Ethel Frinklesten made her way somewhat unsteadily to Rabbi Jacob’s door. The synagogue was only a few blocks from her apartment in Uptown Manhattan. "A good thing too", she thought. In the state she was in she wouldn’t have been able to make it much further without help. And who did she have to help anyway? No, it was better that she go alone.

Rabbi Jacob opened the door at the first ring. There stood a tiny old woman with white hair and amazing blue eyes. Her body was old, but her eyes were the eyes of an inquisitive child. Right now her eyes were full of tears though. He moved aside to allow her entry .

"What can I do for you Mrs Frinklesten? You said you needed me to pray for you? May I ask what is troubling you?"Ethel regarded the Rabbi for a moment. Should she tell him? Would he be able to help? Could anybody?
Finally she took a deep breath and blurted "Rabbi, I need to confess my deepest sin.""Oh, it is not any of the named ones" she said hastily," but one that has caused a lot of confusion and disruption in others lives. You see I do things -blunder into situations and there is always a lot of chaos."

"What kind of things are you talking about Mrs Frinklesten", the Rabbi asked.The old lady looked down with shame.�?You see I do these things unintentionally. I’ll give you an example.�?/P>

"For instance, the other day I went to the bank and drove into the drive -in banking lane the wrong way.
The driver of the other car and I were face to face, and she began to scream obscenities at me which in turn caused my dog to bark stridently . The lady in the drive- in window was laughing hysterically. It sounded like the midway at the circus! In the meantime, the lady in the other car deliberately rammed her car into mine. The security guard called the police and they came and gave us both citations- her for using profanity in a public place and me for being a public nuisance! That should have been the end of it but it wasn’t.�?/P>

Rabbi Jacob was making a Herculean effort to keep a straight face. He said “It wasn’t? “No “said Ethel.�?Of course I went home and told Mr. Frinkelsten about it and while he was yelling about what an incompetent fool I was, he slipped and fell into a bucket of wood stain that he had been using to redo our floors.�?He broke two ribs, his wrist and he is now the color of Cherry Wood and they can’t get it off of him.�?/P>

Rabbi Jacob replied, in a strangled voice,�?I see. What else?”Ethel began to cry in earnest now.�?Well, you see the children are upset with me . They say their father looks like he belongs in front of a Tobacco store wearing feathers and now their mother has a record. They say I have made my whole family a laughing stock and that when I die, God will tell me so!"

Somberly the Rabbi replied “Mrs. Frinklesten, you do not need my prayers. God must be very bored in Heaven. I’ll bet He can’t wait for you and your ‘sin�?to get there�? Ethel smiled uncertainly and said "Well, Rabbi, I do have more stories for you. You may change your mind about that!
 

Anita Callender2003

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