The Rabbi's Hat

A rabbi was walking down the street when, suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew his streimel (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 just couldn't catch up with it.

A young gentile man, witnessing this event and being more fit than the rabbi, ran after the hat and caught it. The young gentile man handed the hat over to the rabbi. The rabbi was so pleased and grateful that he gave the man twenty dollars, put his hand on the man's head and blessed him.

The young man was very excited about both the tip and the blessing and decided to take his new found wealth to the racetrack. He bet the entire $20 on the first race that he could. After the races the young man returned home and recounted his very exciting day at the races to his father.

"I arrived at the fifth race," said the young man."I looked at the racing program and saw a horse by the name of Top Hat was running. The odds on this horse were 100 to 1, the longest shot in the field. After saving the rabbi's hat, having received the rabbi's blessing and $20, I thought this was a message from God. So I bet the $20 on Top Hat. An amazing thing happened. The long shot with little chance to even show came in first by 5 lengths!"

"You must have made a fortune," said the father.

"Well yes, $2,000. But in the next race a horse by the name of Stetson was running with odds of 30 to 1. Stetson being some kind of hat I decided to bet all my winnings on this horse."

"What happened?" asked the excited father.

"Stetson came in like a rocket. Now I had $60,000!"

"Are you telling me you brought home all this money?" asked his excited father.

"Well, in the next race I bet everything on a horse named Chateau because that's French for hat. But Chateau broke down and came in last. I lost everything."

"You moron," cried the father. "Hat in French is Chapeau, not Chateau. You lost everything due to your ignorance! Tell me, what horse won the race?"

"A long shot from Japan named Yarmulke."