שבועות מז

In an era when public gambling was prohibited, a police officer found a Russian, a Pole and a Jew in a public place sitting round a table holding playing cards.  The officer wanted to arrest them but they all denied that they had been gambling.  It never happened, they said.  We weren’t playing cards.  The cards were there because they planned on taking them home to play.  The policeman said:  “Swear that you weren’t playing and I’ll let you go.”  The Russian swore and was let go. The Pole swore and was let go.  The Jew didn’t want to swear.  He said to the officer: “Since they weren’t playing, do you think I was doing so alone?”

06/10/2021