The Amish are not permitted to hire lawyers, file lawsuits, or behaving in any confrontational way. As their friend,

I can hire lawyers on their behalf, explore alternatives, seek solutions and behave in a firm but courteous way.

I am not, however, permitted to be confrontational or nasty.

Moise and Jacob have been struggling to open a bank account in town for more than a year and running into a brick wall, otherwise called our local bank.

They’ve asked me to help if I can.

It is never simple helping the Amish. For one thing, they rarely ask for help. For another, they are rarely flexible when it comes to negotiating. They have their faith and way of life, and changing any part of that is like moving a good-sized mountain with a toy shovel.

I’ve tried five or six times to get the Millers to change something, and I’ve succeeded once, possibly twice (I don’t know yet about the illumination strips. That was two months ago.

They are also radically different from the “English” in the way they approach change and negotiations. They would much rather suffer than fight. They never argue. They never confront or accuse. They always seek a middle ground, and they will define it and keep to it, perhaps forever.

All a helper like me can do is figure out the best possible options and then butt out.

There is only one time in the Amish Community’s 500-year-old history that they went to court, and that was in the 1930s when they fought Pennsylvania State Government to save their one-room schools. They believed their community would have been destroyed if their children had gone to public schools.

That was their last legal action taken against anyone. They believe in talking, listening, negotiating. There is, however, a serious issue facing them. Local banks and credit unions have told them they couldn’t have bank accounts unless they have a social security number.

The Amish faith does not believe in being tethered to the government or taking government money. They function independently and self-sufficiently. Since their religion prohibits social security numbers, the Amish could well have a legal issue to fight if they deny bank accounts due to their faith.

The best insight I’ve gotten about helping the Amish came from Jacob, Moise’s gregarious and enterprising brother in-law-and closest friend.

“We try and try,” he said, “but when it doesn’t work out, we accept the suffering, just as Jesus suffered for us.”

That is not a belief I wish to argue with.

After 911, congress passed several laws that required banks to make it harder for terrorists to have bank accounts and transfer money. In recent years banks like Wells Fargo and TDy have found ways to get around those restrictions; they don’t insist on Social Security ID numbers to open an account.

But local banks do, which is a hardship for people like the Amish who don’t have cars and travel long distances to do their banking. I retained an attorney to help me help them, which is permitted.

Nobody is planning lawsuits or court challenges here; they wouldn’t permit it.

Still, my lawyer feels there are ways to get around the social security issue and permit the growing Amish community to open accounts. The bank would appreciate them as well; they make and spend a lot of money in their towns and communities.

This is essential for businesses that do a lot of business six days a week.

But if they have to give up any of their beliefs, they will choose to suffer every time. And I choose to respect them for their beliefs, as frustrating as that sometimes might be.

I prefer them to the hypocrites who call themselves Christians or pious Jews or Muslims and enthusiastically lie, cheat and ignore the needy and vulnerable.

Whatever they are, the Amish are not hypocrites as so many of the English are.

They have good reason to keep us at bay and our inventions away from their children.

Since they can’t hire a lawyer and don’t have phones or e-mail, this means someone – me- is on the phone or driving to see them several times a day, possibly more.

Working for the Amish requires patience (I’m getting there), acceptance (I’m there), and the abandonment of everything I’ve ever learned or done about arguing, pushing, and fighting for something.

Most, I hear reasons why they can’t come up with different ways of ID that would satisfy a bank, and the Freedom Act Congress passed.

I like my lawyer very much, she is smart and direct, and she believes she has found a way to get their bank accounts opened locally. She filled me in on the plan this morning, and I told Moise and Jacob about it.

They are part of the two Amish families that now live in our town, but a dozen more families in and around our county would love to have bank accounts as well.

I have to proceed carefully. There can be no threatening, ultimatums, or smart maneuvers.

The lawyer found a solution that I found to be brilliant and very possible. It would not ask the Amish to alter or surrender any of their beliefs and transitions. Today I’ve talked to four different Amish men and one woman about it, and I’ve got four reasons why it is not possible, and one that is.

The most common Amish reason why something won’t work is: “We don’t do that.” That signals the end of any agreement. For their part, they may keep up talking to the banks until they wear them out, or Congress changes the law, or a new generation of bankers takes hold of banking.

I will never know or be privy to the process by which they reach their decisions; they are always conducted out of sight and are not revealed to outsiders. I greatly admire, even love, their integrity, and faith.

They will always insist on repaying me for any expenses I might have incurred trying to help them. And they show their appreciation in many different ways.

I’m excited about this bank account business. I’d love to help get that for them; it’s important.

The lawyer and I spent some hours searching out a solution we think should work. That means absolutely nothing. They might say yes; they might say no; I might never hear a word from them about it again.

I appreciate the many bits of advice people sent me after I said we weren’t looking for any advice – I know there’s no stopping this – but none of those ideas will work. The Amish are smart and thorough. By now, they have researched and considered every possible outcome.

They’ll either have their bank accounts, or they will suffer.

I wish myself and my new lawyer luck. Please wish me the same.

Photo: Tomatoes ripe on Jacob’s farm.