Hold the Chumash
September 23, 2022
In 1961, as a young ten year
old boy, I would daven Shacris every morning in the shul of the Shtrosnitzer Rebbe. He was a Holy Yid, descendent of the Nudverna Dynasty, who miraculously survived the atrocities of the Holocaust.
In those days there were very few Jews living in Borough Park, especially on 17th Avenue and 51st Street, where I lived. The community for the most part consisted of Italian Americans with some modern American Jews and newcomers like my parents, survivors of the Holocaust. Was not easy for the Shul to gather a Minyin ⁶⁶ýevery morning, especially in this non Chasidic community.
I remember how the Holocaust survivors would talk about the trials and tribulations they suffered in the Nazi concentration camps as youngsters. What happened to them in the war years and how they were torn away from their murdered families. They would bemoan the difficulty of being alone in a new country, without anything or anyone to rely on. The conversation was always about how they survived and escaped and the concern of how they would pull through in the future. They were all hard working men trying to make a living for their new growing families, despite the lack of education and language barrier. They would try to daven with a Minyin every morning before going to work. At times it was a challenge to put the weekday Minyin together. When there were only nine and the time for Borchu arrived, the Rebbe would come over to me with a Chumush and hand it to me saying “Yankele, halt der Chimish shtark in de hent leiben der”. Hold the Chimish tight in your hands, next to you. Me with holding the Chimish tight created number ten. Even though I was under Bar Mitzvah they proceeded with the regular prayers.
How different it is today. We are fortunate to be able to daven with a Minyin almost any place and any time. What we take for granted today, was a struggle once upon a time. Let’s appreciate the times we live in and our ability to serve Hashem without hindrance or need for sacrifice. Timely Minyonim we have. The question is if we are timely. It would certainly be proper for us to be on time, even though we are not depended on.
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