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Today is the song of the Pered/Mule . As we know, a horse and a donkey make a mule. That doesn't even sound like a creature to me. What is his greatness? His song is: פֶּרֶד אוֹמֵר. יוֹדוּךָ יְיָ כָּל מַלְכֵי אָרֶץ כִּי שָׁמְעוּ אִמְרֵי פִיךָ: (תהילים קלח ד) All the kings of the world will praise You, because they heard the words of Your mouth. What does this refer to? We need to go to the Gemara in Kiddushin 31A, where it says the great Ulah made a derasha on why it says Imrei ficha / Words of Your mouth and not Ma'Amareh Ficha When Hashem said, Anochi V'Lo Yiheh Lecha, I am Hashem, there is no one but Me, the nations heard about that and thought He only cares about Himself. But when they heard Kabed et Aviva V'et Imecha, they reverted to belief in the original statements. The Maharsha explains the word Imre comes from imra , which is the end of a garment. So when they got to the end of the first half of the Luchot and they heard, on the side of ben Adam L'Makom , that Hashem brought in parents, they said, " So He's not just out for Himself." Moreover, the Chatam Sofer says, simply speaking, Kibud Av V'Em is between man and man. Only the first four commandments, so to say, concerned Hashem. The other six were for people. So when they saw that Hashem gave the majority to Ben Adam L'Chavero, that impressed them. That's our pasuk. The next piece of information is a Tosafot in Hagiga 2B that quotes a Tosefta in the fifth perek that a certain Tanna said You're not allowed to ride on a mule because a mule is kilayim . It's a mixture of a donkey and a horse, and therefore you can't benefit from it. Although we don't hold like that, they questioned, "What about the pasuk in Melachim 1,1 that says Shlomo Hamelech was on a mule? How can it be forbidden? To which the Yerushalmi says (in the perek of Kilayim) that this mule was created at the beginning of time, according to the opinion that God created mules as well. So, what exactly is the purpose of Hashem creating a mule from the beginning of time- just for Shlomo Hamelech to ride on? What's going on? The Chatam Sofer, in his sefer Torat Moshe on sefer Likutim, says that a horse symbolizes arrogance, as we said in a previous lesson. And the Ramban writes this on Ki Gaoh Gaah Sus V'Rochbo Rama B'Yam , that Hashem was more arrogant or more powerful than the horse and its rider. And the hamor/donkey symbolizes humility . The donkey keeps his head down, he doesn't bother anybody. That's why Abraham Avinu, Moshe Rabbenu, and Mashiach, BeH b'yamenu, all ride on donkeys, which symbolize humility. The king has a mixture. On one hand, he has to be arrogant. It says He can't forgo his honor because he's the king. The king has to be in charge of the country, he has to be tough. On the other hand, internally, his heart has to be broken, as it says, he is not allowed be externally arrogant. On one hand, externally, he has to show a royal appearance. There are many laws about his kavod. He can't bathe with people.. etc. It says that he has to be the king above you, and upon you. The Gemara in Ketubot 17 says, if a king forgives his honor, the honor is not forgiven. The Torah tells us, You shall place the king upon you. Which the Gemara says means, fear has to be upon you. So on one hand, the king has to be feared. He has to have a presence. But inside, he can't be arrogant. Therefore, God wanted Shlomo Hamelech to ride on this mule. It has the blend of the horse, which has a little bit of arrogance, and the donkey, which has humility. Beautiful. That's what the mule represents. And Hashem is similar. On one hand, Hashem is the king. Ge'ut Lavesh/He wears arrogance. On the other hand, it says, wherever you find Hashem's greatness, you find His humility. We see this in the Aseret HaDibrot. Hashem says four things about Himself, and then suddenly tells us, Respect your parents, and so on. And that's when the nations of the earth said, " יוֹדוּךָ יְיָ כָּל מַלְכֵי אָרֶץ All the kings will praise God." Why the kings? Because the kings look to God and say, " Look at how, how God acts. He has a blend of arrogance and humility. And therefore, the song of the mule is the song of the blend of arrogance and humility. His song is, " Listen, oh, kings of the world, listen and look at the way Hashem acts." And our first major king, (David Hamelech was the first king, but it says Shlomo Hamelech was the full strength, he was the 15th generation from Avraham Avinu. He was the moon in its fullest phase. And that is the ultimate- even with all his wives and his wealth and his power, with that, he still had a blend of humility. That's the message of the mule. And that's the message to all of us, to have this blend and appreciate these Middot.