For Openers
Taking No For An Answer
© 2001
I t is not a matter of negative thinking or being pessimistic.
It's just reality to acknowledge that things are not as we
would like them to be.
We recently moved and, as a result, have a new phone
number. I'm sure the thought crossed my mind that the number
had belonged to someone else at one time, but I was unprepared
for the spate of calls for the former
owner.
"I want to speak to Richard."
"There is no Richard here."
"When will he be back?"
"You don't understand. There is no
one by that name at this number."
Another caller, also for Richard, want-
ed to know where he had moved. "I am
his aunt and I'd really like to get in
touch with him."
Well, if he didn't want his family to
know his whereabouts, that makes me
wonder.
A second set of calls wanted to rent
SY MANELLO
the apartment we had advertised. When
Editorial Assistant
advised that we did not have an apart-
ment for rent, we had several callers ask
why we placed the ad in the first place.
Then there is the problem created by telemarketers. It is hard to
interrupt their spiel once they get started, and so I try to interject
early on in the conversation that I am not interested. What is irk-
some is getting called by the same "business" several times
in one evening. It is imperative that I
announce in a very strident voice, "I am
not interested and please take me off
your caller list."
Of course, one way to win the bat-
tle, if not the war, is not to answer
the phone at dinner time: It's got
to be "them." Besides, that's why
we invested in an answering
machine.
Do you think Alexander Graham Bell
had any of this bother in mind when he
invented the phone? Maybe his assistant
should have answered, "NO!" ❑
GRAPEJEWZ
BY
wviw etroifiew s news.toin
By Goldfein
I
f Jacob's sons were the progenitors of
the 12 tribes of Israel, and Jacob's
wives Rachel and Leah only had eight
sons, from whom do the other tribes
originate?
Yiddish Limericks
The wife of a fella named Wyatt
Said, "Finally, you've gone on a diet."
She said, "At this rate,
You're bound to lose weight."
He muttered, "Oh, sure, go b'shry* it."
,
)Kosherfes
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Enjoy tasty treats without the
ponderous pounds at this year's
Kosherfest.
wwvv.detroitjewishnews.cominews
— Martha Jo Fleischmann
• tempt fate (over)
Quotables
"It does not take somebody much above the
teen-age level of sophistication to be able to
understand that [Palestinian Authority leader
Yasser] Arafat's word is worthless."
— Convicted Watergate burglar G. Gordon
Liddy, while broadcasting his right-wing radio
talk show from Israel.
We must change our mindset; we can no
longer be satisfied with the affiliation of mem-
bers in our congregation. The key is tying
them to other members. Anonymity only
ensures a lack of engagement."
— Rabbi Jerome M Epstein, executive vice-
president, United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism, in the Fall 2001 issue of United
Synagogue Review.
Sampling the wares at Kosherfest 2001,
held at the Meadowlands Expo Center
in Secaucus, N.J.
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)11ung Jury
Congregants absorb the news —
a hung jury in murder case where
the suspect is a rabbi.
wwvv.detroitjewishnews.com/news
Related coverage: page 32
)Federations Gather
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Find out the latest news from the
United Jewish Communities' General
Assembly of North American
federations, held in Washington.
www.detroitj ewislmews .com/news
Related coverage: page 20
— Joshua Paul Cane,
JN Online Web producer
11/16
2001
11