Jews and the Chimney Problem

A young man asked a rabbi, "What is Talmud?"

"Consider two men who climb inside a chimney," said the rabbi. "One comes out clean, and the other comes out dirty. Which man washes himself?""Obviously the one who's dirty" said the young man." No, the clean one washes," said the rabbi, "because he sees the dirty man,and thinks he must be dirty, too, whereas the dirty man sees the clean one, and thinks that he, too, must be clean.

Now, two men climb inside a chimney. One comes out clean, and the other dirty. Which one washes?" "Oh, I get it now, the clean one because [as above]," answered the young man."No, you don't understand Talmud. The dirty one washes," replied the rabbi. Each man looks at himself. The clean one sees that he is clean, the dirty one sees that he is dirty, and the dirty one washes.

Now, two men climb inside a chimney. One comes out clean, and the other dirty. Which one washes?""OK, now I get it. The the dirty one because [as above]" said the young man."No" replied the rabbi. "You don't understand Talmud. In Talmud, if someone asks a question about which one would wash, the response would be another question 'How could it be that two people come down a chimney and only one gets dirty?'"

(Courtesy of Rabbi Professor Yosef Tabory)