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<div class=Section1><pre><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>>> Phil: A question to ask the gift-givers: “What would you do if Ardeban (or <o:p></o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Governor Crist) sent you a wreath in return?”<o:p></o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>> R’ Sero: 1) What's wrong with a wreath?<o:p></o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>2) The fact is that Rebbi wasn't worried about anything like that.<o:p></o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Which would seem to be proof enough that no such worry is necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></font></pre>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#ffffcc" face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>(First, I truly apologize for spelling your
surname Zero instead of Sero. It was an honest case of birdwatching. Er, I mean
word-botching.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<ol style='margin-top:0in' start=1 type=1>
<li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=2
color=navy face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>What’s
wrong with a wreath? Well, in my town, if I were to put a wreath on my
door (as Governor Crist put a mezuzah on his door), I’d have a whole
lotta ‘splainin’ to do to my Jewish neighbors. My Christian
neighbors would start asking me when I received the light. (Not sure about
what a wreath meant in Rebbe’s time, but the gist of my question was
not about a wreath per se, but a symbol distinctive to another religion.) <o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='color:navy;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=2
color=navy face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Rebbe might not
have been worried, but he sure did get a negative reaction when Ardeban
saw the gift! Others might not have such a ready response as Rebbe did. Perhaps
Rebbe wasn’t worried about receiving a “wreath” in
return because he had already received the pearl from Ardeban. Everything
might have been different had Rebbe given his gift first, like the Jewish
representative in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florida</st1:place></st1:State>
did. Giving a gentile a mezuzah has “potentially sticky situation”
written all over it. I’d choose a basket of fruit instead.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ol>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.25in'><font size=2 color=navy
face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Other considerations:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.75pt;text-indent:.25in'><font size=2
color=navy face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>a. Could it
be that Ardeban kept the mezuzah in his night table as opposed to on the front door?
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.75pt;text-indent:.25in'><font size=2
color=navy face=Helvetica><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>b. Some
authorities are concerned about a non-Jew throwing away a parchment with God’s
name on it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>All the best, Phil<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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