The Rabbi, The Mullah and the Nun
One of my earliest memories is the train ride from Poland to Germany when I was 3 years old in 1948. I recall vividly that it was very late at night and some of the travelers in the car were trying to figure out how to turn off the light in the ceiling because they wanted to go to sleep. Apparently there was no shutoff switch accessible to passengers and so I saw one fellow get on the shoulders of another and wrap a thick paper bag around the light fixture.
The resulting light was dimmed enough to make sleep possible. I fell asleep along with my parents.
I believe the reason this scene stayed in my mind all these years was because there was quite a commotion and yelling until the problem was solved and I do remember thinking to myself there and then how clever they were to climb on top of each other to reach the light fixture.
I have ever since been the sort of person who engages in conversation with strangers on trains, planes, and bus trips. Nothing teaches me more about other people than to be talking with someone who can't leave for a few hours.
The light in the middle of that train trip brings to mind the following story I heard years ago. It's a train journey that teaches us how people from different faiths view the world and their place in it.
The Train Journey
Rabbi Moishe, Mullah Nasruddin and a Nun were sitting together in a carriage in a train going through Jerusalem.
Suddenly the train went through a tunnel. As it was an old style train, there were no lights in the carriages and it went completely dark. Then there was this kissing noise and the sound of a really loud slap.
When the train came out of the tunnel, the Nun and Rabbi Moishe were sitting as if nothing had happened, and Mullah Nasruddin had his hand against his face as if he had been slapped there.
Mullah Nasruddin was thinking: 'Rabbi Moishe, must have kissed the Nun and she missed him and slapped me instead.'
The Nun was thinking: 'Mullah Nasruddin must have tried to kiss me and actually kissed Rabbi Moishe and got a slap for it.
Rabbi Moishe was thinking: 'This is great. The next time the train goes through a tunnel I'll make that kissing noise and slap Mullah Nasruddin again.
