The Kreplach Joke

I was looking for one of my favorite jokes and found a version here. Below is a similar version more like the one my father tells.

So, there's a little boy who's completely freaked out by kreplach. Every time a nice bowl of soup with kreplach is put in front of him, he takes one look and shrieks,

"AAAHHHHH!! KREPLACH!!"

The kids parents, love kreplach so it presents a problem.

His mother is concerned and goes to consult the shrink, who advises her the child has a typical case of fear of the unknown. Show him exactly what goes into the kreplach, explain slowly and clearly that it's nothing to be afraid of, and he'll be fine. Afterall, he is not fearful of any of the components, so why should he be scared of the final product.

So one day, one of the boy's parents takes him into the kitchen, puts him on a high stool, and, with lots of smiles and calm reassurances, begins to deconstruct the dreaded dumpling. First the parent rolls out a piece of dough. Holds it up.

"Just like a pancake, You love pancakes."

"Just like a pancake," said the little boy.

Then the parent chops up meat and gathers it into a ball.

"Just like a meatball!"

"Just like a meatball," says the little boy, and smiles.

The parent then places the meat on the dough and folds the dough over. Holds it up:

"Just like a little hat."

"Just like a little hat," the kid says, comfortably.

The parent cooks it up: just like a dumpling. like in the Chinese restaurant? Just like a dumpling, o.k., o.k.

The parent now pours some into a bowl and offers it to the little boy, who responds eagerly. Sure, soup; he loves soup.

Just before putting the bowl in front of her son, the parent drops the kreplach in the soup.

Kid takes one look at it and screams,

"AAAAHHHH!! KREPLACH!!"

So what do I make of this? Well, no amount of rationality can assuage us of concerns which are not based in the realm of rationality.