1. Moishe And The Pope 2. Poker Game 3. Top 10 reasons to become an orthodox Jew... 4. Gravy humor ------------------------------------------------------------- Moishe And The Pope About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave the Vatican. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community. If the Jew 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 middle-aged man named Moishe to represent them. Moishe asked for one addition to the debate. To make it more interesting, neither side would be allowed to talk. The pope agreed. The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay." An hour later, the cardinals were all around 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 Moishe. "What happened?" they asked. "Well," said Moishe, "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 city 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 Moishe. "He took out his lunch and I took out mine." ------------------------------------------------------------- Poker Game A rabbi, a minister, and a priest were playing poker when the police raided the game. Turning to the priest, the lead police officer said, "Father Murphy, were you gambling?" Turning his eyes to heaven, the priest whispered, "L*rd, forgive me for what I am about to do." To the police officer, he then said, "No, officer; I was not gambling." The officer then asked the minister, "Pastor Johnson, were you gambling?" Again, after an appeal to heaven, the minister replied, "No, officer; I was not gambling." Turning to the rabbi, the officer again asked, "Rabbi Goldstein, were you gambling?" Shrugging his shoulders, the rabbi replied, "With whom?" ------------------------------------------------------------- Top 10 reasons to become an orthodox Jew... 10. You will become an instant topic of conversation and amusement amongst all former friends 9. You will no longer have to eat your Aunt Harriet's homemade pork rinds 8. Bums, vagrants, total strangers and missionaries will strike up conversations with you on the subway about theology, philosophy and the meaning of life (if in New York add - while their accomplice steals your wallet) 7. You will never have to decide between chicken and beef on airline flights (except on El Al where there is no difference between them anyway) 6. You will become a close friend and confidant of all the staff at Food City Kosher Department 5. You will have the privilege of donating half your income to a Jewish day school (and your firstborn) 4. You will understand all of Jackie Mason's jokes 3. You will no longer have to agonize over French, Creole, Thai, Sushi, Italian or Indian cuisine. Your choice becomes upholstered cardboard (also known as kosher pizza), pseudo-Chinese, or triple-bypass deli sandwiches on rye (with added cholesterol and a pickle on the side) 2. Men - your bald spot will always be covered Women - you can have your hair done and it doesn't even have to be on your head 1. For one entire day every week you cannot be reached by phone, cellular, pager or E-mail ------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Gravy humor An elderly priest invited a young rabbi over for dinner. During the meal, the young rabbi couldn't help noticing how attractive and shapely the housekeeper was. Over the course of the evening he began to wonder if there might be more between the elderly priest and the housekeeper than met the eye. Reading the young rabbi's thoughts, the elderly priest volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you my relationship with my housekeeper is purely professional." About a week later the housekeeper came to the elderly priest and said, "Father, ever since your young rabbi friend came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful sterling silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose he took it do you?" The priest said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll write him a letter just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote: "Dear Rabbi: I'm not saying that you DID take a sterling silver gravy ladle from my house, and I'm not saying you DIDN'T take it. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here." Several days later the elderly priest received a letter from the young rabbi which read: "Dear Father: I'm not saying that you DO sleep with your housekeeper, and I'm not saying that you DON'T sleep with your housekeeper. But the fact remains that if you were sleeping in your own bed, you would have found the gravy ladle by now."