Shalom aleichem!
The raffle winners have been drawn! Please visit www.QueensRaffle.com to see the winners! Thank you to the 178 people who purchased a total of 702 tickets!
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Mazel tov to QC alum Benjamin Kusin on his engagement to Shira Massis.
Mazel tov to QC alumna Mikki Levine on her engagement to Yossi Berger.
Mazel tov to Michael & Mirie Elias on the birth of a daughter, Tila.
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Last week, Tzipah told me a story, and here it is (names have been changed to protect the innocent):
Sarah arrived at the airport with plenty of time before her flight. After checking in, she stopped at one of the ubiquitous snack stores, and purchased a bag of pretzels.
Settling into a seat at the gate, she distracted herself with a book and some music on her phone. Slowly, the seats started to fill up with other passengers. A short while later, she reached for her pretzels, and began munching away.
Without any warning, the man next to her reached his hand into her bag, grabbed a few pretzels, and ate them. She was shocked, but decided to ignore this blatant breach of etiquette.
Not even a minute later, the man once again helped himself to more pretzels. She was flabbergasted; speechless. What does one say to this type of person?
This went on in silence, until the man removed the last pretzel. Glancing at her, he unceremoniously broke it in half, gave half of it to her, and ate the other half himself.
Sarah was incensed, but was at a loss for words. The overhead voice announced that it was time for boarding, and quickly boarded, eager to get away from this selfish man.
When she arrived at her seat and lifted her bag to place it in the overhead compartment, she noticed something sticking out just ever-so-slightly: It was her bag of pretzels, which she had never actually removed from her bag.
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How did your thoughts change as you read the story? What did you think about the mystery man when you first began reading? What did you think about him at the end? And about her? What lessons can this story contain?
I’ll leave it up to you to decide for yourself. Perhaps share this story with your friends and family at the Shabbat table, and discuss what sobering message we can take from it.
Shabbat Shalom,
Shaul
