Henry Ford's Compromise


It was a sweltering August day when the Greenberg brothers entered the posh
Dearborn, Michigan offices of the notoriously anti-Semitic car-maker, Henry
Ford.

"Mr. Ford," announced Hyman Greenberg, the eldest of the three, "we have a
remarkable invention that will revolutionize the automobile industry. "
Ford looked skeptical, but their threats to offer it to the competition kept
his interest piqued. "We would like to demonstrate it to you in person."
After a little cajoling, they brought Mr. Ford outside and asked him to
enter a black Edsel that was parked in front of the building.

Norman Greenberg, the middle brother, opened the door of the car. "Please
step inside Mr. Ford."

"What!" shouted the tycoon, "are you crazy? It must be two hundred degrees
in that car!"

"It is," smiled the youngest brother, Max, "but sit down, Mr. Ford, and push
the white button."

Intrigued, Ford pushed the button. All of a sudden a whoosh of freezing air
started blowing from vents all around the car, and within seconds the
automobile was not only comfortable, it was quite cool!
"This is amazing!" exclaimed Ford. "How much do you want for the patent?"

Norman spoke up. "The price is one million dollars." Then he paused, "And
there is something else. We want the name 'Greenberg Brothers Air
Conditioning' to be stamped right next to the Ford logo."

"Money is no problem," retorted Ford, "but no way will I have a 'Jew-name'
next to my logo on my cars!"

They haggled back and forth for a while and finally they settled. One and
one half million dollars, and the name Greenberg would be left off.
However, the first names of the Greenberg brothers would be forever
emblazoned upon the console of every Ford air conditioning system.

And that is why today, whenever you enter a Ford vehicle you will see those
three names clearly defined on the air-conditioning control panel: HI --
NORM -- MAX.


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Drasha, Copyright (c) 1997 by Rabbi M. Kamenetzky and Project Genesis, Inc.
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky is the Rosh Mesivta at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov,
the High School Division of Yeshiva of South Shore.

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