Maccabee's Wars

A venting rage against the ills of our society with some hopeful observations.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Psst! My Name is Arnie, Can You Do Me a Favor?

Dateline Jerusalem Thursday April 5, 2006 10:30 AM

Usually when you go into a shul and someone comes around collecting for Tzedakah, people have to ask for change. When the person collecting the monies can’t supply the change, both parties are a little despondent.

That’s not the way things turned out for me on my first day back in Jerusalem.

At the Shtibblach Minyan in Katamon, the happy-go-lucky Gabbai, (at least that’s the way he always appears to me) who goes by the name of Arnie, asks me to do him a favor. He wants to give me change. The more change he can give me, the better.

Unlike black-market change places, he wants to give me American small change for American large bills.

I told him I only had twenties, so he gladly hands me twenty singles for a twenty dollar bill.

Now I can give out my shliach Mitzvah Gelt in smaller denominations. Who exactly did whom the favor?

Life in Aretz, don’t you just love it.