s a young child growing up on the West Side of Manhattan, there really wasn’t a lot to do on Chol Hamoed Pesach. There was no Great Adventures, no Uncle Moishy concerts, and who really cared about going to the auto show? Sometimes, if we were really lucky, Pesach came out during the run of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
About 15 years ago, I received a phone call from my old friend Rabbi Raphael Wallerstein, who I had known since growing up on the West Side. He was putting together a fundraiser for his yeshivah, and he wanted to book some entertainment. We arranged a show, the event was a success, and the following year, he called me again. Then in the middle of the conversation, he mentioned that he was in touch with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, but he realized that there would be no way that he would be able to come close to filling 20,000 seats in Madison Square Garden.
I asked him, “How many seats do you have to sell to break even?” He replied, “Approximately 6,000 seats.” I told him that in my estimation, if he did it on Chol Hamoed and made sure there would be all-male performers, he would sell more than 6,000 seats the same day the tickets went on sale.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I’m not sure of anything,” I replied, “but if you don’t do the show, I will.” The next thing I knew, we were in Madison Square Garden, signing the contract and preparing for the show. Besides for the circus, we also added the beloved Avraham Fried, the amazing Dedi [Israeli singer Dedi Graucher] and everyone’s favorite uncle, Uncle Moishy.
Create a free account to keep reading.
