Five major cosmetic companies were founded by Jews in recent history:

- Revlon
- Max Factor
- Helena Rubinstein
- Faberge
- Estee Lauder

Why should Jewish entrepreneurs enter the business of beauty enhancement?

They must have studied the Talmud (Baba Kama 82) which recounts the regulations instituted by the Scribe Ezra upon leading the Jewish Nation back to Israel in 424 BCE following the Babylonian exile. Among Ezra's mandates was that merchants should travel throughout Israel selling cosmetics to endear husbands and wives!

2) PASS THE LADDER AND THE MUSTARD, PLEASE

We are accustomed to deli selections that derive from farm favorites like the cow and lamb. However, why do we have to be so boxed in by our kosher purveyors? The Torah records that kosher delicacies available to the carnivorous public include meat from the gazelle, roe deer, antelope, and buffalo.

Personally, I would prefer to make a nice 15-foot deli sandwich from the giraffe. This animal possesses the kosher signs - it has cloven hooves and regurgitates its food. But because the neck is so long, the exact spot of shechita (kosher slaughter) is not known. So for now, we will have to appreciate the giraffe solely for its aesthetic value on the Serengeti plains in Tanzania and in the local zoo.

3) AND FOR THE STAR TREK CROWD...

Can you name the three Jewish members of the Enterprise Crew?

Mr. Spock - Leonard Nimoy
Captain Kirk - William Shatner
Ensign Pavel Chekhov - Walter Koenig

4) MAIMONIDES' EIGHT LEVELS OF CHARITY

1. The highest level of charity is giving a gift, a loan, or a job so that another person can become financially independent.

2. The next level is giving anonymously - in such a way that the donor does not know the identity of the recipient, nor the recipient that of the donor.

3. Where the donor knows the identity of the recipient, but the recipient does not know the donor. (This spares the recipient embarrassment.)

4. Where the recipient knows the donor, but the donor does not know the recipient. (Since the donor cannot be thanked, the giving is with purer motives.)

5. Giving money directly to a poor person before he asks.

6. Giving after the poor person asks.

7. Giving less than the proper sum, but cheerfully.

8. And the lowest level (yet still better than nothing)... is giving begrudgingly.