In an unprecedented move, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took the opportunity to criticize the leadership of a foreign nation. “Amidst what is one of the world’s more tumultuous regimes, Jews living under the rule of King Achashveirosh killed 75,000 souls,” Schumer stated. “It has become clear to me: The Mordechai coalition no longer fits the needs of Jews after 14 Adar. The world has changed, radically, since then, and the Jewish people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

I love Purim as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is the owner of a new carpet), but I have to say that the worst part of Purim is the traffic.  On random blocks that are not at all built for traffic.  Like for some reason, all the most popular people live in cul-de-sacs.  The entire Purim is just sitting in your car and watching the cars in front of you make K-turns all day.  And circling the block and quadruple parking while your kid stands inside a teacher’s house or their parent’s friend’s house and waits for their turn to be noticed by whoever lives there. 

Recap: Mr. Greenspan, Zeidy’s friend, drives Akiva to shul for his bar mitzvah lesson. He gives Akiva a bag with silver dollars in it. Akiva puts the little sack down while he practices his leining with the Rabbi. Later, his brother picks him up; and as they’re driving home, he realizes that he doesn’t have the gift from Mr. Greenspan. They head back to the shul to look for the little sack of silver dollars, but they can’t find it.