Torah Tricks

I met up with a former professor of mine at a joint off Snelling and Larpenteur last week. Over beer, I told him about my vision-quest across America, including my stay in Brownsville, Texas.

"Did I ever tell you about the Rabbi from Brownsville?" Professor S. asked.

"No. I don't think you have."

Professor S. laughed. "Well, I was at this Biblical education conference with a friend of mine, a Baptist minister I used to teach with." I raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask how I know him," he continued, "It's a long story. Anyway, we were talking on the steps of this desolate building on campus, playing hooky from whatever we were supposed to be doing at the conference, and this Rabbi from Brownsville finds us. He was playing hooky, too. He tells us some of his life story. He was this exile from New York, still had the Bronx accent, running what I can only assume is a small synagogue in Brownsville.

"We asked him about the conference and he said, 'Everything they're trying to teach us here is bullshit. If you really want to get the kids to learn Torah, you know what you use? Card tricks.' And he pulls a deck of cards out of his pocket and shows us a couple tricks. It was amazing. This vaudevillian Rabbi in Brownsville explaining, 'You do a couple card tricks, you mix in some Torah here and there, and you got 'em.' "

Professor S. laughed again. "So now you know why I tell so many jokes in class. While you're all laughing--Bam!--I throw in some Torah and you never know what hit you."