In an instance of life imitating art, I have accepted the position of story-teller for the 5-7 year olds before the shabbat youth groups begin at YIOT (Young Israel of Teaneck). So now I really am a Maggid.
As these stories will be geared toward a younger audience than the usual Maggid of Bergenfield stories, I will specify which of my posts is intended as a "Torah Tale for Tots." This will be the inaugural tale.
Bereishit: 33: 4
Once in the town of Rutherford there lived two brothers, Jake and Ace. They were good boys, most of the time. But on this particular Sunday, they were hungry. And I mean really hungry.
"Mom!" called Ace.
"What!"
"I'm hungry!"
"So?"
"So feed me!"
"Hey, I'm hungry too!" Jake chimed in.
"So?"
"Can't you feed both of us?"
"I couldn't, even if I wanted to," their mother said. "I have to go help Aunt Malki with her shopping."
"So then what are we going to do for food?" Ace asked.
"Yeah," Jake agreed. "We're starving."
"Boys, it's only been two hours since breakfast. How hungry could you possibly be?"
"Very hungry," both boys said, with more than a little bit of a whine in their voices.
"So then make yourselves some lunch!"
Both boys gasped.
"Us?"
"For ourselves?"
"Sure, why not?"
"But we've never done anything like that before!"
Their mother stood at the door with her car keys in her hand.
"I guess there's a first for everything."
And she closed the door behind her.
The boys stood facing eachother in shocked silence. Neither moved for what seemed like quite some time.
"What do we do now?"
"We could starve!"
"Or worse."
"What's worse?"
"I don't know, but I'll bet there's something."
Silence.
"We probably won't starve."
"What makes you so sure?"
"The house is full of food."
"True."
"And Mom did say she'll be back in an hour."
"Interesting point."
Crickets.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Jake said. "I know I don't want to make my own lunch, and you don't want to make yours, so how about if we make lunch for eachother?"
"Interesting," Ace said. "Any rules as to what we can make?"
"None."
"None?"
"None!"
Ace and Jake eyed eachother for a few seconds. Then they started to laugh. They laughed for quite some time. Then they shook hands.
"You've got a deal."
Ace got to work immediately on Jake's lunch. He decided to make him a sandwich. A very special sandwich.
Ace thought about all the times Jake had tricked him and gotten him in trouble with their parents. He thought about the super atomic wedgie Jake had given him last week, and all the things he'd been blamed for that Jake had actually done. Yes, this was going to be quite a sandwich.
And what do you think Ace put in his sandwich?
[At this point audience participation is strongly encouraged]
Ace started with two stale pieces of challah that he he found in the bread basket from a few weeks before. At this point they were somewhere between garbage and penicillin.
Then he put in the sandwich some mustard, some ketchup, and some mayonnaise. A splash of peanut butter looked nice on the mustard, and some anchovies from Dad's special stash added a certain crunchiness. Still, it needed something white. Ah yes, cottage cheese was just the thing. Yet it was missing something. What, no green? Brussel sprouts would do the trick.
Ace shoved the two pieces of bread together, and the sandwich made a noise that sounded something like:
SMORCH!
Wait, he'd forgotten the apple sauce! But it was too late. The sandwich of doom was complete.
Jake sat down to make Ace's sandwich. He knew just what he wanted to do, and he knew where all the supplies were. It would be perfect.
He started with a beautiful garlic bagel--just the kind Ace liked. He added a big slab of Philadelphia cream cheese and spread it evenly across the bagel. Then he went to their Mom's secret stash of Nova Scotia lox, fresh from the deli, and laid it down on the sea of cream cheese. A perfect shmeer! Jake delicately placed the top of the bagel down on the lox and cream cheese and patted it lovingly. Perfect.
Ace and Jake met in the center of the kitchen, next to the microwave. Each hid their creation behind their back.
"You first," Jake said.
"No, you first."
"Fine." And without further adieu, Jake took out Ace's lunch from behind his back.
Ace was speechless. It was beautiful. Jake had produced the perfect ratio of cream cheese to lox. It was truly a wondrous creation.
Jake smiled.
"Now it's your turn."
Ace stared at his brother. He had wanted to nail him, but now Jake's kindness had changed everything.
"Do you know what?" Ace said. "Your sandwich is so much better than mine. You eat yours. I'll be O.K. with mine."
And without giving Jake time to respond, Ace took his sandwich from behind his back and took a big bite.
"Mmmmmm, he said with a mouth full of brussel sprouts and anchovies. "Just like Mom would have made."
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