The Talmud Jew doesn’t kill. He doesn’t take part in wild orgies. You don’t have to fear him in the woods or on a lonely road. He doesn’t carry a gun. He doesn’t scheme to come to your house when you are away and sleep with your wife. He has no wish to dishonor your daughter. Although he didn’t adopt Christianity, he’s been turning his other cheek for two thousand years, while those who profess Christian love often plucked out his beard, along with a piece of the cheek. The Talmud Jew doesn’t deal violently with any race, class, or group. All he wants is to earn a living and raise his children and children’s children to follow in the ways of Torah and the Shulhan Arukh. He wants to raise chaste daughters instead of whores. He doesn’t need modern literature, theater, nude art. He doesn’t change his outlook every Monday and Thursday.
–Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Penitent
