The Eyes Have It

Here is the tale of a Jewish hardware-store man who guards the flame of his faith as best he can in a remote corner of the Upper Midwest where the count of practicing Jews is two at best Our protagonist travels East, to Crown Heights, New York where Jews never eat cheeseburgers, shrimp or pork Among his brethren, so happy, he seeks out a blessing from the great Rebbe of Lubavitch, a man unprepossessing The line at the Rebbe's is really quite long for so many come to see him, to help right their wrongs When the hardware-store's man turn finally comes he puffs out his chest, and he bangs his own drum Rebbe, he boasts, I'm from a tiny hamlet in the Midwest where my wife and I are the only Jews who pass all the tests We keep strictly kosher, keep the Sabbath; we never do stray As for our fellow Jews there, we can only cry and pray The Rebbe nods and smiles, but before wishing him good-day says, And I see you're determined to keep things that way! Shaken, the hardware-store man is rendered speechless He understands the great Rebbe has so much to teach us... For the pupils of the Rebbe's eyes, gleaming pinpoints of coal ~ Stare directly and deeply, into every man's soul