Community Magazine October 2012

LOST IN TRANSLATION While on a business trip to New York, Jerry, an Englishman, was chatting with his cab driver on the way to the airport. The cab driver asked him a riddle. “My mom and dad had a baby. It wasn’t my brother. It wasn’t my sister. Who was it?” Jerry thought for a moment, but eventually gave up. “I don’t know, who was it?” The cab driver responded, “It was me!” Jerry laughed and thought the riddle was very clever. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell it to his family and friends in England. When he arrived home, two of his friends met him at the airport. Before they could even say their hellos, he asked them, “My mom and dad had a baby. It wasn’t my brother. It wasn’t my sister. Who was it?” His friends thought about it for a while, until they gave up. “Who was it?” they asked. Smiling as he gave them the answer, Jerry said, “It was a cab driver I met in New York.” Michael Levy COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN A Swiss man, looking for directions, pulls up at a bus stop where two Americans, Joey and David are waiting. “Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?” he asks. The two Americans just stare at him. “Excusez-moi, parlez vous Fracais?” he tries. The two continue to stare. “Parlare Italiano?” No response. “Hablan ustedes Espanol?” Still nothing. Frustrated, the Swiss guy drives off in a huff. Joey turns to David and says, “Y’know, maybe we should learn a foreign language.” “Why?” David asked. “That guy knew four languages, and it didn’t do him any good.” Shlomo Schweky LUCKY STRIKE As a jet was flying over Arizona on a clear day, the copilot was providing his passengers with a running commentary about landmarks over the PA system. “Coming up on the right, you can see the Meteor Crater, which is a major tourist attraction in northern Arizona. It is believed to have been formed when a lump of nickel and iron, roughly 150 feet in diameter and weighing 300,000 tons, struck the earth thousands of years ago at about 45,000 miles an hour, scattering white-hot debris for miles in every direction. The hole measures nearly a mile across and is 570 feet deep.” “Wow,” The lady sitting next to me exclaimed as she pointed out the window. “Look, it just missed the highway!” Jack v. Grazi HORSE AND RIDER A beginner rider at the stables was trying to saddle a horse. “Excuse me,” said the old rancher, “but you are putting that saddle on backwards.” “How do you know?” snapped the student. “You don’t know which way I’m going!” Michael Levy PACKING THE PIANO Mr. and Mrs. Thomas had just reached the airport in the nick of time to catch the plane for their two-week vacation in Europe. As they approached the security checkpoint, Mr. Thomas shook his head and said, “I wish we’d brought the piano with us.” “The piano?!” Mrs. Thomas said with disbelief. “What on earth for?” Turning back towards the exit, Mr. Thomas explained, “I left our passports on it.” Steven Sutton Riddle: Bear Country SUBMITTED BY: David Cohen Walking in a deserted area, Harry encountered a bear. Both were frightened and ran away. Harry ran directly to the north, the bear ran directly to the west. After a few minutes, the fellow stopped, took our his binoculars and pointed them directly to the south. Through the binoculars he saw the very same bear. What color was the bear? Last Month’s Riddle: Recess with 7 and 11 On the first day of school, Rabbi Schweky decided to give his first grade class a 15 minute recess break after lunch. But because his watch had stopped, he would need to time the break using sandglasses from the science lab. Using a 7- and an 11-minute sandglass, how can Rabbi Schweky measure exactly 15 minutes? Solution: When the test began, Rabbi Schweky turned both the 7- and 11-minunte sandglasses. After the 7-minunte sandglass spilled its last grain, he turned it upside down (leaving the 11-mi- nunte sandglass to spill sand for another 4 minutes). When the 11-minunte sand-glass was emptied, he turned the 7-minute sand- glass (which had by then spilled exactly 4 minutes of sand) upside down for the last time to measure the last 4 minutes. Solved by: Aaron Shweky, H. Soleimani, Ezra Sasson, Victor Grazi Junior Riddle: Man Mover SUBMITTED BY: Isaac Tawil At the airport, Eddie starts walking 2.5 miles per hour (mph) at the beginning of a long moving sidewalk that is going 2.5 mph. Meanwhile, at the end of the moving sidewalk, David starts walk- ing on the moving sidewalk in the wrong direction towards Eddie at 3.5 mph. How far will Eddie be from David 60 seconds before they meet? Last Month’s Junior Riddle: Street Smarts Why are manhole covers round? List as many reasons as you can. Solutions: 1. Round covers can’t fall into the hole, whereas covers with shapes that have corners can. Round covers can be moved easily by rolling them – even if they are too heavy to carry. 2. Round covers do not need to be rotated to align with the manhole. 3. Round covers require less metal to cover an opening wide enough for a person to get through. 4. Round holes are easier to drill than any other shape. 5. Round tubes are the strongest and most efficient shape to resist compression when buried. Solved by: Chani Andy SEND YOUR SOLUTIONS! mobile: Scan the QR code at right online: go.CommunityM.com/riddle email: riddles@Community M .com facsimile: 718-504-4246 postal mail: 1616 Ocean Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11223 Correct solutions received by the 20 th of each month will be noted in the next issue. ! TISHREI 5773 OCTOBER 2012 89