בבא מציעא צח

The ruler of a region in Europe issued a decree requiring the Jews to select a representative to debate the Bishop. If the Bishop won, the Jews would be expelled. If the Jews won, they could remain. The Jews prayed and fasted for three days and couldn’t determine whom to select as their representative. Finally, a simple, uneducated, but pious tailor volunteered to debate the Bishop. All were stunned, but there was no one else willing to take on the challenge and thus, the tailor was selected. At the appointed time, the tailor said to the Bishop, “I understand that you speak לשון הקודש.” The Bishop responded in the affirmative. “My first question to you is ‘What is the meaning of the words אינני יודע?'” The Bishop replied “I don’t know.” A murmur swept through the crowd and the simple tailor was declared the winner. When the stunned Jews asked him what happened, he explained: “I looked in the dictionary for the meaning of the words אינני יודע and it said ‘I don’t know.’ So I figured ‘if the dictionary doesn’t know, the Bishop surely won’t know.”

06/10/2021