It's important, even at times of tragedy and challenge, to keep our spirits up. In that vein, here is a story that a neighbor of mine told me this morning, as a sequel to yesterday's post about my sons' misunderstandings of their teachers' Hebrew. Like me, he is a British oleh.

A few years ago, on erev Shabbat parashat Balak, I picked up my son from gan. I asked him if he had learned about the story of Bilaam. 

"Yes, Daddy!" he said excitedly. 

"And did a special miracle happen in a story with Bilaam?"

"Yes, Daddy!" he replied.

"Did something speak?" I asked.

"Yes, Daddy!" he replied, his eyes shining with wonder. "The newspaper! The newspaper spoke!"

(For those who don't get it - donkey is aton, newspaper is iton!)