Jews and Queues
Some religions and religious believers find it hard to laugh at themselves, so I was delighted to read this joke about 'Jews and queues' which appeared in The Times the other day courtesy of a regular columnist, Daniel Finkelstein.
Jews and queues
The best jokes, I think, are the ones that come to life.
There’s a story from the Soviet era about a queue outside a bread shop. It assembles in the early morning but after it has been there only a few minutes an official arrives. “Comrades,” he says. “The bread supply is short today and has been delayed. There will be no bread for the Jews. Others may stay.” The Jews, disconsolate, leave. The rest carry on queuing.
An hour passes and the official reappears: “Comrades there is further news about the bread. Due to shortages there will be bread only for party members and their families. The rest of you should leave”. Non-members leave. The rest carry on queuing.
Then, after a further hour the official has more information: “Comrades, today there will only be enough bread for members of the local committee. Those not attached to the committee must go home.”
Finally, after the committee families have been queuing for more than two hours, the official makes one last announcement: “Dear friends, now that we are just us, I feel free to tell you that there has been a complete failure in production. Today there will be no bread at all.”
And as they all leave, breadless and cold from all their queuing, one comrade turns to another and says: “Bloody Jews. They have all the luck.”
Last week, after the murders at the kosher supermarket in Paris I saw this comment on Twitter: “Why do the Jewish deserve a tag about anti-Jewish prejudice? How come no other ethnic groups have tags like ‘antisemitism’.”
Quite right. Bloody Jews. They have all the luck.
