Playing the Jewish Piano
Piano, Playing the Jewish
Playing the Jewish Piano Some years ago, on a soft summer morning, my wife and I were shopping in a nearby hardware store. The man behind the counter was chatting KJdMfctrfUJI amiably with...
...Suddenly, I was 8 years old again, riding the school bus, as a girl in a blue parochial school uniform turns to me and says, "Jews have cloven hooves, you know...
...Suddenly, one of the man's remarks hit me like a hammer blow: "Yup," he said brightly to an elderly gentleman, "I've been playing the Jewish piano all morning long...
...It took me a minute to realize he meant the cash register...
...Playing the Jewish Piano Some years ago, on a soft summer morning, my wife and I were shopping in a nearby hardware store...
...His grandfatherly look and gold-rimmed spectacles gave the impression of a gentle and reflective soul...
...The man behind the counter was chatting KJdMfctrfUJI amiably with customers and stuffing bills into one of those old-fashioned cash registers that rings out with each exchange...
...As my wife's touch brought me back to the hardware store, I wondered which was the "right thing" to do: ignore the comment, or confront the man with his small-minded stereotype...
...I left the store in silence, not wishing to "cause a scene...
...The Talmud teaches us to bear insults with equanimity—but also to reprove an errant neighbor...
...Now I understand the truth I was hiding from myself...
...My silence was borne of convenience, and that a gentle, private reproof would have been an act of courage.— Ronald Pies...
Vol. 27 • August 2002 • No. 4
