Small Talk!
By Zushe Kohn

On Friday, my phone rang. At the other end of the line a magazine salesman introduced himself, and said that he’d like to ask me two quick questions.

"Sure," I said, seeing no harm in hearing him out before declining his offer.

"Who is your magazine subscriber?" asked the salesman.

"No one," I replied.

"Uh- you don’t get any magazines?

"No, sir.

"Well-uh-how old are you?" He broke his promise about two questions.

I told him my age and he offered to send me ‘TV-Guide’ and ‘Motor something-or-another’ at great bargain prices, with a special free gift.

"Thanks for the offer," I said, trying to sound as appreciative as I could. "But I’m afraid I’m going to decline."

"Why is that? came the prepared question.

"Because I don’t watch TV and I have no interest in motors."

"Oh, it doesn’t have to be TV Guide," he blurted. "We can send you anything you like. What’s your field of interest?"

I’d had some experience in the past in steering such conversations in a different direction.

"Torah," I said.

"Torah? What’s that?"

"The Jewish Bible. What some people call the Old Testament."

"Oh. I’m afraid we don’t have any magazines on that - what’s in it?"

"You mean in Torah magazines?"

"Uh-huh."

I could have started my list with, "Commandments" or "G-d " or "Mysticism or any other aspect of Torah, but I didn’t...

"The Messiah..." I began, intending to list the others as well, but the word struck a cord. Before I could say anything else, he interrupted with - "Oh, did you hear what happened in Israel?" (He was referring to the recent bludgeoning of two Israeli teenagers.)

I guess I’m not surprised that Mr. Salesman associated the word ‘Messiah’ with ‘Israel’.

"I sure did," I said.

"Isn’t it horrible? I’m not Jewish or anything, but hearing this kind of stuff is really painful."

"It’s terrible," I agreed.

"So what’s going to be there?" Mr. Salesman continued. "Isn’t there some kind of a solution or something?"

"Of course there is," I said. "The solution is for the Israeli government to protect its citizens. That’s the top priority of any government in the world. And, since we’re on the topic, let me add that there’s something every person can do about this situation."

"What’s that?" he asked. There wasn’t the slightest indication of impatience in his voice. In fact, he sounded very curious.

"When G-d gave the Jews their commandments, he also gave the rest of humanity seven commandments to follow. They’re known as the Seven Noahide Laws. One of them is the prohibition against stealing."

"Uh-huh." I’m not sure if that meant that he knew of this commandment as one of the Ten Commandments, or that he simply acknowledged the evil of stealing. I think both.

"Obviously," I went on, "this includes stealing the Land of Israel from the Jewish people. The Land belongs to the Jews because G-d gave it to them. Any attempt to remove it from their possession, whether through acts of terror or political pressure, violates this prohibition."

"Uh-huh."

"This fact needs to be brought to people’s attention. That’s where you can do something, and get others to do, as well." I paused for a second to let the idea sink in. "Got it?"

"Yes - I do." He sounded sincere.

"Great. Have a nice weekend."

"You too, thanks. Bye."

***

I’m always amazed at how seemingly trivial events can be utilized in such meaningful, productive ways.

"The solution is for the Israeli government to protect its citizens. That’s the top priority of any government in the world..."