He Has Only One Weakness

The Ksav-soyfer, a son of the Khsam-soyfer, was, like his father, the head of a large yeshiva.

One day a father came to the Ksav-soyfer to get some information about a young man who had been proposed as a husband for his daughter. The Ksav-soyfer said, “Yes, he’s a fine young fellow. He has only one weakness. He doesn’t know how to play cards.”

The man was astonished. “Rabbi,” he asked, “is that a weakness?”

The rabbi replied, “Yes. If one who doesn’t play cards doesn’t know how to play, it’s not a weakness. But when one who does play doesn’t know how, then that’s a weakness.”

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Glossary

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Annotations

TELLER/COLLECTOR: Moyshe Klaynman, Preshberg (Pressburg/Bratislava), Czechoslovakia, 1926.
SOURCE: V.A. 32:41.
COMMENTS: Distinguished religious scholars were often called by the titles of their major works. The *Ksav-soyfer (Ketav Sofer)*, is Abraham Samuel Benjamin Schreiber (1815-1871), rabbi and head of a *yeshive* in Preshberg, and the oldest son of the *Khsam-soyfer (Hatam Sofer)*, Moses Schreiber.