A space for prayer
NASA has sent many shuttles to orbit the earth and attempts to include passengers of all races, colors and creeds. One day, they realized they hadn’t invited anyone from the clergy, so they invited a priest and a rabbi to orbit the earth.
Upon their return, the two were asked to go straight to the media room to give the world their impressions of the experience.
The priest came into the room with a smile on his face. His statement was full of joy. He said, “It was totally amazing. I saw the sun rise and set. I saw the beautiful oceans. I’m truly in awe.”
But the rabbi came into the room completely disheveled. His beard was tangled, his kippah was askew and his tallit was creased. The reporters asked him whether he enjoyed the experience.
He threw his hands in the air and said, “Enjoy? Oy vay, you must be joking. How could I find time to enjoy? Every few minutes the sun was rising and setting! So it was on with the tefillin, off with the tefillin, mincha, maariv, mincha, maariv … oy gevalt.”
© david minkoff
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California