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I took a cab in Washington DC about 17 years ago. It was Yom Kippur, and, prior to 9-11. I always try to strike up a friendly conversation with cab drivers if it is a lengthy drive. The driver, a young black man who had an accent, was nice enough and told me where he was from, which was Jamaica.

As I was exiting the cab, he innocently asked me why Jewish people don't work on certain days, holidays, etc. because some places in some areas were closed or had reduced traffic on this day. He mentioned some things that Louis Farrakhan said, and I knew that he had been listening to what this moron was preaching.

I then sat with him for a few more minutes and explained that these holidays are from the Old Testament and that Jews wrote the Bible, and many still practice some of the customs in order to remember the past and practice their faith.. which is the basis for Christianity and the Muslim faith. I told him that on this day, Yom Kippur, it is the Jewish custom to remember and honor family members who have passed on and to try to reflect on life and be a better person ....and that it is a day of fasting, etc., and that a day off is needed for this time.

I then told him that what he is hearing in certain circles is based on ignorance .... and that includes Farrakhan, who is a disgrace. He was young enough that he listened....and seemed confused. I did not have the time to say more as we were in traffic as I was leaving.

I have thought of him over the years. I am sure he has been sucked up into the culture of hate if he has continued listening to the wrong people. He probably had no choice all of these years if he lived in that world that he could not escape.

I have often wished that I could have spent more time with him. He had recently come from a simpler and more innocent culture in Jamaica, where he had never learned about all of these different cultures and prejudices. And, he was reachable on this day as a young man who was eager to try to make sense of the world.