Rabbi’s Musings & Amusings

I have a hobby of collecting newspapers that contain memorable headlines. So, when major events occur, I buy the next day’s paper and add it to my collection. I have newspapers from when the last few presidents won elections, when President Clinton was impeached, the day after 9/11 (September 12, 2001), when President Trump was impeached (both times), and some papers after worthwhile teams I root for won a championship.

We, the “United Children At the Shabbos Table” (U-CAST), in order to form a more perfect Shabbos table, establish our rights, ensure (what we consider to be) domestic tranquility, provide for our common defense from parental demands, promote our general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our siblings, do ordain and hereby establish this Constitution of the Shabbos Table:

During our children’s midwinter break this week, we enjoyed an overnight trip at a hotel in the Pocono Mountains.

This past Shabbos, our family was discussing that famous Shakespearean bonnet (that’s what Shakespeare wore in the rain when composing his deepest poetry): “Chazak Chazak v’nis’chazeik, / my mother baked a chocolate cake; / and in the cake there was rake, / and in the rake there was a snake.”

Last week, the article I sent, entitled, “The Constitution of Children at the Shabbos Table,” seems to have really resonated. I was gratified that it was read and forwarded many times. I also received numerous comments in response, the most common of which was, “Do you have a video camera in our house on Shabbos? How do you know about all the stuff that happens in our house on Shabbos?”

 The other week, I was looking for a check I had received a few days earlier so I could bring it to the bank to deposit. To my chagrin, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I looked in every drawer in my office and on every shelf. I even went through the omnipresent pile of papers on my desk, but it wasn’t there. I asked my wife and kids if they had seen it but no one had. I uncomfortably asked that the check be reissued, knowing I would only find the old one after I had received a new one. (It’s just another example of Murphy’s Law. And to think, he is the governor of New Jersey.)