II Me Why Look What's New At Metropolitan! Why Lan 3-4 times a week when you can ton just once? Our new Superbed redefines tanning! A Grimm) Story Of Hate Two imaginative brothers and an anti-Semitic fairy tale. r ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR Q: I recently read that singer Tori hearted servant gave away the Amos — I like her music, but does pennies. In return, the dwarf granted anyone really understand her lyrics? the servant three wishes. The — is the daughter of a minister. That servant asked for, and received, got me wondering about Jewish per- a gun that never missed; a fid- formers. Are any of them the sons dle which, when played, made everyone dance; and the power or daughters of rabbis? A: Tell Me Why knows of two, to make people grant him any- thing he asked. though no doubt PHOTO BY JOHN CORSER Not long after, the plenty more are servant met a Jew out there. Actor standing and listen- Zero Mostel is ing to a bird singing one, and author high in a tree. The Erich Segal (No! Jew wished he could Don't make me have the bird. The think of that chill- servant aimed his ingly awful Love magic rifle, shot the Story and the aw- bird and it fell into a ful, awful movie thornbush. He com- and awful, awful, manded the Jew to awful theme song retrieve it. As the it inspired! No!) is Marceau : How do you Jew made his way the other. You Marcel into the thornbush, also might be in- mime "kosher b utcher"? the servant played terested to learn that mime Marcel Marceau is his magic fiddle. The Jew began to dance uncontrollably. The the son of a kosher butcher. Apparently, the homes of re- faster the servant fiddled, the ligious leaders are fertile more -vigorously the Jew danced. grounds for future Hollywood Soon, the thorns ripped the stars. Among the children of Jew's clothing to tatters, shred- Christian ministers (with cred- ded his beard and scratched his it to Ed Lucaire's The Celebri- entire body. He begged the servant to stop ty Almanac): singers Pearl Bailey, the Pointer Sisters, Lou playing, but to no avail. Final- Rawls, Rita Coolidge, Aretha ly the Jew offered the servant Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Alice a bag of gold. The servant Cooper and Glen Campbell; stopped playing, took the Jew's thespians Ingmar Bergman, gold and went on his way. The Jew ran to the city and Laurence Olivier, Elke Sommer and Agnes Moorehead; and for- complained to the judge. The mer talk-show host Arsenio judge sent his men in search of the servant, and soon they found Hall. him with the gun, fiddle and bag Q: is it true that the Grimms' fairy of gold. tales included an anti-Semitic sto- In court, the servant claimed the Jew gave him the gold will- A: Yes. But given the con- ingly, but the judge did not be- temporary trend of avoiding the lieve the servant and sentenced more racist and sexist of the him to die on the gallows. The Grimms' stories, you will find servant accepted the verdict but it only in an edition of their asked, as a last request, that he be allowed to play his fiddle. The complete works. The story is "The Jew in the judge granted the request. As the servant played, every- Thornbush" (Der Jude im Dorn). It was first published by one present danced wildly, the the Grimms in 1815, and its ul- Jew leading the way. The ex- timate source was Historia von hausted judge finally cried out einem Bauerknecht (1618) by to the servant that he would spare his life if only he would Albert Dietrich. In abbreviated form, the sto- stop fiddling. The servant stopped and went ry goes like this: With only three pennies in over to the Jew who, like the oth- his pocket, a poor but honest ers, was on the ground, gasping servant left his master after for breath. The servant com- three years of work. He set out manded the Jew to confess that to see the world, and on his way he had taken the bag of gold. "I stole it!" the Jew cried out. he met a dwarf to whom he re- vealed the extent of his riches. "But you earned it honestly." The judge then ordered the Pleading a worse case of pover- ty, the dwarf asked the servant Jew up to the gallows, where he for the money, and the kind- was hanged as a thief. I have been informed that many of the German farmers in the Frankenmuth area leave the east- ern corner of their fields unhar- vested. Is this practice done for the same reason that the Torah commands us, in Leviticus 19:9, "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not complete your reaping to the corner of your field"? From reader D.B. in Freeland, 0: Mich. A: It is indeed a command- ment that the Jewish farmer is forbidden from reaping the whole field without leaving the unharvested corners for the poor. In addition to the passage in Parshat Kedoshim, cited by the reader, the Torah restates the commandment in Parshat Emor, Leviticus 23:22. This mitzvah is one of many in the Torah regarding a Jewish so- ciety's obligation to those in need. If the German farmers of Frankenmuth are Christian (as they probably are) and they follow this practice, such an oc- currence would be rare. Most likely, they would be members of an Adventist denomination who, more so than other Chris- tians, are apt to practice cer- tain commandments of the Torah. Christianity generally takes an ambivalent attitude toward the Torah commandments. Christianity regards itself as the successor to Judaism, and thus a higher form of faith. Ac- cording to Christian belief, the death and resurrection of Je- sus abolished the laws of the Torah. The New Testament re- peatedly states that the "new covenant" means freedom from the mitzvot of the Torah. Nonetheless, through the centuries Christians have used the Torah as justification for moral behavior, partly because they still believe the Torah is the word of God. Exempt from mitzvot, they are inconsistent about which laws they observe. For example, while most Chris- tians have no compunction about eating pork forbidden by the Torah, many forbid homo- sexual relations based on the Torah's prohibition. Send questions to 'Tell Me Why" c I o The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI 48034 or send fax to 354-6069. r Coupon Good For One MEMBERSHIP 2 for 1 FREE VISIT Buy one month Get 2nd month FREE New Clients Only Expires 3/1/96 L 1 r Coupon L Expires 3/1/96 GRAND OPENING I (Formally Big Sun) New Owner, New Equipment HOME OF THE 1 ULTIMATE TANNING I MACHINE! METROPOLI TAN La Mirage Plaza • 29555 Northwestern Hwy. (North of 12 Mile) 810-358-8883 Other Locations in Rochester, Madison Heights and Clarkston AAV deaners (810) 356-6013 4E. Tissue Paper and Clothes We are proud of the artful cleaning and the fine finish our pressing gives your clothes. But nothing ruins our work like hanging on a hang- er in a crowded closet. 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