The very attractive and sparsely dressed Shula gets on the 8am bus going to Jerusalem. It’s a popular bus with the Chassidim, and it’s almost full when she gets on. She looks around for a seat and can only find one next to a Chassid. So she walks over to the seat and sits down. However, her short dress totally embarrasses the Chassid, so much so that he begins to squirm. Then, five minutes into the journey, as the Chassid gets up to leave the bus, he takes an apple out of his bag and hands it to her.
“What’s this for?” Shula asks the Chassid. “Why did you give me this apple?”
“I gave it to you,” replies the Chassid, “because it says in the bible that Eve didn’t realise she was naked until she ate the apple.”
The next morning, Shula dresses in a more sensible way, and gets on the same bus to Jerusalem. And she sits again next to the Chassid. Immediately she hands him an apple.
The Chassid looks very closely at the apple, then asks her, “What is this? What have you given me?”
“I’ve given you an apple,” replies Shula.
“So why have you given me an apple?” asks the Chassid.
“Because,” replies Shula, “until Adam ate the apple, he didn’t know he had to work for a living.”
Chassid; Chassidim: (Lit. pious) Member of an ultra-orthodox religious sect.
Credit: David Minkoff, A Word In Your Eye