OU TORAH Forgiveness: A Jewish Value By Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

This has got to be one of the oldest “rabbi” jokes in the entire repertoire of American Jewish humor. It tells us of the young rabbi, fresh from rabbinical school, who addresses his first several sermons to his new congregation on the varied subjects of meticulous Sabbath observance, refraining from malicious gossip, honesty in business, and the avoidance of inappropriately familiar behavior with other men’s wives. After these first several homiletic salvos, the president of the congregation approaches him with the suggestion that these topics are much too sensitive and have upset many of the synagogue’s members. The president urges the rookie rabbi to try to find some more acceptable topics to speak about.