Monday, July 31, 2006

wiki-albert

my sister n. has just made a page for our father (who art in heaven, we hope) on wikipedia. while searching for it, i also found the following on a website for jewish humour, and thought you may enjoy it:

Rabbi Albert H. Friedlander of England's Westminster synagogue, who is known for his soft, melodious voice, often tells this story when visiting a community and preaching a sermon.

"Before I begin my sermon (talk), I must make a confession. It is not really a confession, because you have already begun to realize that I have a soft, quiet voice. To be honest: IT PUTS PEOPLE TO SLEEP. And why not? A fifteen minute snooze might help a congregant far more than anything else I can do for him or her.

However, I really object when the president of my congregation always falls asleep within two minutes of my starting the sermon. Once, I challenged him: "Max, WHY do you always fall asleep as soon as I begin to preach?" "Rabbi," he said firmly, "I trust you."

he told this story to the congregation at my installation in virginia a few years ago. a couple of weeks later, as i stood up to begin my sermon, mrs clayman called out from her seat in the second row, "don't worry, rabbi - i trust you!"

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