Quoth the Marines

I always thought of the Marines as harsh people who like to bellow and beat each other up.

But over Shabbos we heard two Marines discussing the Corps, and they gave it a cast of nobility. They told stories of Marines pooling their resources to help each other out in peacetime and giving their lives to protect each other in combat, and of the pride of belonging to the Corps, which is a bit like a family; and of how they can always pick another Marine out of a crowd by the way he carries himself... all of which was very interesting to the Jewish educators at the table, who listened to all this for its literal meaning but also as an analogy.

These Marines also observed that when recruits bash each other in the halls, it is not because they disagree with each others' statements, but because they want to test each others' sincerity -- you may say this now, but what I want to know is, when I beat you up for saying it, will you stand?

A question I never thought of in quite that way.

Will you stand?