Bill Gates advertised for a new chairman of Microsoft Europe. 5000 candidates showed up at the job screening. Among them was Maurice Cohen, a small, bearded, speckled Jew. Bill Gates thanked the candidates for coming but asked all those who are not familiar with the JAVA programming language to leave. 2000 people rose and left the room. Maurice Cohen said to himself, “I don’t know this language but what have I got to lose if I stay? I’ll give it a try.” Gates then asked all those who have no experience of managing teams of more than 100 people to leave. Another 2000 people left. Maurice Cohen said to himself, “I have never managed anybody but myself but what have I got to lose if I stay? What can happen to me?” Then, Bill Gates asked all candidates who do not have outstanding academic qualifications to rise and leave; 500 people removed themselves. Maurice Cohen said to himself, “I left school at 15 but what have I got to lose if I stay? So he remained in the room. Lastly, Bill Gates asked all of the candidates who do not speak the Serbo-Croat language to rise and leave; 498 people rose and left the room. Maurice Cohen said himself, “I don’t speak Serbo-Croat but what the heck! Have I got anything to lose?” He found himself alone with one other candidate. Everyone else had gone. Bill Gates joined them and said: “Apparently, you are the only two candidates who know JAVA, have managed large teams of employees, have advanced PhD degrees, and who can speak Serbo-Croatian. I’d like to hear you converse with one another in Serbo-Croatian.” Calmly, Maurice turned to the other candidate and said to him: “ברוך אתה השם.” The other candidate answered: “אלוקינו מלך העולם.”
06/10/2021