Loving to Death the Most

Thomas L. Friedman, the foreign affairs Op-Ed columnist of the New York Times writes a long article in which he says: "In sum: There is no U.S. strategy here — not from Trump or Congress. There is only a competition over who can love Israel to death the most — for their own reasons."

After reading it, I could not help but recall a true story that my late father once told us about a criminal who eventually was executed, and ironically his last request was the “tongue of his mother.”

Apparently the story started with this young boy who came home one day carrying a chicken as a gift for his widowed mother. When she found out that he had stolen it from the neighbor’s chicken coop, she commended him for being so smart not to have been caught. Encouraged by his mother’s reaction, there were more chickens, vegetables from peddlers on the street, bread from the baker and other items from shop lifting. Not once did his mother rebuke him. On the contrary she was amazed at his talent and continued to cheer him for each loot he brought home.

Needless to say that young boy lost his innocence and stealing was no more for just simply to help his mom out. Eventually he became a professional robber and a criminal that led him to the gallows. Before his execution, his last request was the tongue of his mother.