"A Clever Rabi"

I recently heard of a story told by Jews. It is of the time which they claim to be the "Golden Age of the Jews". It was when they were in Spain under the Moors. Here it is:

" In a beautiful town in Spain, there lived many Jews. The king of the town didn't want them in his town. He wanted to throw them out. But he also didn't want a reputation as a mean, ruthless ruler. So he sent out a proclamation that said this: 'The Jews in my kingdom must prove their loyalty to me. So they must chose a man or woman among them to come to my palace and answer some questions. If he gets them correct, then the Jews may stay. If he doesn't, well, then they must leave.'
The Jews panicked. Most of them weren't very educated. But at last they chose the town Rabi, very smart, to go. When he went, he was nervose, knowing that his people's homes were at stake. When he came into the kings presence, he regained his composieur. If the God of the Hebrews wanted them to stay, he would help him.
The king said, "The first quetion is a knowledge test. How many stars are there?
"5,234,000", answered the Rabi promptly.
The king was astonished. He didn't think anyone knwe that answer. But he asked, "How do you know that?"
"I counted them. If you don't believe me, count them yourself!" was the answer.
The ruler went on to the next question, sure no one could answer it. "What is the distance between a truth and a lie?"
At this the Rabi was puzzled. He thought for quite a while. When the king was about to say, "Your people must leave my kingdom", The Rabi said, " I have it! The width of one hand!"
The king was puzzled. "What do you mean?" He asked?
"The truth is what you see with your eyes. But a lie is what you hear. The distance between your eyes and your ears is the width of your hand. Therefore, that must be the distance between a truth and a lie!"
The king was stumped! He had never knew such a clever being. But confidently, he said, "Before you is a bowl. It has 2 labels in it. The say, " STAY ", and "LEAVE". Which ever one you chose shall be the one you shall do.
The clever teacher was wary, sure that the king had put on BOTH of the labels, LEAVE. So he grabbed one up, and plopped it in his mouth chewed and swallowed.
"What are you doing!" asked the king.
The Rabi answered him, " The one that is in the bowl is the opposite of the one I ate. So open the one and see waht it says."
The king opened it, and sure enough, it had the word "LEAVE" on it. So, true to his word, the king let the Jews stay in his kingdom as long as he lived."

(By the way, I am not Jewish, I am Reformed Presbitarian!)