual elevation and holy redemption, the donkey's owner must render it lifeless and forfeit its work value.

Everything that happens has a higher purpose, whether we understand it or not. This lesson is best taught by the enslavement of B’nei Yisroel and the ensuing Ge’ulah, and it is symbolized by the mitzvos of Pidyon v’Arifas Petter Chamor.