We have assembled a lot of boxes in our family room and the sun room.
The boxes are to be filled with used clothing and other items for charity.
We do this once or twice a year.
This year there were a lot of boxes.
So Igor took some time off from working at Vampy's Castle to help us out.
I thanked him and said I would tell Vampy that he was lucky to have such an assistant.
"Yes, I'm a great assistant vampire." said Igor.
"No. You're assistant to the vampire." I said.
"It's the same thing." said Igor.
"No. No it's not." I said.
Last Shabbat Wile E. took Road Runner's delivery route (and the profits from that work).
He was quite tired by the end of the day. Coyotes have a peak speed of about 40 mph but can not maintain that for more than a short burst of speed. Ordinary Road Runners have a peak of about 20 mph but our Road Runner goes into overdrive which is probably just below the speed of sound (as we've not heard a sonic boom).
Anyway, this week George is renting Wile E. his Smart Car for Friday from 2 pm. Wile E. will pay George for the 2pm to start of Sabbath period but doesn't have to return the car until close of Sabbath and Wile E. may use it during Sabbath (although George doesn't get payment for that period). However, the rent for the Car is front end loaded.
The point to all of this is to allow Road Runner to keep the Sabbath in preparation for him being a witness at the wedding of Lev and Hadassah.
As noted earlier this week, Road Runner will be observing the Sabbath. This will qualify him to be a witness at the marriage of Lev (Davidovich Bronstein) and Hadassah (Parnas). Also as noted earlier Road Runner already observes Sabbath except for the 'running down the road' delivering packages. Road Runner, however, might not be 'remembering' the sabbath so well e.g., his Sabbath tefila would be considered sub standard.
Road Runner is having Wile E. Coyote carry out his deliveries on the Sabbath. In preparation for that, they executed a contract whereby the Road Runner delivery service is owned by Wile E. on the Sabbath (the contract is in the notebook as are the general instructions for delivery). These deliveries are limited to Montgomery County, hence the phone book.
Road Runner has heard Wile E.'s introductory pitch for Christianity before but Road Runner was happy being a Reform Jew. Wile E. is thinking the issue of Sabbath Observance might give Road Runner a new motivation.
Hadassah (left in image) arrived earlier this week.
She and Lev have had several 'get comfortable' dates. Lev was a bit put off at first because Hadassah wasn't wearing a head covering. Hadassah said that she would wear one after being married. This was OK with Lev but just to preserve the yichud and of course the negiah, Lev had Road Runner observe (surreptitiously).
Road Runner has now been sabbath observant for several days. He started after the previous havdalah so it hasn't been difficult to be sabbath observant yet (actually impossible not to be observant except in intent).
Also, notice that the snacks during the date are modest.
Also, Coke is the beverage of choice. As noted in the second image, there is adequate supply for this.
Pengy and Lev are discussing the Mishna in Sanhedrin 3:3 (Sanhedrin is the 4th tractate in the 4th order, i.e., Damages or Nezikin). This deals
with who is disqualified from being a witness. Listed there as being disqualified are (per my interpretation) gamblers, loan officers, professional entertainers and people who violate the rules of the sabbatical year.
The talmud adds to this. Other authorities weigh in. Since Lev is Ashkenaz we defer to the Rama (George did the research). The Rama is sort of lenient on this. He finds that one who is on the right path, even if he was previously an apostate, qualifies as a witness. This assumes otherwise good character and reliability (second image). This would qualify Road Runner who is a reform jew but, other than speeding down the highway does observe sabbath.
The issue comes up because three witnesses are needed at a wedding and Lev expects to marry soon.
Grad is looking on. He is only interested because he has heard that there is some nice whiskey served at the Tisch which precedes the wedding. This is essentially the groom's reception and during the Tisch the marriage contract (Ketubah) is completed and reviewed. Also, behind Lev are the professor and Gretel. The former is interested in the 'construct' and the latter wanted to do one of the shiva brochot but since there is no minyan, there won't be shiva brochot.
Ski Bear (image 1) frequently notes that his big head is necessary since he has to have a lot of brain power to teach the fundamentals (or maybe the nuances) of skiing.
These fundamentals (or nuances) consist of telling skiers to:
a. put their skis next to each other like two parallel french fries if they want to go faster, and,
b. put their skis forward point to forward point like a slice of pizza if they want to go slower
this point is made on the T-shirt in image 2.
Ski Bear recently learned of the history of a Talmud scholar from the 13th and 14th centuries who has been called the Rosh by later scholars.
The Rosh is an acronym where the 'R' stands for 'rabbi' and the 'sh' is for 'Asher' as the Rosh's full name was Asher ben Jechiel. However, "Rosh" also means "head" and, of course to Ski Bear, that signifies something meaningful.
Looking through the accomplishments of the Rosh, Ski Bear said that if only the Rosh hadn't spent so much time studying books like the Mishnah (in image 1), the Rosh might have made a contribution to understanding the fundamentals (or nuance) of skiing.
As it was, the Rosh actually took pride in not knowing very much outside of Talmud and various halackic subjects related to the Talmud, at least according to the write up available here.
