Excerpt from an article:
____________________When I lived in Cincinnati, the old-timers described to me how Rabbi
Eliezer Silver, confidante of President Taft and many Republican
politicians, won the right to build a Jewish ritual bath despite being sued
by the Zoning Commission. Former Senator Taft, son of the President, was
his defense counsel, and Silver took the stand on behalf of his cause.The plaintiff's attorney must have had visions of Darrow and Bryan dancing
in his head when he stood up to cross-examine. He used a similar approach,
asking if the rabbi believed that all the events described in the Bible
were literal, such as the splitting of the Reed Sea and manna raining from
the sky. He acknowledged that he did."And do you mean to tell this court and the learned gallery that you
believe the story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers, that an ass could
actually speak?""Sure I do. I'm seeing it with my own eyes."
The courtroom exploded in laughter and the case was essentially won by a
single well-timed witticism.