I have been traveling a great deal lately, and having terrific conversations with people from many different backgrounds and experiences. A lesson I learned early in my college days has stayed with me and permitted me to be more open to the insights of all of those I meet. This greater acceptance is borne out of an experience that I have paused to remember time and again, but at the time was so elementary and a non-event that I am still surprised it stays with me. I attended the University of Virginia, and although I had lived in the South, I was not prepared for the extreme Southern drawls and what I would have then described as "hick" accents that I encountered. I considered myself to be fairly progressive, but I carried with me a preconceived notion of what an "intellectual" should look and sound like. It didn't take long for that perception to be shattered. I was sitting in a seminar during the first few weeks of school and we were discussing a poem, John Donne I believe. One student who had been silent throughout the discussion decided to make a contribution. He was a bit on the rough looking side, dressed more like a coal miner than a typical college student and he came from the deepest part of Southwest Virginia. When he opened his mouth to expound on the poem, it was with the heaviest Southern accent I had ever heard. And then he gave the most concise, literate, and perceptive comment I had ever heard. I have never allowed looks or pattern of speech to be a predictor of intellect again.
 
In this week's parashah, Balak, we find the unusual and comic story of Balaam and his donkey. This story is in many ways a strange interlude from the battles and laws we read about in most of B'midbar. But here we read of Balak, the king of Moab, summoning the sorcerer Balaam to curse the Israelites. On his way to do so, Balaam and his donkey meet an Angel of God. Three times, the donkey sees the angel and stops, veers, and sits.  Balaam, seeing nothing, just grows angry and beats the donkey. Finally, after the third incident, the donkey speaks, and says "why do you beat me, do you not see the angel." Only then are Balaam's eyes opened and does he see the angel.
 
Once his eyes are opened, Balaam goes on to bless the Israelites, not curse them, much to the displeasure of Balak. We learn from this talking donkey that words or actions from an unexpected source may often be just what we need to see things differently, and for the better. Sometimes it takes something completely different to open our eyes so we may be flexible and creative enough to make the right choices.
 
Shabbat Shalom.