Balak and The Donkey

This collage, inspired by the Torah portion Balak (which features a talking donkey), with the verse in French,

was created for my Uncle Bill, also known as Dod Ze’ev.

I recently visited Uncle Bill and Aunt Marian in Palo Alto, coinciding with Uncle Bill's 94th secular birthday on July 8. During this visit, I learned for the first time about his bar mitzvah, which took place in Stutthof, a labor camp in Poland. Born in Dresden in 1930, Uncle Bill survived the Holocaust, was liberated by Russian forces, and came to the United States at the age of 15 with his sister and mother. He studied at City College in New York City and then at Columbia University, eventually becoming a political science professor at the University of Colorado, specializing in French politics.

In 1970, my family spent a summer in Paris while Uncle Bill was on sabbatical there. His influence greatly impacted me, leading to my fluency in French, my career as an artist, and my love for French fashion and culture.

Uncle Bill's favorite French publication is Le Point. I used several editions of the magazine from the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas to create this collage. The news headlines in the collage symbolize the wall that blocks the donkey’s path in the Torah story. The background is an historic map of Paris.

Interestingly, Palo Alto has its own connection to the talking donkey: the character Donkey in the Shrek movies was inspired by the donkey in Balak. The model for the DreamWorks movie, Perry the Donkey, resides in Palo Alto. Thus, the connection between the Torah portion Balak and my uncle in Palo Alto comes full circle. And, Dod Ze’ev is the sweetest and most charming uncle anyone niece could have.