One day the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave Rome. And there began protestations from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal.

“I’ll have a religious debate with a member of the community. If you win, the Jews can stay. If I win, you must leave.”

The Jews looked long for a person who could defend their faith. They finally picked an old man to represent them. This man asked for one addition to the debate. He asked to disallow to talk. The Pope agreed.

On the day of the great debate, this poor old man and the Pope sat opposite each other and the Pope started. He showed three fingers, the man showed one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head, the man pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine, the man pulled out an apple.

Finally, the Pope stood up and said, “I give up, the Jews can stay.” A few minutes later, one of the cardinals asked him what happened. The Pope answered,

“First I showed him three fingers to represent the Trinity. He showed me one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him, that God was all around us. He pointed to the ground and showed that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything.”

At this time the Jewish community had crowded around the old man. One from the crowd asked,

“What happened?”

“First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here.”

“And then?’ asked a woman.

“I don’t know,” said the old man. “He took out his lunch and I took out mine.”