When I last talked to Uncle Moishe they were having a terrible heat wave in New York. His air conditioner wasn’t working for a few days so he and my Aunt were staying out on the Island with his brother Benny. At least there was a breeze off the ocean at night, he tells me. Anyway.
Unc told me about an experience my cousin had in Tel Aviv on a recent family trip to Israel. Maybe some of you have had the same experience in Israel and can relate. Cousin Barry was riding in a taxi in the city when the cabbie drives right through a red light without even slowing down. Surprised, Barry says nothing as he figures he’s a guest in this country and doesn’t want to make waves. Then at the next intersection the light was green and the cabbie brought the taxi to a grinding halt. Unc said this was too much for my excitable cousin and he shouted at the cabbie, “Listen, when you went through the red light I didn’t say anything. But why on earth are you stopping at this green light?” The taxi driver turned and looked at Cousin Barry as if he were deranged and shouted back, “Are you crazy? The other guy has the red light. Do you want us to get killed?”
P.S. Uncle Moishe is always interested in hearing news about the JHJC. I was talking to him about how our membership numbers were down last year and that we’ve had to make some budget adjustments. I told him that the Board thought one of the reasons is that people’s lives are so hectic that many of them simply forget to renew their memberships. Unc said, “Allen, my nephew, I don’t understand from dis tinking. Vat could be more important then supporting the Shul?”