I’m on the plane flying to Orlando one fine summer day back in ’04, when a tall Irish American Catholic man sits down next to me, a Chasid from New York. It didn’t take long for us to be involved in a gentle but heated discussion on faith and stuff.
I stated very clearly that there are many things that I will never agree with him, but I still have the utmost respect to him and to every other being as long as they respect me as a human being. He asked me why we can’t agree at least on J, I told him that the nicest thing is when people disagree and still don’t kill each other, he agreed.
My friend meanwhile kept on asking for more and more Schnapps and slowly got drunk, and with every little sip his voice raised a level, attracting a few more seats at a time. Are Jews allowed to get drunk? He asks me “quietly” I answer no, but on one day of the year Jews are supposed to get really drunk. Cool! He exclaims, when is that? I answer “Purim”. "Cool!" He shouts out again, leaving me with a head already below seat level.
Maybe 10 minutes pass by, and he is at it again, “Tell me again, are Jews allowed to get drunk?”, I answer with a low voice, Yep but only one day a year, “Cool!” He shouts out, getting laughter from the crowd, when is that he asks me again, on Purim I answer. “Cool!” he screams out.
Yiddy Lebovits