NOVEMBER 28 • 2019 | 5

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for starters
Mistakes Served Sunny Side Up
I 

was once at a supermarket 
when I ran into an old 
friend whom I’
ll call Sarah. 
Suddenly, one of my kids’
 
teachers, whom I’
ll call Mrs. 
Brown, was pass-
ing by and my 
old friend gasped 
with excitement; 
the next thing I 
knew my friend 
was giving Mrs. 
Brown this huge 
hug while I 
looked on and said things like, 
“Wow, that’
s so random,
” and 
“How on Earth do you two 
know each other?”
My old friend, her eyes shut 
and smiling blissfully with the 
joy of seeing an old friend she 
hadn’
t seen in ages, said, “Oh, 
we go waaay back.
” But from 
over her shoulder, Mrs. Brown 
mouthed to me, “I have abso-
lutely no idea who this is!”
It turned out Mrs. Brown 
always gets confused with her 
sister, and I give her 10 points 
for not saying anything and 
embarrassing Sarah. Mrs. 
Brown later told me she knew 
immediately what happened 
(“It happens all the time”), plus 
I guess there’
s nothing wrong 
with getting an extra hug!
Who hasn’
t made a mistake 
or two like that? A few years 
ago, I ran into an acquaintance 

walking with an older-looking 
woman. 
I said, “Wow, it’
s so nice to 
see you! And this must be your 
grandmother?”
He snapped, “No, this is 
my wife,
” while I mumbled 
something that sounded like a 
very unconvincing, “Um yeah, 
that’
s what I meant …
” and 
then there were a few awkward 
moments while we tried to 
come back from that and didn’
t 
really succeed.
Then there was the time I 
asked two kids in the park if 
they were brother and sister. 
They looked at me in surprise 
and said, “No, we’
re sisters.
”
In my defense, you can’
t 
always tell these days.
The thing is that mistakes 
kind of make the world go 
’
round. Aside from keeping us 
on our toes, giving us a great 
prayer opportunity (“Oh, dear 
God, please give me a hole to 
climb into!”) and even giving 
us something to eat (mainly 
our words), there have also 
been many useful inventions 
that only came about by mis-
take. 
Potato chips? Created by a 
chef who was trying to “get 
back at a customer” who had 
complained one too many 
times about his French-fried 
potatoes dish. The annoyed 

chef cut the potatoes ridic-
ulously thin, fried them and 
piled on the salt. Surprise! The 
customer loved them and so 
did the rest of the world. 
Popsicles? Invented by an 
11-year-old who accidently left 
his drink outside overnight and 
found he had a frozen treat in 
the morning.
Play Doh? Originally meant 
to be a wallpaper cleaner, but 
kids kept playing with it. 
Silly String? Two scientists 
attempted to create a foamable 
spray cast for sprained or bro-
ken limbs, reportedly sprayed 
the nozzle and crazy string flew 
across the room. They thought, 
well that’
s a fail; but boy, kids 
would love to 
play with this!
Then there are Corn Flakes, 
Teflon, safety glass, Post It 
Notes, Silly Putty, the X-ray, 
champagne, super glue, the 
Slinky, the microwave and 
plenty more. All created by 
mistake. 
It’
s Thanksgiving and we’
re 
eating turkey and pumpkin 
pie — hopefully not crow and 
humble pie! Still, while we’
re 
already giving thanks for the 
many blessings in our lives, 
we might as well give thanks 
that those toe-curling mistakes 
— while definitely sometimes 
beneficial and educational — 
only happen once in a while. 

Rochel 
Burstyn

Legacy of HMC

On Sunday, Nov. 17, my hus-
band and I attended the 35th 
Holocaust Memorial Center 
Dinner. From the time we 
pulled up to the valet, walked 
into the secure building, were 

greeted by all the volunteers 
and entered the room, I was 
overcome with emotion: 1,500 
people and 150 tables filled 
the event space. That alone 
was a testament to preserving 
the future of the Holocaust 
Memorial Center. 
I have attended many fund-
raisers, but never have I seen 
an event run so perfectly and 

so well attended. In a time of 
growing anti-Semitism, it was 
so powerful to be in a place 
that was dedicated to remem-
bering our horrific past and 
preventing future occurrences. 
 I listened and laughed when 
one of the presenters talked 
about our grandparents always 
pushing them to eat. At that 
moment I realized I never had 

letters

continued on page 10

The 
Jewi
sh 
Feder
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i
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maki
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The 
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ogr
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Jewi
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esi
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Detr
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For more information on both 

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visit our website: 

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