Who is Zeidlus the Pope from The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer and what is their importance? The_Collected_Stories_of_Isaac_Bashevis_Singer English & Literature Zeidlus the Pope | The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer

Zeidel Cohen is described as a learned man from a distinguished Jewish family. He has no apparent vices by which Satan can destroy him until the Evil One discovers one particular weakness....... pride. Satan appears to Zeidel and tells him he is the greatest scholar anywhere. He also tells him he is to good to be buried in a backwater town like Lublin. Satan tells Zeidel the only thing he can do is convert to Christianity. He obeys, but when he is old and dying, Satan reappears and takes him to "Gehenna" or hell. When they arrive, the imps raking the coals call him "Zeidlus te Firsst" or "the Yeshiva boy who wanted to become pope."