The Jewish Thing (first in a series)
Apr. 28th, 2013 11:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drwexI have a long post brewing inspired by my own son's bar mitzvah and a very different bar mitzvah I attended this past weekend. In an effort to make the post shorter and more accessible to everyone else I need to do some background explaining. This is the first part.
A man goes to a rabbi and says, "Rabbi I want to convert to Judaism."
Rabbi says, "You know we're not supposed to encourage converts and anyway being a Jew is a lot of hard work and you don't want to do this I'm sure."
The man replies, "No, rabbi, I'm sure. I've read a lot about it and I think I've found the right religion for me."
"Well," says the rabbi, "take this large stack of books and go read them then tell me what you think."
The man looks unhappy but he takes the books and off he goes.
A month later he's back in the rabbi's office. "Rabbi! Thank you so much! Those books were great! And I still want to convert."
"Hunh," says the rabbi. "Let's see if you learned anything. Answer me this: A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
The man thinks since it's a rabbi asking me the right answer must be, "The priest!"
The rabbi shakes his head and sighs sadly. The man looks dejected.
"OK, OK," says the rabbi. "Tell you what. You come to services, see if you fit in, join the men's club."
Off he goes.
A month later he's back in the rabbi's office again. "Rabbi! This is wonderful. I've been enjoying services and I made a couple new friends and I'm starting to feel like I really fit in. You have to let me convert."
"Well," says the rabbi, "can you answer my question?"
"Which question?"
"A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
OK, thinks the man, I got this. I gave the wrong answer last time so this time it has to be, "The rabbi!"
The rabbi shakes his head and sighs, sadly. The man looks bewildered.
"Rabbi," he says, "I don't understand! Last time I said it was the priest and that was wrong. This time I say the rabbi and it's still wrong! I don't get it."
The rabbi calls out, "Shmuel! Shmuel!" He beckons his student over.
"Yes, rabbi?"
The rabbi asks his student: "A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
"Nu?" says the student, "What were they doing on the roof in the first place?"
I love telling this joke because it encapsulates a very important thing about Judaism for me. Judaism is about questioning. If you read the texts literally, there's the usual stuff about obedience to G-d, but if you look at the stories you see that our history is full of people - very important people - who questioned, who disobeyed, who didn't just go along. Remember Moses and the burning bush? Moses is out there in the desert where he talks to the bush because he didn't want to do what he was told, so he ran. Remember Jonah, swallowed by the whale? He was swallowed by the whale because he didn't want to do what he was told. Remember Lot, in Gomorrah? Originally he's asked to find a large number of righteous people and instead of obeying he bargains G-d down to just 10 righteous people.
We're a culture that celebrates the questioning, the arguing. This is important background #1.
A man goes to a rabbi and says, "Rabbi I want to convert to Judaism."
Rabbi says, "You know we're not supposed to encourage converts and anyway being a Jew is a lot of hard work and you don't want to do this I'm sure."
The man replies, "No, rabbi, I'm sure. I've read a lot about it and I think I've found the right religion for me."
"Well," says the rabbi, "take this large stack of books and go read them then tell me what you think."
The man looks unhappy but he takes the books and off he goes.
A month later he's back in the rabbi's office. "Rabbi! Thank you so much! Those books were great! And I still want to convert."
"Hunh," says the rabbi. "Let's see if you learned anything. Answer me this: A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
The man thinks since it's a rabbi asking me the right answer must be, "The priest!"
The rabbi shakes his head and sighs sadly. The man looks dejected.
"OK, OK," says the rabbi. "Tell you what. You come to services, see if you fit in, join the men's club."
Off he goes.
A month later he's back in the rabbi's office again. "Rabbi! This is wonderful. I've been enjoying services and I made a couple new friends and I'm starting to feel like I really fit in. You have to let me convert."
"Well," says the rabbi, "can you answer my question?"
"Which question?"
"A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
OK, thinks the man, I got this. I gave the wrong answer last time so this time it has to be, "The rabbi!"
The rabbi shakes his head and sighs, sadly. The man looks bewildered.
"Rabbi," he says, "I don't understand! Last time I said it was the priest and that was wrong. This time I say the rabbi and it's still wrong! I don't get it."
The rabbi calls out, "Shmuel! Shmuel!" He beckons his student over.
"Yes, rabbi?"
The rabbi asks his student: "A priest and a rabbi are walking across a roof, there's a hole and one of them falls in. Which one?"
"Nu?" says the student, "What were they doing on the roof in the first place?"
I love telling this joke because it encapsulates a very important thing about Judaism for me. Judaism is about questioning. If you read the texts literally, there's the usual stuff about obedience to G-d, but if you look at the stories you see that our history is full of people - very important people - who questioned, who disobeyed, who didn't just go along. Remember Moses and the burning bush? Moses is out there in the desert where he talks to the bush because he didn't want to do what he was told, so he ran. Remember Jonah, swallowed by the whale? He was swallowed by the whale because he didn't want to do what he was told. Remember Lot, in Gomorrah? Originally he's asked to find a large number of righteous people and instead of obeying he bargains G-d down to just 10 righteous people.
We're a culture that celebrates the questioning, the arguing. This is important background #1.
