Scene One—In the Closet
A soft grey sweater picked up its sleeve and whispered over
to its friends, "Hey guys, have I got news for you!" it
teased.
"What? What?" all the clothes in the closet asked in
unison.
"Well," the sweater enjoyed all the attention and wanted to
drag it out, "I just heard that the Very Busy Lady is soon
coming over to us and making a thorough organization of the
closet. It looks like some of us are about to be sent away,"
it added for drama.
All through the closet, sounds of ohhh and ahhh could be
heard. Then one Basic Navy Skirt spoke and said, "Naah, if
she had wanted to really send us away, then she would have
done it before Pesach while she was cleaning."
"Not necessarily," the sweater retorted. "Before Pesach she
didn't have time to really sort out what to keep or not.
After all, she is a Very Busy Lady. Everybody, don't get so
uptight," the sweater said, enjoying seeing everyone getting
edgy. The sweater felt very smug, since it was a relatively
new purchase and knew that 'the Very Busy Lady' didn't intend
to throw it out, but all the clothes started to speculate
what would happen to whom. "Well, I'm not afraid," declared
the Basic Navy Skirt, "the Very Busy Lady wears me
practically every other day. She wouldn't even think to throw
me out."
"You," the Classic Suit said, "you are so faded. Your color
is streaking and I do declare that you have a few pulled
threads. No, I'm sorry, Basic Navy Skirt, but you have
definitely seen better days."
The Basic Navy Skirt was livid but kept its temper down.
"`The Very Busy Lady will never notice. She wears me all the
time, unlike you, Classic Suit. When's the last time she wore
you, huh?" The Classic Suit wasn't going to take that hanging
on a hanger (not metal, of course). "Me? Me?" the Classic
Suit practically shreiked, "she saves me for special
occasions. We've all heard the Very Busy Lady say that I'm
too good to wear for just anything," the Classic Suit said
with the points of her collar in the air. All the clothes
were in an uproar over the Classic Suit's comments, with some
agreeing and others quite the opposite.
The sort of Out-of-Fashion blouse like to play the role of
peacemaker. "Everybody calm down. I'm sure it will be all
O.K. Don't worry, Basic Navy Skirt. The Very Busy Lady does
seem to enjoy wearing you." Then turning to the Classic Suit
who seemed to have the strongest opinions and asked, "What
about me? I'm still in good shape, although I am sort of out-
of-fashion. Do you think the Very Busy Lady will get rid of
me?" it asked nervously.
The Classic Suit enjoyed being defered to. It looked the sort-
of Out-of- Fashion blouse over and shook its shoulder pads.
"I'm very sorry to say this, but she will most likely be
getting rid of you. Your buttons are the wrong size and
shape. Your collar is cut wrong and your color hasn't been in
style in seasons. It's hopeless," the Classic Suit said with
authority. The sort-of Out-of-Fashion blouse thought it was
hopeless too, so she just kept quiet, trying to hold back the
tears.
Silence hung in the closet for a few moments and then the old
Bleached Stained Robe spoke up. "Well, I can imagine what the
Very Busy Lady will do to me. It's goodbye. Truthfully, it's
O.K. I'm getting rather tired of hanging around here. I've
served my purpose and now it's time to move on."
Everyone agreed that the old Bleached Robe would be one of
the first to go. It really did look dead, so to speak.
After that, the speculation continued. Throughout, the
Classic Suit sat in judgment over each piece of apparel.
Finally, the grey sweater, being a relatively newcomer to the
closet and annoyed at losing all the attention, spoke up,
"Who says you know everything, Classic Suit? Why do you think
you're so smart? I've never even seen the Very Busy Lady put
you on," it said indignantly. "Sweater, Sweater," the Classic
Suit said descendingly, "I see you have a few things to learn
around here. First of all, I've been with 'the Very Busy
Lady' since her sheva brachos. That automatically
makes me the authority. Secondly, I already said that she
saves me for only the most special occasions," the Classic
Suit said with pride.
"Just look at me," it continued. "Look at this fabric. None
of you are made with such exquisite cloth." All the other
clothes had to agree that their own materials were much
simpler by comparison. Then the Classic Suit continued, "My
cut is timeless. The skirt is neither too short nor too long,
not like some of you trendier items. My jacket is simple and
refined, what they call 'classic elegance.' "
With that, the Classic Suit felt she had said enough. In any
case, the Very Busy Lady had come into the room and was
opening the closet. All the clothes waited pensively to see
what would happen.
The Very Busy Lady opened the closet door and said, "I've
really put this job off for far too long. I must get this
closet organized, once and for all. Hmmm, where should I
start first?" She started to pick through the clothes,
occasionally throwing an article on the bed and saying, "It's
time for this to go." When she got to the grey sweater, she
said, "I only bought this sweater this winter." She quickly
put it back in the closet and moved on. None of the clothes
were surprised by this outcome.
Being a rather decisive woman, the Very Busy Lady quickly
went through her apparel. When she got to the old bleached
out robe she said, "I know that this robe is really dead, but
it's perfect for those really messy jobs when I don't want to
ruin anything else. Yes, it should just stay where it is."
All the clothes were amazed. Who would imagine that the Very
Busy Lady would want to keep such a faded, old, worn-out
robe? They were in such a tumult that they didn't pay so much
attention to the next few items.
