A man was attending a religious festival in town. He was worried about pickpockets, so he went to the rabbi. He asked the rabbi if he would hold onto a money purse for him during the festival.
“Certainly,” said the rabbi, “But you can’t just give me the money. We have to have it witnessed by the Town Elders.”
The man protested that he’d trust the rabbi, but the rabbi insisted, so the Town Elders were brought in. They duly witnessed the man giving the money purse to the rabbi, and the rabbi putting the purse into a desk drawer.
The man went out and enjoyed the festival. At the end, he returned to the rabbi and asked for his money purse.
“What money purse?” asked the rabbi.
“Why, the one I gave you before the festival!” said the man.
“What do you mean?”
“But I gave it to you, and you put it in the drawer, and it was witnessed by the Town Elders and everything!”
So the rabbi got the Town Elders. They said they had never seen this man before, they were out of town that day, they didn’t know anything about any money purse. When the elders left, and the man was distraught and didn’t know what to do, the rabbi went to the desk, opened the drawer, took out the money purse, and gave it to the man.
“You – you gave me back my money!” said the man.
“Of course! It’s your money, isn’t it?” said the rabbi.
“But I don’t understand; what was that whole business with the Town Elders?”
“Oh, I just wanted you to see what kind of people I have to work with around here.”
