A Thousand and One Afternoons in ChicagoHecht, Ben
General
A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago
Hecht, Ben
Chicago (Ill.) -- Literary collections; Hecht, Ben, 1893-1964 -- Homes and haunts -- Illinois -- Chicago
"The story I remember is on a train going but of Kiev," said Mishkin.
"Years ago it was. I was sitting in the train reading some Russian papers
when I heard three old Jews talking. They had long white beards and there
were marks on their foreheads from where they laid twillum. Yes, I saw
that they were holy men and pretty soon I heard that they were upset about
something. You know what? I'll tell you.
"For a religious Jew in the old country to pass an evening without a
minyon is a sin. A minyon is a prayer that is said at evening. And to make
a minyon there must be ten Jews. And they must stand up when they pray. Of
course, if you are somewhere where there are no ten Jews, then maybe it's
all right to say it with three or four Jews only.
"So these holy men on the train were arguing if they should have a minyon
or not because there were only three of them. But finally they decided
after a theological discussion that it would be all right to have the
minyon. It was dark already and the train was going fast and the three
Jews stood up in their place at the end of the car and began the prayer.
"And pretty soon I began to hear voices. Yes, from under nearly every
seat. Voices praying. A mumble-bumble that filled the car. I didn't know
what to make of it for a few minutes. But then I remembered. Of course,
the car was full of rabbis or at least holy men and they were as usual
riding with their beards folded up under the seats.
* * * * *
"So," smiled Mishkin, "the prayer continued and some of the passengers who
were listening began to smile. You can imagine. But the three Jews paid no
attention. They went on with the minyon. And now, listen, now comes the
whole story You will laugh. But it is true. I saw it with my own eyes.
"The prayer, like I told you, must be said standing up. At least it is a
sin to say the last part of the prayer, particularly the 'amen,' without
standing up. So as the prayer came towards its finish imagine what
happened. From under a dozen seats began to appear old Jews with white
beards. They crawled out and without brushing themselves off stood up and
when the 'amen' finally came there were eleven Jews standing up in a group
and praying. Under the seats it was completely vacant.
"And just at this moment, when the 'amen' filled the car, who should come
through but the inspector in his uniform with his lantern. When he saw
this whole car full of passengers he hadn't seen before he stopped in
surprise. And the finish of it was that they all had to pay their
fare--extra fare, too.
* * * * *
"It is a nice story, don't you think, Hershela" Mishkin laughed. "It shows
a lot of things, but principally it shows that a holy man is a holy man
first and that he will sacrifice himself to an inquisition in Madrid or a
train inspector in Kiev for the simple sake of saying his 'amen' just as
he believed it should be said and just as he wants to say it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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