Quote 5 of 13

From The Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten

An official broght the chief rabbi of a town before the Court of the
Inquisition and told him, “We will leave the fate of your people to
God.  I'm putting two slips of paper in this box.  On one is written
`Guilty.'  On the other is written `Innocent.'  Draw.”

Now the inquisitor was known to seek the slaughter of all the Jews,
and he had written “Guilty” on both pieces of paper.

The rabbi put his hand inside the box, withdrew a slip of paper---and
swallowed it.

“What are you doing?” cried the inquisitor.  “How will the court
know---”

“That's simple,” said the rabbi.  “Examine the slip that's in the
box.  If it reads `Innocent,' then the paper I swallowed obviously
must have been `Guilty.'  But if the paper in the box reads `Guilty,'
then the one I swallowed must have read `Innocent.' ”
		-- _The Joys of Yiddish_, p. 109

Tags: god fate jews slaughter inquisition inquisitor slipofpaper slipsofpaper chiefrabbi joysofyiddish