Two beggars are sitting in front of a church in the Middle Ages.
One is wearing rusty knight’s armor with holes in it and a sign that says: “Please help a poor knight returned from the Crusades who fought for the Holy Land.”
The other has a long beard and sideburns, is wearing a skullcap and a Jewish prayer shawl and a sign that says: “Please help a poor Jew”.
As the mass ends in the church, worshippers poor out and pass the two beggars.
People give generously to the poor knight and nothing to the poor Jew. Several of the worshippers spit on the poor Jew and others kick him. It becomes obvious that
worshippers are digging deeper into their pockets than they otherwise would in giving to the knight just to show how much they despise the Jew.
Finally the priest comes out. Noticing the two beggars, he goes back into the church, comes back out with a casket, opens it and says: “To show you how much I
admire this poor knight, down on his luck after valiantly fighting the infidels in the Holy Land, and how much I hate Jews, I am going to give the entire proceeds of
today’s collection to the knight. As for you, dirty Jew, you must be the stupidest man alive to beg into front of a church! And I thought you Jews know how to make money! Ha!”
After a while, the two beggars get up and leave. As they are walking away, the Jew turns to the knight and says:
“Nu, Irving? This priest thinks he can tell US how to run a business?”