Then the Very Busy Lady got to her sort-of out-of-style
blouse. "This blouse is really sort-of out of style," she
thought to herself, checking over the blouse. "The collar and
buttons are all wrong, and the color is really out. Hmm..."
she continued to consider the garment in question. "But it is
really in good shape and I actually like this color. Who says
all our clothes have to be up to date and in style? Nope, I
will keep it after all." Once again, the clothes were in an
uproar. The Very Busy Lady would actually want to keep a sort-
of out-of-style blouse? Impossible. As for the blouse,
herself, she was very relieved not to have been sent away.
Shortly thereafter, the Very Busy Lady came to her Basic Navy
Skirt. "This Basic Navy Skirt is a staple of my wardrobe. I
practically wear it every other day," the Very Busy Lady said
out loud. The Basic Navy Skirt was about to heave a sigh of
relief until she saw how the Very Busy Lady was scrutinizing
her. The Very Busy Lady started to mumble to herself, "I see
that this skirt has seen better days. The color has become
all faded and there are a few pulled threads. Yes, this skirt
has served me well, but its wearing days are over. Into the
pile it goes."
The Basic Navy Skirt looked miserable as she was tossed
aside. It didn't help that the Classic Suit whispered, "I
told you so."
The Very Busy Lady was basically done with her organizing,
when she came to her Classic Suit. "Oh what a Classic Suit,"
she cried in reminicense. "What beautiful, fine fabric and
look at the simple elegance of the design. It makes me think
back to those wonderful days of being a kallah."
The Very Busy Lady looked the suit over again and shouted out
loud, "A size six?!! I haven't been a size six in years. It's
really foolish of me to hang on to this when it could be of
use to someone else. Hmmm..." she considered, "No, I can't
think of anyone off-hand who could fit into it, but I'm sure
at the clothing gemach someone is bound to enjoy this
beautiful, Classic Suit." The Classic Suit was put on the bed
with all the clothes bound to be sent away. The Classic Suit
was in such shock, she couldn't move or say a thing. Inside
the closet, it was bedlam. The clothes could not believe what
had just happened. No one ever thought that the Very Busy
Lady would ever get rid of the Classic Suit, except for maybe
the new grey sweater...
The Very Busy Lady scooped up all the clothes, including the
Classic Suit, and put them in a big bag headed for the
gemach. The Basic Navy Skirt shouted over to the
Classic Suit, "Look, at least were in this together." That's
when the Classic Suit began to cry, "I can't believe this. I
just can't believe this. Me. Me, of all the apparel in the
closet, is being sent away with, with all these
shmattes," she sputtered. "This just can't be!"
But it really was, since being that, the Very Busy Lady was
such a busy lady, she immediately took her bag right over to
the gemach, where it waited to be sorted and disbursed
to the correct destinations. At first, the bag just sat and
waited with a number of bags. The bag didn't care; it was
just a bag. While most of the clothes resigned themselves to
their fate, the Classic Suit ranted and raved, "Me, an
elegant suit made of superior fabric, should be sitting with
all these shmattes! This is ludicrous."
It didn't take long until the volunteers started to sort out
the Very Busy Lady's bag. "Oh, here is a Basic Navy Skirt,"
one of the volunteers called out. "Yes," agreed another, "but
it is very faded and there are some pulled threads. Time for
the X bag." Just as she was being thrown into the X bag, the
Basic Navy Skirt called out to her friends, "Bye pals, good
luck to you all."
The Classic Suit was still too caught up in her own misery to
pay much attention to anyone else. She did think it was
appropriate that the Basic Navy Skirt was sent to the X bag.
"Well, at least they have some sense around here," she
thought in her superior tone. Soon it was the Classic Suit's
turn to leave the bag. Her buttons blinked after being in the
dark stuffy bag.
"Everyone, look what a lovely Classic Suit," one of the
volunteers commented. "Why would anyone want to get rid of
it?" she asked.
"My thoughts exactly," the Classic Suit thought miserably.
"Maybe it doesn't fit," another volunteer suggested, "after
all, it is a size six." Everyone thought that made sense.
None of the volunteers was a size six and couldn't think
offhand of any one who was. The Classic Suit was hung up on a
hanger and was sent to hang on the rack with other women's
suits. "All of inferior quality," thought the Classic
Suit.
A day went by and customers came and went. A few took note of
the Classic Suit but all shook their head when they saw it
was a size six. Mrs. Steinberg, an occasional shopper at the
clothing gemach, was sifting through the racks. She
was actually hoping to find a nice maternity outfit for her
own daughter, when she spotted the Classic Suit. "What a
beautiful, Classic Suit. So elegant, such fine material," she
said to herself.
Then suddenly Mrs. Steinberg had an idea. Why the neighbor's
daughter, Tzippora, is a kalla. She'd be the right
size for this. I'm sure she could use some sheva
brachos clothing. This would be perfect! It would really
help out her parents too, with all the wedding expenses.
Getting this suit for her would be real hachnossas
kallah.
Having finished her shopping, Mrs. Steinberg took her choices
to the cash register. Along the way, the Classic Suit began
to ponder the new role she was about to play. "Making a
kallah happy...it could be a real mitzva. I
guess I should be thankful for this opportunity."
