Don't Slip!

The purpose of this blog is to wear it with pride, at least at the Shabbat table....please print and share...

The question came up again this week - inevitably - What's the cause of anti-Semitism?

Meaning, why the persistence of it, like a cancer?

Try asking it at your table.

It's so common the media don't bother reporting it. But it persists.

But why should there be a cause? Maybe there are many causes?

When people ask this question, what I think they really want to know is, How can we stop it?

Some would say, we cannot stop it, so let's build taller fences or hide your Jewishness.

Others say: just try to be like Tzvi Willner.

Here's his story.

The International Seafood Show in Boston, Massachusetts, attracts over twenty thousand people every year.

The highlight of the show is a massive exhibition of one thousand seafood booths with an array of delectable fish items that are a dream come true for any fish lover.

Tzvi Willner attended the 2003 Show as a representative of Shindler’s Fish, a kosher seafood company. After three successful days of purchasing and selling, Tzvi was anxious to return to his family in Baltimore. His flight was scheduled to depart from Logan International Airport at 4:00 PM.

Tzvi knew that airport security had been tightened after September 11, particularly in Boston. As a result, he made sure to check in extremely early.

This was before the advent of TSA-Pre, so everyone still had to put their shoes through the scanner.

On the other side of the x-ray, Tzvi discovered the unhappy fact that his shoes had gone missing. There was a pair of shoes similar to his but that were three sizes smaller than his.

A shoeless Tzvi approached a TSA officer and explained his predicament. What exactly was he supposed to do if his shoes were nowhere to be found? The guard informed Tzvi that, to the best of his knowledge the airport had never experienced a case of lost shoes, and he promptly called his supervisor, head of security at Logan.

The supervisor attempted all possible means of finding Tzvi's shoes. He made several announcements over the airports public address system, asking all passengers to make sure they were wearing their own shoes and hadn’t inadvertently taken someone else’s. In addition, he sent police officers to scout the airport for Tzvi’s shoes. After waiting patiently for some time for his shoes to be returned, Tzvi was informed by the head of security that his shoes were officially declared lost. All the head of security could do was offer Tzvi money to replace the cost of his shoes and suggest that he go to a nearby mall to buy another pair.

With only fifteen minutes until boarding, Tzvi didn't want to miss his flight. Despondent, he sat down to consider his options. This was one of those "puddle-jumper" airlines that doesn't even board at the gate - you have to walk across the tarmac and climb a set of stairs into the plane. The problem was that it had rained all day in Boston. He was going to get his feet soaked to the skin. But did he have any alternative?

All of a sudden, like an angel from Heaven, he heard a gentle voice say, “I have a pair of slippers in my carry-on that I'd be happy to give you." Tzvi watched the woman pull from her bag a pair of fluffy pink slippers.

He bit his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the image of himself in a business suit and tie wearing these pink slippers. At the same time, he realized this was actually his only option.

"Final boarding call for flight 123 to Baltimore!"

Tzvi smiled gratefully and thanked the kind woman for her slippers. With a straight face, he walked across the long, wet tarmac to the plane. Aware that all his fellow passengers were watching him with amusement, he felt more self-conscious than he ever had in his life.

As he boarded, he overheard someone whisper, “You know, it’s amazing! See that guy in the pink slippers? He never lost his cool once. l never heard him raise his voice or get upset from the time his shoes were lost until now. What a guy!"

Tzvi's embarrassment turned to pride because he realized that his yarmulke advertised that he was Jewish, and suddenly, wearing pink slippers didn't bother him at all.

(Until he arrived to Baltimore and was among a new crowd - including his wife - who had no idea why this well-dressed man was wearing fluffy pink slippers....)

2 questions for your table:

1. If you were in similar circumstances, would you wear the pink slippers (in public, with everyone staring at you)? 
2. If you were wearing a Jewish symbol (yarmulke, Star of David, etc.) in public, could there be any circumstance that would prompt you to take it off?

Shabbat Shalom


PS -  This week's 7.5-minute podcast is called "Forty Winks" and there are 10 ways to hear it:

iTunes/iPhone … YidPod … Spotify … Google Podcasts … Pocketcasts … Stitcher … Podbean … Amazon Podcasts … RSS … or just on the web.

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