Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld
Jan 16-17, 2026 • 28 Teves 5786 • Va'eira (Exod 6-9).
The title is meant to be a riff on last week's "Are You a Big Joe"...
Try this one at your table:
Take a wild guess - how many snowflakes are falling somewhere in the world right now?
The answer is mind-boggling: About a million billion snowflakes fall each second, averaged over a typical year. That's enough snow to make one snowman for every person on earth every ten minutes.
OK, try this one: How many water droplets does it take to make a single snowflake, and how long does it take for it to form?
A: About 100,000 water droplets in a process that takes roughly 30-45 minutes.
The process starts when a single droplet freezes on a tiny (microscopic) spec of dust.
(Clouds form the same way, just at warmer temperatures.)
I gave this week's message the title, "Are You Like a Snowflake" not because no two snowflakes are identical - I'm absolutely certain you are unique.
Rather, what I had in mind is the way that snowflakes grow. A tiny drop of water - which in our tradition represents Torah wisdom - latches on to what appears to be an insignificant spec of dust, and given the right nurturing can grow into something stunningly beautiful.
Is that you?
What's the catch?
Shabbat Shalom
Appreciated this Table Talk? Like it, tweet it, email it....
