On a very windy day, a rabbi was walking along when a strong gust of wind blew his hat off his head. The rabbi ran after the hat, but the wind was too strong. It kept blowing his hat farther and farther away. 

A kind young man, seeing what had happened, ran after the hat, caught it and gave it back to the rabbi. The rabbi was so grateful that he gave the young man 20 dollars and blessed him. The young man was so excited that he decided to go the race track and with the rabbi’s blessing, he decided to check the program and place the entire 20 dollars on a horse. 

After the races, he went home and recounted his very exciting day to his father. “I arrived at the fifth race and looked at the program. I saw this horse named ‘Top Hat’ was running. The odds on this horse were 100 to 1 but since I received the rabbi’s blessing, I bet the entire 20 dollars on ‘Top Hat’. Guess what? He won! In the next race, there was a horse named ‘Bowler’ at 30 to 1, so I bet the entire amount of my winnings on him, and guess what … I won again!” 

“So did you bring the money home?” asked his father. “No,” said the son, “I lost it all on the last race. There was a horse named ‘Chateau’ that was a heavy favorite so I bet everything on him, and since ‘Chateau’ means ‘hat’ in French I figured he was a sure thing.” “You fool!” said the father. “Hat in French is ‘chapeau,’ not ‘chateau!’” 

Sighing to himself, the father then asked, “So who did win the race?” “A real long shot,” said the son. “Some Spanish horse named ‘Sombrero’.”

An old man lived alone in the country. It was spring and he wanted to dig his tomato garden, as he had done every year, but it was very hard work for the aging man as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was currently in prison.

The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

“Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If only you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me. Love Dad.”

A few days later he received a letter from his son: “Dear Dad, Not for nothing, but don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried my weapons. Love, Vinnie.” 

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived at the old man’s house and dug up the entire area. However, they didn’t find any weapons, so they apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son: 

“Dear Dad, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love, Vinnie.”