The Boy and the Bully

It is told that as a child, Yehonoson was walking to cheder early one morning when a teenage non-Jewish boy saw an easy victim, jumped on him and began beating him. At first the little boy cried. Then his sharp mind took over. “This is Esav, the wicked robber,” he thought, “and I will outwit him.”

“Stop, stop,” he cried, “and I will give you the money I have.” The bully let him get up. Yehonoson took two small coins from his pocket and handed them over. “Here,” he said. “Today is a Jewish holiday, and on this day any Jew who is beaten by a non-Jew must give him everything in his pockets.” The bully stared at him. “What fools you Jews are,” he said. “Who but you would have such a crazy custom?”

Pocketing the coins, the bully walked off, thinking that he had wasted his blow on a boy with nothing to take. He would have to find a wealthy Jew to beat, since such a chance would not come again for a long time. Just then he spotted what looked like the perfect victim: the leader of the Jewish community of Finsthov, the richest man in town.

Without a second thought the bully ran over and began to beat him mercilessly. A crowd quickly gathered, among them a policeman, who seized the bully, struck him a quick blow and dragged him off to jail. The bully could not understand what was happening. Why was he in jail? He had only been helping the Jews celebrate their holiday.

“Tell me,” said the policeman, “why did you hit the head of the Jewish community?” “It was not my fault,” the bully answered. “There is a Jewish holiday today when every Jew gives money to anyone who hits him.” The policeman looked at him in astonishment. “Who told you that?” he demanded.