Treats 'n Trivia Success
Motzai Shabbos 10th December brought players together from across the globe, to take part in the 3rd Annual Treats and Trivia Melava Malka Quiz in aid of Zir Chemed. The idea for this fund raising evening was the brainstorm of Jerusalem Zir Chemed and the funds will go to help finance a laboratory to help infertile couples. This year’s efforts are dedicated to the memory of Shmuel Eliyahu Mett Hy”D, whose sister Devorah Rabinowitz is the Director of Friends of Zir Chemed and has worked enthusiastically for it in past years as well as this year following the tragic murder of her younger brother in the Old City. Devorah is my niece; Shmuel was my nephew. This brings an even more poignant importance to the evening I attended
Over three thousand players internationally gathered at host houses in groups of ten to enjoy a delicious Melava Malka and to battle with a specially prepared quiz, the results of which had to be emailed or faxed in by one am.
My husband and I attended one at the home of my daughter and her husband, Tammy and Allan Becker. Two of our other daughters were also hosting Melava Malkes locally in aid of Zir Chemed, and a third was attending one hosting by her friends. Tammy and Allan had a mixed crowd of friends, parents (us and Allan’s mother) and their aunt and uncle; Shmuel Mett’s parents.
Tammy had prepared a delicious and elegant Melava Malka supper. After the main course we started tackling the quiz; the questions of which were varied in difficulty and subject matter. As Devorah had told me, there was something for everyone. Even the shopaholic amongst us could enjoy deciding which designer handbags were photographed. My husband and brother in law Percy Mett went through the Torah based questions like a knife through butter but we all came unstuck at some of the general knowledge questions. The rules stipulated that no internet searches could be conducted backup but nothing was said about using reference books. We were later to find out that our pathetic attempts to answer the quiz questions on our own were totally outstripped by those of at least one of our other daughter’s groups; who “phoned a friend” many times and used encyclopaedias to good effect. I was amused to discover that when they phoned a friend who happened to be a doctor, it didn’t elicit the right answer to a medical based query! It made us feel better about our own shortcomings in the knowledge department, anyway!
We didn’t do very well in the scores; I suppose we lacked the killer instinct and just got on with having a relaxing and enjoyable evening for a most worthwhile cause. When I look at my own children and grandchildren, and our newest addition; our first great-grandchild, I know how very blessed we are, and how some couples are still waiting for the fruition of that blessing. Here’s hoping that this project and others like it, will help Zir Chemed to achieve that goal for as many couples as possible.
Ruthie Pearlman.