"I once asked a newly-arrived Soviet Jewish refusenik what he thought of our Simchat Torah celebration." The man said it was fine, but better in Leningrad. Rabi Kushner, who admitted to being "curious and a little insulted," asked how it was better.
"'In Leningrad,' he explained, 'if you dance in front of the synagogue on Simchat Torah, you must assume that the secret police will photograph everyone. This means that you will be identified and sooner or later your employer will be notified. And since such a dance is considered anti-Soviet, you must be prepared to lose your job! And so you see,' he went on, 'to dance on such an occasion, this is a different kind of dance.'"
Annie Dillard
For The Time Being
Chapter Six
Birth
Pretty awesome. Though I must admit that I was a bit disappointed when it turned out not to be a joke, as I thought it was going to be when I started reading it :)
ReplyDeleteoh! I'll look for a joke to post... hrmmmmm I don't really know any jokes :-/ ::thinking cap::
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