chris-tells-tails:

altruisticmystic:

challa-ho:

A man goes to see his Rabbi in a panic, and he gets there and he says, “Rabbi you’ll never guess what! My son has run away to become a Christian!” And the Rabbi responds, “Well you’ll never guess what! My son has also run away to become a Christian!” So the man asks the Rabbi what to do and the Rabbi says that they should pray to G-d. So they pray and tell him of their plight and G-d replies, “You’ll never guess what!”

– An old Hasidic joke that my Dad likes to tell me

The version of this joke I’ve heard goes like this.

So there is a Jewish man in a Jewish neighborhood, and he has a Jewish son, who is also Jewish. 
In modern times, it can be hard to keep to the faith, so the man decides that the best thing, to further his son’s Jewish studies, is to send him to Israel. 
Unfortunately, one thing leads to another, and when his son returns, he announces happily that he’s converted to Christianity and is moving out.
Understandably, the man is panicked. “What am I going to do,” he wails. “I sent my son to Israel to become a better Jew and he came back Christian!”
At the end of his wits, he visits his neighbor. “Schlomoe,” he cries. “I sent my son to Israel to become a better Jew and he came back Christian!”
“What a coincidence!” Says Schlomoe. “I sent my son to Israel to become a better Jew and he came back Christian!”
This leaves both men in a fuss. “What do we do, what do we do,” they wail. “We sent our sons to Israel to become better Jews and they came back Christian!”
“I know,” says Schlomoe. “We’ll talk to the Rabbi.”
So the two of them take themselves down to temple to talk to the Rabbi. “Rabbi, Rabbi, we don’t know what to do,” they cry. “We sent our sons to Israel to become better Jews and they came back Christian!”
“What a coincidence!” the Rabbi answers. “I sent both of my sons to Israel to become better Jews and they both came back Christian!”
So now there’s three elderly Jewish men running around, moaning about their troubles. “What are we going to do, what are we going to do? We all sent our sons to Israel to become better Jews and they came back Christian!”
Finally, the Rabbi says, “I know. We’ll pray to G-d.”
So the three men begin to pray. “Oh G-d,” they cry, “We don’t know what to do. We all sent our sons to Israel to become better Jews and they came back Christian.”
A roll of thunder peals through the air, so loud it shakes the synagogue. Startled, the three men run outside, to witness clouds rolling back to reveal a great, bright light. A loud voice booms down from the heavens,

“What a coincidence!”

This version helped me get the joke.