During one of my many trips to London, I became friends with a
very wealthy, yet very modest, Jewish chap named Hyman Goldfarb.
On one visit, Hy told me that because of his large donations to
charities through the years, the queen wanted to knight him, but
he was going to turn it down.
“That’s a great honor,” I said. “Why would you turn it down?”
“Because during the ceremony you have to say something in
Latin,” he said. “And I don’t wish to bother studying
Latin just for that.”
“So say something in Hebrew. The queen wouldn’t know
the difference.”
“Brilliant,” Hy complimented me, “but what should I say?”
“Remember that question the son asks the father on the
first night of Passover? … Can you say that in Hebrew?”
“Of course,” he said. “Ma nishtana ha leila hazeh.
Thank you, old sport, I shall become a knight.”
At the ceremony Hy waited his turn while several of the other
honorees went before the queen. Finally they called his name.
He knelt before Her Majesty, she placed her sword on one shoulder
and then on the other, and motioned for Hy to speak.
Out came “Ma nishtana ha leila hazeh.”
The queen turned to her husband and said, “Why is this knight
different from all other knights?”
(For those unfamiliar with the holidays or customs, the traditional
question that he asked “Ma Nirvana ha lei la haze,” asks the age
old question “Why is this NIGHT different than any other NIGHT”)
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