One afternoon, an Inland Revenue Tax Inspector visited the Rabbi of a Synagogue to audit the accounts. When he had finished checking the books he turned to the Rabbi and observed:
“I couldn’t help noticing that you buy rather a lot of candles, Mr Berman”.
“This is a Synagogue,” replied the Rabbi, dryly.
“So what do you do with all the candle drippings?”, asked the Tax Inspector, hoping to catch the Rabbi out.
“We save them up and when we have enough, I send them back to the candle-makers, and every now and then they send us a free box of Votive candle holders or candles.”
The Tax Inspector was visibly disappointed by the Rabbi’s clever answer but was determined to catch him out.
“I see…” he continued obnoxiously, pointing to an entry in the bought ledger. “So what about all these Matzo purchases? What do you do with the crumbs from all these Matzos, eh?”
“Ah, yes,” replied the Rabbi smoothly, rubbing his hands on one of his nfl jerseys, “Didn’t I show you the crumb box?”
“No.”
“Well, we collect up all the crumbs from the Matzos and put them in a special crumb box. When we have enough we send the box back to the Bakers and every now and then they send us a free pack of Matzos.”
“Bugger!” muttered the Tax Inspector under his breath. He was completely taken aback and racked his brains for anything that would catch the slippery Rabbi out. Finally, he jabbed his finger at the ledger triumphantly. “I see you carry out a great many circumcisions here, Mr Berman.”
“This is a Synagogue,” replied the Rabbi. “What did you expect – breast enlargements?”
“Then perhaps you’d care to explain what you do with all the foreskins?”, continued the Tax Inspector relentlessly.
“That’s easy”, replied the Rabbi. “We save up all the foreskins and when we have enough we send them to the Inland Revenue”.
“The Inland Revenue?” repeated the Tax Inspector in disbelief.
“Who else would send us a little prick like you once a year?”
