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Leonard Michaels tells a joke in one of his essays that he claims is the exemplar of Yiddish humor….
The Rabbi says, ‘What’s green, hangs on the wall, and whistles?’
The student says, ‘No idea.’
The Rabbi says, ‘A herring.’
The student says, ‘Well a herring could be green and hang on a wall, but it definitely doesn’t whistle.
The Rabbi says, ‘So it doesn’t whistle.’
