After the Shabbos morning tefilla, Mr. Cohen was about to head home, but before he left the shul, he overheard two young men talking:
“Moishy - let’s go and find kiddush somewhere, since we have nowhere to go for lunch.”
Moishy agreed, and said, “Yes, Chaim. Let’s do that!”
“Good Shabbos! You look like guests in our community,” said Mr. Cohen to Moishy and Chaim. “Would you like to join my family for Shabbos seuda?” he asked them. The young men happily agreed.
When kids saw Abba walk in with two guests, they became filled with joy. But when they started setting up two extra settings on the table, they realized that the table will not fit everyone.
“This table has an extension board that we can insert in the middle of the table,” said the oldest brother Levi. “But the question is if we can do that on Shabbos.”
Question: Can the table be extended?
Hints & Answers
SHMIRAS SHABBOS: Sefer Shemiras Shabbos Kehilchosa (24:25) teaches: “It is permitted to extend a table with the help of a board that’s designated for this purpose. And it is permitted to push the pegs of that board into the holes of the table that are there for that purpose.” (It’s important to mention that one should not apply (on his own, without consulting with a Rav) the above-mentioned halacha to other cases where an object needs to be extended/assembled, since the laws of makkeh b’patish and ohel and intricate and complex.)
RHYME: “branch”.
RIDDLES: The word שָׁכַנְתִּי can be broken into two words: תי שכנ - “He dwelled [for] 410 [years]”. Also, rearranging the letters of the word שָׁכַנְתִּי can be formed into two words: שני תכ - “The second [Temple stood for] 420 [years]”. [based on the commentaries of the Ba’al HaTurim]
*Note: Menucha’s answer are not to be taken as final decisions in halacha.
