There once was an Armenian who traveled to Lebanon. On the road to this holy refuge of great ancestors, he wondered, how will I survive, having come without any others?
As he mourned on the road to Beirut, a Rabbi spotted him and said, My son, why do you mourn, know you not that this is part of the holy land?
The Armenian turned, and said, Yes, yet I know not how I will be received.
Love your neighbor and all will be well, my son.
Then, in joy and in tears at this great revelation, he eventually neared a mosque outside of which was a devout Muslim praying deeply on his mat.
As he beheld the innocence of the Armenian, he began to pray for his soul to know the one and true God, Allah.
As he approached the mosque, the Muslim said, you will not survive the night.
All I need is to love my neighbor and I will be fine. I know this in my heart.
The Muslim began to laugh and said, No, my friend, all you need to know is one trick. Look at me and I’ll tell you. Be the first to a slanderous claim, and the last to stop, and all will be well, for Armenians here rely on the first, not the truth nor logic like us. So go, and do not love, for you will be received with love only upon slandering all and as the first.
So, the Armenian went and loved instead, relying on the Rabbi, and upon encountering the Armenians of Lebanon was already cast out of the community for they believed him to be a Muslim upon the Rabbi’s first claim!