boy of your age," he said. "What
gave you such an idea?"

"I have been thinking very much of late that if we were more like other
people we might be made to suffer less."

"God forbid that we should become like them," answered the Rabbi,
hastily. "Israel's greatest calamities have been caused by aping the
fashions of other nations. Our only salvation lies in clinging to our
customs and faith. Do not attempt to judge your elders until you are
more conversant with your own religion. Obey the Law and do not trouble
yourself concerning the religious observances of your people."

The boy took the rebuke meekly and the two walked on in silent
meditation. After a pause, Mendel again took up the conversation.

"In to-day's lesson," he said, "we learned that the fear of God is the
beginning of wisdom; that study is God's special command. A wise Rabbi
furthermore said upon this subject: 'He gains wisdom who is willing to
receive from all sources.' Am I right?"

"You have quoted correctly. Go on!"

"Is there any passage in the Talmud which forbids the learning of a
foreign language or the reading of a book not written in Hebrew?"

The Rabbi gazed thoughtfully upon the ground but could not recollect
such a passage.

"Last week," continued Mendel, "while in the city, I saw a book in
Russian characters. I bought it and took it home to study. My uncle tore
the book from my hands and threw it into the fire, all the time
bewailing that anything so impure had been brought into the house. Then
I was obliged to run to the house of worship and pray until sunset for
forgiveness. Was there anything so very wrong in trying to learn
something beside the Talmud?"

The worthy Rabbi was sorely puzzled for a reply. His knowledge of the
world had long ago opened his eyes to the narrow-minded bigotry which
swayed the Russian Jewish people in their prejudices against anything
foreign. He, too, deplored the fact that intellects so bright and alert
should be content to linger in these musty catacombs. Full well he knew
that the constant searching for hidden meanings in the Scriptures was
the direct cause of many of the superstitions which had crept into
Judaism. He, too, had in his youth yearned for more extended knowledge
than that derived from the Talmud's folios, and had in secret studied
the Russian and German languages at the risk of being discovered and
branded as a heretic. He understood the boy's craving and sympathized
with him; but