The Rabbi's Hat

Once, on a very windy day, a rabbi was on his way to the schul.Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew his fur hat off his head. The rabbi ran after his hat but the wind was so strong it kept blowing his hat farther and farther away. He could not catch up with it.

A young man, a gentile, witnessing this event and being more fit than the rabbi, ran after the hat, caught it and handed it over to the rabbi.The rabbi was so happy and grateful that he gave the man five dollars, put his hand on the man's head, and blessed him. The young man was very excited about the tip and also the blessing so he decided to head to the racetrack and bet his 5 unexpected dollars.

After the races the young man returns home and recounted his most exciting day at the races to his father. "I arrived at the fifth race," said the young man, "looked at the racing program, and saw a horse by the name of 'Top Hat' running. The odds on the horse were 100 to 1 ... the longest shot in the field.

Having received the rabbi's blessing and the 5 dollars and thinking of the rabbi's hat and the horse's name being Top Hat, I thought this was a message from God, so I bet the entire 5 dollars on this horse. An amazing thing happened, the horse that was the longest shot in the field and who did not have the slightest chance to ever show came in first by 5 lengths. I won $500."

"That is so great - you made a fortune," said the father. "Yes, $500, but wait, it gets better," replied the son. "On the following race, I looked at the program. A horse by the name of Stetson was running.The odds on the horse were 30 to 1. Stetson being some kind of hat and again thinking of the rabbi's blessing and his hat, I decided to bet all my winnings on this horse."

"What happened?" asked the excited father. "The horse Stetson won and I collected $15,000 in cash. Can you imagine how I felt. I was never more excited in my life."

"My God son, you mean you brought home this kind of money?" asked his excited father.

"No," said the son, "I lost it all on the next race. The heavy favorite horse in this race was named 'Chateau' so I bet all the money on it because the name means hat in French and it all started with the rabbi's hat. But hell the horse broke down and he came in last."

"Idiot! Hat in French is 'Chapeaux' not 'Chateau'. said the father.You lost all that money because you are so ignorant. You really blew it.

Imagine what you almost had. Well, tell me who won the race anyway?"

"It was another real long shot, some Japanese horse named 'Yamaka*'.