When Italy became a Catholic country, the Pope decreed that all Jews in the Vatican must convert or leave When they refused, the pope offered them a deal: He would have a religious debate with the leader of the Jewish community. If the Jews won, they could stay in Italy. If the pope won, they would have to convert or leave. The Jewish people picked their wisest rabbi to represent them in the debate. However, the rabbi spoke no Italian, and the pope spoke no Yiddish, so they agreed that it would be a 'silent' debate. The day of the debate, the pope and rabbi sat opposite each other. The pope raised three fingers. The rabbi looked back and raised one finger. Next, the pope waved his hands around in the air. The rabbi pointed to the ground where he sat. The pope brought out a communion wafer and a chalice of wine. The rabbi pulled out an apple. With that the pope stood and declared that he was beaten. The rabbi was too clever. The Jews could stay. Later the cardinals met with the pope and asked him what had happened. The pope said, "First I held up three fingers to represent the Holy Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me there is still only one God common to our beliefs. Then, I waved my hands around to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground to show that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and water, to show that God absolves us of all our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of the original sin. He had beaten me at every move and I could not continue. He had an answer to everything. How could I continue with my decree after that?" Meanwhile, the Jewish community gathered to ask the rabbi how he had won. "First," said the rabbi, "he said to me that we had three days to get out of Italy, so I gave him the finger. Then he tells me that the whole country would be cleared of Jews and I said to him that we were staying right here." "And then what?" asked a woman. "Who knows?" said the Rabbi. "He took out his lunch, so I took out mine."