The Three Sticks

Three friends, each with their own special skill, make Shabbat together every week—that is, until they get lost in the woods without time to find their way out before Shabbat begins. Luckily, they find a cottage inhabited by an old woman who magically sets up for Shabbat in an instant. The woman tells the three friends that they, too, can magically prepare for Shabbat, but only if they find and bring her back the exact right apple. Can they do it? Rabbi Phyllis Sommer, Director of Congregational Learning at Am Shalom in Glencoe, IL retells the story. For a written version of the story, see [italics: The Sabbath Walking Stick] in "A Coat for the Moon and Other Jewish Tales," selected and retold by Howard Schwartz and Barbara Rush.