Written a long time ago, but perhaps with a certain appropriateness today.

MAMA, ARE THERE JEWS IN HEAVEN?

Well, I know that people shouldn't mix, they should stick to their own 
kind,
That's how the good Lord made it, and he must have had something on his 
mind.
But I never really thought about it overmuch before,
Till this new family moved to town, and bought the house next door.
The husband worked up at the mill, you know, just like my Ben,
But he was some kind of accountant--he didn't work with the men,
And they had a daughter, too-she was kinda scrawny and small--
Wiry hair, funny nose, no kind of personality at all.
But she was just nine years old, same age as my son Butch,
And they started playing together--well, I didn't like it much,
But I didn't do much about it, just tried to put it out of my head,
Until one day little Butchie came up to me and said:

/Mama, are there Jews in Heaven? Jerry Falwell tells me no./
/If there are no Jews in Heaven, Mama, I don't want to go./
/I just want to be with Becky, and you know it don't seem right /
/If God don't hear her prayers, because I pray for her each night./

Well, you know, that really shook me, and I saw that I'd been wrong,
So that night, Ben and the others burned a cross on the Epsteins' lawn,
And I told little Butchie how the Jews had killed our Lord,
And how he was never to play with that little Jew-girl any more.
And I knew I'd done the right thing, and that things would turn out fine
When on the spot where that cross had burned, we saw a /For Sale/ sign.
We all went to church that Sunday, me and Butchie and Ben,
But on the way home after the service, he asked me once again:

/Mama, are there Jews in Heaven? Jerry Falwell tells me no./
/If there are no Jews in Heaven, Mama, I don't want to go./
/And please, Mama, I don't want to burn for all eternity/
/I just want to be with Becky, 'cause she's Heaven-sent for me. /

Within a month, the house had sold, and those Jews were leaving town;
That night we called Butchie for dinner, but he was nowhere to be found.
And when he hadn't come home by nightfall, we organized a search--
Ben called the sheriff in, and we got some of the men from the church.
We started out a-looking, and down beside the water
We found that Epstein feller, out lookin' for his daughter.
He kinda tagged along behind us, as we searched into the night
Till near daybreak, down by Frenchman's Bend, we saw a dreadful sight.
It was in the shallow waters, in the marsh grass by the strand,
We saw Butchie and that little Jew-girl, floating face down, holding hands.
Well, Jesus knows which souls to take, and He knows which souls to save,
We buried Butchie in the churchyard, and put a cross over his grave,
And I prayed to God for guidance, and I know what we did was right,
But sometimes I still hear little Butchie's voice--times when I can't 
sleep at night.

/ Mama, are there Jews in Heaven? Jerry Falwell tells me no./
/ If there are no Jews in Heaven, Mama, I don't want to go./
/ And please, Mama, I don't want to burn for all eternity/
/ I just want to be with Becky, 'cause she's Heaven-sent for me/

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-- 
Tad Richards
http://www.opus40.org/tadrichards/
http://opusforty.blogspot.com/