Siberian Saga

Reb Shlomo, a sawmill laborer, was accused of missing work over Yom Tov.

“Judge, do you see this man?” the prosecutor pointed threateningly at Reb Shlomo. “He looks innocent, doesn’t he? But he didn’t come to work on these days”—here he pointed to Mr. Klapper’s work calendar—“and because of that, the generator did not have enough wood. Because of that, the electricity was reduced, and because of that, the people who worked in the gold mines didn’t have enough electricity. Since they mined less gold, the people in Moscow couldn’t supply the Red Army, and because of that, our brave Soviet soldiers couldn’t properly defend the Motherland. All because of this man…”

The judge looked gravely at Shlomo, waiting for his defense.

“Honored judge, I would never let the brave Soviet soldiers down. Just look at this document.” Shlomo proffered a document signed by his supervisor. “The soldiers did not suffer. Just the opposite — I worked twice as many hours to cover those days that I missed.”