T'was the evening of Christmas and inside the shul Not a hint to be seen of the fact it was Yule The siddurs were piled by the front door with care In the hope that some congregants might soon be there.
But the children were nestled all snug in their beds The Palwin's at lunchtime had gone to their heads My wife in her sheitl and me in kippah Had decided that shul was a mitzvah too far.
When out on the driveway there came such a clatter I turned down the sound to see what was the matter And grabbed the remote to adjust the TV To the cameras on my rooftop for security.
The spotlight installed there to ward off intruders Threw light on the image there on my computers And what to my wondering eyes should appear? It looks like my rabbi is visiting me here! I knew in a moment it must be my Rav And right there behind him, his followers came He'd brought his own minyan and called them by name! It's December the twenty-fifth, but it's still shobbes!'
'The rabbi is here!' 'Is it true?' 'On my life!' 'Oi vey' she replied, ''tell me how can this be?' 'Never mind that,' I said 'Help me take down the tree!'
So the rebbe and followers came to my door They could not ring the bell - they'd be breaking the law! A divine inspiration came down to them then - And they struck up a chorus of 'shalom aleichem.'
Meanwhile inside of my beleaguered front door I was rapidly sweeping up crumbs from the floor To get rid of the signs of our afternoon's feast - I hoped there'd be no trace of bacon at least...
'I think that they've come here to help us to daven,' I said as with one hand I opened the oven; With the other the turkey remains shoved inside, Along with the pudding I needed to hide. It remained firmly closed – the rabbi was offended 'Vos ist dos?' he exclaimed and muttered quite dimly And decided instead that he'd come down the chimney. My wife, quite nonplussed, simply offered a bagel And said 'It's so lovely to welcome you here Would you like herring on it, or simply a schmier?'
'And as for your minyan outside my front door Maybe they'd like some kugel – I have plenty more So bring them all in – I have so much to give We can all have some nosh just in time for Ma'ariv'
So remember next time Christmas falls on Friday You can't treat it just as turkey and mince pie day And when the sun sets and the pudding's all gone Get along to your shul and say 'Shabbat Shalom!'
December 2009 |