Shlomo’s English was good. He told me about the Dead Sea Scrolls. He told me about Brazilian agronomy. He told me about Joseph Stiglitz.

Shlomo said, “I ask myself, who are the wisest people in the world? The answer is: the Jews. This is well-known.

“And who are the wisest Jews? A moment’s reflection reveals that Russian Jews are the wisest.

“Next we must discover who are the wisest of these Russian Jews. And the answer comes back, clearly the people of Odessa.

“So who are the wisest Jews in Odessa? The members of the old synagogue.

“It’s plain to see, then, that the wisest man in the world must be Rabbi Loew, chief rabbi of the old synagogue of Odessa. But he’s such an idiot.”

And Amatsia said, “My brain is fucking.” He meant his memory was going bad. Asked for an example, he explained that in the army he had once carried a dead man on his back for two days and now he couldn’t remember the man’s name. He shook his head. “Fucking,” he said.

Paris Review - Letter from Majorca, J. D. Daniels