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two parties, of which one declared that a hole and a Bei- gel constituted together a private affair, like religion, and that everyone had a right to bake Beigels as he thought best, and according to his conscience. The other party maintained, that to sell Beigels without holes was against the constitution, to which the first party replied that the constitution should be altered, as being too ancient, and contrary to the spirit of the times. At this the second party raised a clamor, crying that the rules could not be altered, because they were Toras-Lokshen and every let- ter, every stroke, every dot was a law in itself ! The city papers were obliged to publish daily accounts of the meetings that were held to discuss the hole in a Beigel, and the papers also took sides, and wrote fiery polemical articles on the subject. The quarrel spread through the city, until all the inhabitants were divided into two parties, the Beigel-with-a-hole party and the Beigel- without-a-hole party. Children rose against their par- ents, wives against their husbands, engaged couples severed their ties, families were broken up, and still the battle raged and all on account of the hole in a Beigel !
