Breakfast Time in Bayside

Home again in the basement of my youth, literally too.  Had a lovely Shabbos with dad, haven't been here since Parshat Pinchas.  I gave a talk on Avot during Shaloshudes.  Before the talk there were random questions from a youth such as, "Can you count someone living in a car as living there so you can walk a great, otherwise uninhabited distance on Shabbos - and if they drive beside you as you walk can you count them the whole time.  Also, can you carry in a stadium on Shabbos? Someone else free associated from that and piggybacked it to the question of if you are on a camping trip and rig the car so you can open it with no lights going on can you store food in it and get it on Shabbos so it doesn't get eaten by bears. Then we moved on the fifth and final chapter of the mishnayot of Pirkei Avot.

I thought of this story this morning: When June Carter-Cash was young she performed with the Carter Family. The shows included many acts from similar cuts of cloth. Once an act's banjo player didn't show up and they frantically asked if anyone from another group could fill in. June stepped forward, played the whole set with them and then sang with her family. When she heard this story Roseanne Cash said to June, "I didn't know you play banjo." And June said, "I don't." So Roseanne asked the obvious follow up question and June said, "Oh honey, when I was on that stage I knew how to play the banjo!" 

What made me think of the story? Glad you asked. In shul this morning I was asked to blow the shofar because there was no-one else there who could.  I stepped outside in to the stairwell and to my surprise found that when I blew into it sounds came out.  When the time came I blew the shofar adequately, even though I don't know how to blow the shofar.  When I was in that shul I knew how to blow shofar.  thank G-d.