A gentleman was sitting home with his wife on Rosh Hashanah morning when suddenly his wife took ill.  The fellow quickly dialed the doctor and was greeted by a friendly answering service operator who told him that the Doctor was not in the office today but, if he wished, he could leave a message and be called back by the physician on call.

“Of course the Doctor is not available” he thought “our doctor is Jewish and today is Rosh Hashanah”

The fellow insisted that the on call physician would not do. His wife had to be seen by her doctor, and seen today!

Just then the man remembered that this doctor was a member of a congregation across town and could certainly be found there.

The couple quickly made their way across town to the Synagogue. The wife waited in the car as her husband ran in to fetch the doctor.

As he approached the door to the synagogue, the gentleman was met by a rather large, yet friendly, security guard who kindly asked: “may I please see your ticket?”

“I don’t have a ticket” replied the man.

“I’m sorry sir” said the guard “but if you don’t have a ticket, you can’t come in!”

The fellow told the security guard that he didn’t want to stay, and that he just wanted to go in for a minute.

The guard began to grow annoyed and remained firm: “if you don’t have a ticket, you can’t go in.”

Finally the desperate man broke down and told the guard the whole story. “My wife is ill, she needs the doctor, and she needs him now!”

The guard looked at the poor man and said: “I really shouldn’t do this, and I could lose my job but I’m going to give you one minute. Go in, get the doctor and get out!”

The man profusely thanked the guard and began to enter the synagogue, but before he could get through the threshold of the door he felt the guard grab him by his collar. The security guard pulled the man close, stared him in the eyes and told him: “Sir, I had better not catch you praying!”

Ha-okay maybe it’s in the delivery.

Rumor has it that it’s tough to get a High Holiday seat in DC this year, and that some places are “sold out.”

If you don’t have a place please let us know. Mesorah DC would be happy to make room for you.

By the way, should you need a ticket to attend High Holiday services anyway? Just pondering!