Bilaam's Miracle
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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!)