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HUMOR PAGES
CLOSER TO GOD
PBS film critic and columnist Michael Medved has
shared this anecdote out of his Jewish heritage . . .
A few years ago, Rabbi Jacob Karmenetzky made a trip
to Israel accompanied by his teenage grandson.
Ironically, these two deeply religious people were seated in the
airplane next to a prominent Israeli socialist leader
and outspoken atheist.
On the flight, the cynical atheist traveler couldn't
help noticing the way the teenage boy attended to the
needs of his aged, bearded grandfather.
He got up to get the old man a glass of water, helped
him remove his shoes and put on some slippers, and
otherwise demonstrated that the rabbi's comfort
represented his primary concern.
At one point, as the boy got up for yet another
errand on behalf of the old man, the atheist could
contain himself no longer. "Tell me something," he
asked the rabbi. "Why does your grandson treat you
like some kind of a king? I have a grandson, too, but
he wouldn't give me the time of day."
"It's very simple," the old man replied. "My grandson
and I both believe in a God who rules the universe and
created all things, including the first man. That
means that in the boy's eyes, I'm two generations
closer to the hand of God Himself. But in the eyes of
your grandson, you're just two generations closer to a
monkey."
