My Rosh Hashana Table, Doing a "Mitzvah," and the Legal Age for Eating Babka

If you found several hundred dollars on the floor 
of a laundromat, what would you do with it?

I like to believe that I would not run right to the nearest Christian Louboutin store and by a killer pair of pumps. 

Of course I wouldn't.

They don't call me Ms. Goody Two Toody Goo Shoes 
for nothing, you know.
 

I ask you, because on Thursday, the first day of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year),

our Rabbi told a story of a man who,
many years ago, found $400 in a laundromat, 
and how his response in that situation,

had a profound affect on him 45 years later.

 
The Rabbi's sermon on the subject of doing a "mitzvah" 

(a good deed), was so powerful, 

 we were still talking about it that night

around the Rosh Hashana dinner table.

Part of the sermon was about Sam, an elderly man, 
who lived in a nursing home.

He was very active and alert,

and enjoyed participating in many activities.

One afternoon, he didn't show up for his favorite program.

The social worker was concerned,

and went to Sam's room to see if he was OK.

Sam was lying on his bed, all dressed, 
as if he had someplace to go, yet, he wasn't going anywhere.

He looked extremely depressed.

The social worker finally got it out of Sam

that an aide had said something very cruel 
to him earlier in the day, and it upset him so much,

that it had zapped his will to do anything.

The social worker sat and talked to Sam for awhile,

asking him lots of questions about his younger days. 

Eventually, Sam told the story about his job, many years ago,

 collecting coins from laundromats.

One day on his rounds, he found a roll of several hundred dollar bills on the floor. 

 Sam called his boss, asking if he could wait at the laundromat,

hoping that the person who lost the money, 

would come back to look for it.

His boss replied,

"I don't care what you do, but you do have a job to do,
and you better get it done."

Sam decided he was going to wait, anyway.

Soon, a woman walked in looking extremely distraught.

"Has anyone found a roll of money?
It was the rent money I collected from our tenants,

and we'll have no money to pay our bills.
 My husband will be furious that I've lost it."
She was practically in tears.

My grandmother's silver

Sam approached the woman,

saying he believed he had found what she lost,

and handed her the money.
She was enormously grateful, 

and so appreciative of Sam's honesty.

Sam left feeling good about the "mitzvah" he performed.

After he told this story to the social worker,

Sam was smiling, and seemed energized.

He was ready to go to the activity after all.

Silver Kiddush Cup from our wedding

So what is the point of this story?
The good deed that Sam performed 45 years earlier 
lived within him, and had staying power.

All these years later, simply talking about it 
could invigorate his body and mind,

and lift him out of a depression.

Had Sam decided to keep the money,

 he may have felt good in the short term,

but it would not have the lasting effect 
that his act of kindness did.

And, eventually, he probably would have felt badly about keeping the money.

Translation: The Louboutins may look fantastic at first,
but, eventually, they're gonna hurt your feet.

We told the story to Aunt Goo Shoes,

when she came for dinner...

or rather, when she brought most of the dinner 
that she had cooked for us. 

We had apples dipped in honey...

symbolic of hopes for a sweet year ahead...

A round challah to symbolize the full circle of life...

Matzoh ball soup, because it doesn't have to be Passover to enjoy it...

Brisket, potato kugel and squash.

I was too hungry to stage this photo!

And for dessert, there was chocolate babka.

Rewind about seven years...

Junior Goo Shoes was eight years old.

I asked him if he wanted a piece of babka.

He looked at me, kind of shocked, and said, 

"Mom! I'm not old enough for babka!"

HUH?

"You have to be 18 to have babka."

Ohhhhhh.....

"You mean vodka.  I am offering you babka - which is cake. 

The legal age for babka is 18 months, not 18 years...

you know, once you have teeth and can chew 
and swallow without choking."  

Ohhhhhh.....

This year, when I gave him a some babka, I said, 

"Don't worry, as long as you're not driving,
 I'll let you have as much as you want." 

LINKING WITH:
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