FYI

EdItoR's NoTe

Hay, Hay
t's Okay!

Keeping Children
In Their Place

Why Israel's zoo animals skipped the bread.

i reported in McCall's magazine.
I FYI: He knew they were
Rosie insisted Parker had been dr-
creepy, they were kooky
:
cumcised,
and she had the adop-
••.
tion papers to prove it. Rita knew
Morticia, Gomez, Pugsly, Cousin
otherwise. "Call me silly. I became
It, Wednesday — the family we
hysterical, uncontrollable," Rosie
all dreamed of having to call our
says.
"But Rita and Kate took care
own! And to think, we owe the
of it. They called a doctor friend
program all to a Jew. Yes, the
who
is also a mohel. He came
man behind the Addams Family
over the next day and circum-
TV show was none other than
1
scribed the baby. Kate brought
David Levy. A native of Philadel-
bagels and lox — we had a little
phia, he was, in addition to being
party.
the creator of the famous and
weird series, executive vice presi-
FYI: The camel who kept
dent of network programs at NBC
kosher for Pesach ...
1 from 1959-1961.
Just weeks ago, Jewish families
everywhere celebrated Pesach with
I FYI: When Parker went to
horseradish, potatoes, meat, pota-
the mohel
toes, fish, potatoes and, of course,
I When Rosie O'Donnell adopted
her baby boy, Parker, she was cer- I matzah. Animals at Jerusalem's
Biblical Zoo didn't have any pota-
tain he had been circumcised. But
I
toes
or matzah, but like human
1 when her friends came over she
beings they abstained from bread
found out otherwise. Rita Wilson,
during
the holiday. While bread
I also known as Mrs. Tom Hanks,
1 and bread products are normally a
1 and Kate Capshaw, also known
1 staple for the animals, and animals
I as Mrs. Steven Spielberg, were
are not obligated to
visiting Rosie soon after
observe laws of kashrut
baby Parker arrived. Rita
on Pesach or any
kindly offered to
I time, zoo keepers
change the boy's
diaper — and that's feared guests might
be uncomfortable
when she made the
seeing bread dur-
discovery. "Why did-
ing the holiday.
n't you have him
What the animals
circumcised?"
I ate instead:
she asked
hay. ❑
Rosie, as

5/29

1998

72

here% a certain store in town
I'm doing my best to avoid,
though my terrible experience
there (I'll call it Store X) could have
happened at any number of places.
Well, actually it couldn't
have happened at the
Body Shop at Twelve Oaks
Mall, which sells all kinds
of wonderful bath products,
where I've had nothing but
pleasant experiences. Nor
could it have been at Tar-
get in Northland, where
workers always stop to say hello to
my baby. But Store X is not alone. Of
that I am certain.
Several weeks ago I went with my
children to Store X. Obviously, it's not
a place with expensive or one-of-a-
kind art pieces; I wouldn't even think
of taking my children to such a shop.
I But Store X is the kind of place where
you often see families.
In any case, I keep a close eye on
my three little ones when we're out.
Although I believe children should be
welcome almost anywhere, they do
I not have the right to be wild, disrup-
tive or destructive. I've found the best
plan is not to give mine more than
they can handle to begin with. I don't
expect them to sit _for three hours in
synagogue on Shabbat morning, for
example; it's too much for little chil-
i dren, too much for the adults who
would hear them whine and giggle
and grow impatient. So we go for
the last 15 minutes. Store trips, too,
are brief, and I watch with a close
eye to be sure my children keep their
I hands to themselves.
Of course, it isn't always perfect. At
Store X, we were selecting kitchen
items to play with in our sandbox.
Yitz, my 4-year-old, picked up a can

opener. "I don't think that's a good
choice," I said. "BUT I WANT ITI"
Yitz cried out, then finally set it down
when I showed him an equally entic-
ing spoon.
Before I even knew what
was happening, a store
worker came over and
harshly picked up the can
opener. He said to my boy,
"If you're not going to buy
the merchandise, then don't
touch it!"
I was aghast; I was
shocked; I was furious. But I
was not speechless. In no uncertain
terms, I promptly told this person that I
would look after my children and we
left the store. I have not been back
since.
Now I have spent literally hundreds
1 of dollars in Store X, but that's not the
point. I myself admit to picking up
1 items, then deciding I didn't want
I them and leaving them where I know
they don't belong; but that's not the
point, either.
The fact is, many people out there
think like this worker. They believe
that children have no place in public,
1 that they should simply shuttle
between home and school and
maybe the movies until they're a pre-
sentable 18.
Yes, parents have the obligation to
supervise their children at all times.
And yes, they should carefully consid-
er whether their destination is an
appropriate place to bring a child.
But since when did a misplaced can
opener become more important than
I the feelings of a young child?

❑

•

1 Elizabeth Applebaum
I AppleTree Editor