The "Chosen"
Many years ago a friend of my dad's gave me a book called Hammer and Tickle; Clandestine Humor in the Soviet Empire. One of the jokes caught my attention and stuck there. Its message remains, well, poignant, and timely.
One Day in Moscow, 1968…
A butcher's shop is rumored to have received a shipment of meat. A long queue forms immediately.
They wait many hours: then the Party District Secretary arrives and asks: "Any Jews in this queue?"
A few hands show up.
"Well, go home!” he barks. “There is not enough meat to go around."
The people left in the queue wait another three hours. Then the Secretary is back.
"Anybody here who is not a party member?" he asks.
Most people in the queue raise their hands.
"Well, go home. There is not enough to go around.”
The Party members wait in the queue for another two hours.
Then the Secretary reappears.
"Comrades, now that we are among ourselves, I will tell you frankly: There's no meat at all."
One of the people in the queue spits out in disgust: "Once again these dirty Jews got the best deal..."