When A Small Town Mayor Spends Shabbat With The Rabbi

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[Editor’s Note: I received this email this morning and it put a smile on my face — I hope it will put one on yours as well! The email has been edited for length and clarity.]

Given your post about using umbrellas on Shabbat, I thought you would be interested in the story below:

In an effort to better understand his Jewish constituents, the Mayor of a small town reached out to a popular Rabbi.

The Rabbi invited the Mayor to spend Shabbat at his home. The Rabbi made a blessing Friday night on a full cup of wine.

Then he made a toast, l’chaim!, with a fine Scotch after the fish course.

The main course came with Israeli wine.

They said grace after meal with another cup of wine.

The next day they made a blessing on wine at the synagogue.

After the service, they ate crackers with herring and made a few l’chaims on schnapps.

They went home and the Rabbi made another blessing for his family on another cup of wine, made another l’chaim after the fish, on a nice single malt with the Shabbat meal, and some more wine for grace after the meal.

When it got dark and Shabbat ended, the rabbi made a blessing on another cup of wine for Havdalah (the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat).

The Mayor said to the Rabbi, “I had a wonderful time!” Thank you for sharing Shabbat with me. While I still don’t understand why you can’t turn the lights on or off, I do understand why you don’t drive!”