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Bland and aloof, he pursued his own affairs, meeting the congregation only in synagogue, and then more bland and aloof than ever. At last the Minister received a presidential command to preach upon the subject forthwith. 'But there's no text suitable just yet, he pleaded. 'We are still in Genesis. 'Bah! replied the Parnass impatiently, 'any text can be twisted to point any moral.
At the next meeting of the Synagogue Council a notice of motion stood upon the agenda in the name of the Parnass himself: 'That this Council views with the greatest reprobation the breach of the Fourth Commandment committed weekly by a member of the congregation, and calls upon him either to resign his seat, with the burial and other rights appertaining thereto, or to close his business on the Sabbath.
'He has paid it, and therefore if I were to expel him, as you suggest, he might go to Law. 'Law! retorted Solomon. 'Can't we prove he has broken the Law of Moses? 'And suppose? said the Parnass, picking up his cards placidly. 'He is right, Solomon, said Mrs. Barzinsky. 'We should become a laughing-stock among the heathen.
The Talmudical prohibition cited by Mendel applies to that too. 'So I wasn't so silly, put in the Parnass's wife, feeling vaguely vindicated. 'Well, you saw his wife, said the Parnass to Mendel's wife, disregarding his own. 'More than I've done, for she wasn't in synagogue. Perhaps she is the Christian partner. His suggestion brought a new and holier horror over the card-table.
'I know, because I went to the shop Friday morning on pretence of asking for a cuckoo-clock. 'But a marine-dealer doesn't sell clocks, put in the Parnass's wife timidly. It was her first contribution to the conversation, for she was overpowered by her husband's greatness. 'Don't be silly, Hannah! said the Parnass. 'That was just why Mrs. Mendel asked for it.
'That would be just as forbidden, said Barzinsky, as he dealt the cards. 'But your cousin David, his wife reminded him, 'sells his groceries to a Christian at Passover. 'That is permitted. It would not be reasonable to destroy hundreds of pounds of leaven. But Sabbath partnerships are not permitted. 'Perhaps the question has never been raised, said the Parnass.
He was dependent upon a large firm whose head was Parnass of a North London congregation, and when one of Zussmann's workers, anxious to set up for himself, went to him with the tale, the contract was transferred to him, and Zussmann's security-deposit returned.
'It stands in the Psalmist, Barzinsky interrupted: "The Law of Thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver." 'It stands in the Perek, the Parnass rejoined severely, 'that the wise man does not break in upon the speech of his fellow. 'It stands in the Shulchan Aruch, Barzinsky shrieked, 'that for the sanctification of the Sabbath
Solomon Barzinsky, Ephraim Mendel, and Peleg the pawnbroker were all rapt in equal piety, while the rest of the congregation was shaken with dreadful gossip about them. Their shops were open, too, it would seem. Immediately after the service the Parnass arrested Solomon Barzinsky's exit, and asked him if the rumour were true. 'Perfectly true, replied Solomon placidly.
The Parnass felt his head going round he didn't know whether east or west. He tried to clear it by a pinch of snuff, which he in vain strove to make judicial. 'Oh, and so, and so atchew! and so you're the saint and I'm the sinner! he cried sarcastically. 'No, I don't profess to be a saint, replied Simeon Samuels somewhat unexpectedly.
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