A New Joke to Start Your Day: The Rabbi and the Pope

A few centuries ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave Italy. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope agreed to have a religious debate with a Rabbi selected by the Jewish community. If the Rabbi won, the Jews could stay. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave.

The Jews realized that they had no choice. So they picked a wise Rabbi to represent them, but they asked for one condition to be met. Since the Rabbi didn't speak Italian or Latin and the Pope didn't speak Hebrew or Yiddish, neither side would be allowed to talk. They would use only hand gestures. The pope agreed.

The day of the great debate came. The Rabbi and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. The Rabbi looked back at him and raised one finger.

The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. The Rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat.

The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. The Rabbi pulled out an apple.

The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This Rabbi is too smart. The Jews can stay."

An hour later, the cardinals surrounded the Pope, asking him what happened.

The Pope said: "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"

Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around the Rabbi. "What happened?" they asked. "Well," said the Rabbi, "First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole country would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here."

"And then?" asked a woman.

"I don't know," said the Rabbi. "He took out his lunch and I took out mine."