Why Turkey?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The purpose of this blog is to give you something to gobble about at the Hodu table...  

Just for fun, in honor of this special day, this week: a video message.

Please click on the turkey and enjoy!





Chodesh tov, Hodu-tov and...

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Don't forget the countdown to Channukah...
 

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It Isn't Eight Billion...

The purpose of this blog is to have a full cup at the Shabbat table... Please share...

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It Isn't Eight Billion.... it's really only eight thousand millions!

When you put it that way, it doesn't sound like so much, right?

Or does eight thousand millions sound like a larger number to you?

Question for your table: Are there other things that sound totally different when you express them with different (but equally true) words?

Try this one: what would you rather hear from a doctor: "It's going to take 45 days to heal" or "It's going to take 6 weeks to heal" ...?

Or: "You scored 88 percent!" versus "You got 7 out of 8 correct!" versus "You only missed one out of eight!" — which sounds best?

When Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod, he didn’t say: “This device has a storage capacity of 5 gigabytes;" rather: “You can fit 1,000 songs in here!”

Evidently, even the size of the font can change the way we perceive numbers:

Compare: 7 billion v. 8 billion.

What do you think?

Question 2 for your table: Is this entire discussion just an elaboration of the adage, "Is your glass half full or half empty?" 

But if you think of it, that old saw doesn't need to be binary; there's arguably a third option - can you think of what it is?

Final question for your table - if you purposely express something in a way that makes it see bigger / smaller / cheaper etc., is that a form of deception?

Shabbat Shalom

PS - You do know how many days til Channukah, right?

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Rising in the Poles?

The purpose of this blog is to find the pintele Yid at the Shabbat table... Please share...
Happy Birthday shoutout to Amy and Happy Anniversary to Amy and Lawrence!

Last week's story was about poor Steve. This week went in the opposite direction.

"Steve" is already taken, so let's call this week's hero Joey.

Joey appeared at my office this week, not to see me but to conduct some repairs. Management had sent him.

Most of these guys are super-friendly. If you ask them about their work, they'll be happy to chat. Like the guy who came to install a new lock - I asked him his opinion about various lock qualities and he had plenty to say, and seemed pleased that someone cared about what he thinks.

But compared to average, Joey was unusually chatty. I merely praised his work and that was enough for him to start telling me about his training and experience. Within minutes he shifted to, "Yeah, I'm Catholic but my wife's Jewish. She does that Hannukah thing and all that, I don't mind, it don't bother me, it's kinda nice." 

OK, that was an interesting and unexpected turn of the conversation. Was there even more?

Once the tap was removed, Joey's story came bubbling out. First it was about how the most important thing to him is to be a person of honesty and integrity, "If I make a mistake, I'll fix it, and if someone's a liar or a cheater, I won't have nothin to do with him."

After at least ten minutes, the real story came out: "On my father's side, I'm one part English Puritan, one part Roman Catholic. On my mother's side, I'm one part Episcopalian and one part Ashkenazi."

"What do you mean one part Ashkenazi?"

"Yeah, my grandmother was Polish Ashkenazi. She didn't want to talk about it, because she married my grandfather who was Episcopalian and all, but that's who she was."

Before I could comment, Joey starts showing pictures on his phone, of his grandmother, of his kids, of his DIY remodeling projects, of his hunting trophies. Another ten minutes.

Finally, as he was leaving, I said, "You know Joey, according to the rules, if your grandmother was Jewish, that means that your mother is Jewish. And if your mother is Jewish, that means that you're Jewish."

"I hear what you're saying, but I don't know, maybe it goes after the father - I have all these traditions and things that come from my father."

Question for your table — What would you have said at this point? 

This is what I said:

"All that is on the outside. On the outside, you're your father's son. But on the inside you're Jewish. Maybe this Hannukah instead of watching your wife light the candles you can join her!"

Shabbat Shalom

PS - Do you know how many days til Channukah?

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Why Me?

The purpose of this blog is to give some purpose to the Shabbat table... Please share...
Happy Birthday shoutouts to David and Harmon!
Are you counting the days til Channukah?

Why Me?

OK, here's a true story for your table that happened to someone I know this week.

Let's call him Steve.

Like many people, Steve has had a few health issues the past couple years. Each problem individually always seems manageable. The thing is, as soon as he gets one under control, another one always seems to pop up. 

Do you know anyone like that? (In truth, I know several "Steves" who fit this description.)

This week he had one of those moments.

It was the morning a couple days ago. He was doing some chores around the house, thinking, "I actually feel pretty good today!" which is always a great feeling, especially when you don't feel that way every day.

Immediately upon having that thought, he gets down on the floor to fix something in the kitchen and when he starts to get up, he feels a wrenching pain in his knee and cannot get off the floor. 

The first question for your table: If it were you, how would you yourself react at that moment?

Steve tells me that two words came to mind at that moment: Why me?

So let's pose this as the second question for your table: What's your answer to Steve — why him?

Shabbat Shalom

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