". . . .let me tell you what happened to one of my teachers, a great rabbi. On a trip to Israel, he found himself seated next to one of the headsof the Israeli socialist labor movement. Soon after the plane took off, one of my teacher’s students, seated several rows behind, came forward and said, 'Rabbi, let me take your shoes; I have your slippers here. You know howyour feet swell on the airplane.' A few minutes later, the student returned and said, 'Here are the sandwiches your wife sent. I know you do not like the airline food.' This went on in similar fashion for sometime, and finally the head of Israel’s socialist labor movement turned to my teacher and said, 'I don’t get this. I am so impressed with your son. I have four sons. They’re grown now. But in all my life I don’t recall them ever offering to do anything at all for me. Why is your son doing all of this?' And the rabbi said, 'He isn’t my son, he’s my student. Had my son been here you would really have seen service. But you must not blame yourself. Your sons are faithful to your teachings, and my sons are faithful to my teachings. It is simple, you see. You made the decision to teach your sons that you are descended from apes. That means that you are one generation closer to the ape than they. And that means that it is only proper and appropriate that you acknowledge their status and that you serve them. But, you see, I chose to teach my sons that we came from God Himself. And that puts me one generation closer to the Ultimate Truth, which means it is only appropriate that they treat me accordingly."
(America's Real War
By Rabbi Daniel Lapin
Multnomah Pub. Inc. (1999) :51-52)
No comments:
Post a Comment