Weekly Chasidic Story #914 (s5775-37 / 14 Sivan5775)

The Egg Minyan

Word of Reb Shmuel's prompt and ethical business spread, and soon he acquired his first weekly customer, the Rebbetzin of Skvere.

Connection: Weekly Reading - Free food (the 'Manna') from Heaven

The Egg Minyan

A survivor of the flames of the Holocaust, Shmuel Grunbaum emigrated from war-torn Europe and sailed to America, hoping to rebuild a new life for himself. He made his home in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, among many other fellow Holocaust survivors. But they were all struggling for a livelihood. How would Grunbaum support himself?

Divine Providence guided Reb Shmuel. After various failed attempts to find a job, he found a position working in an egg store. It was a dependable job, but the salary was minimal. He soon realized that he had to devise an additional means of income. Building on his current position, he decided to attempt an innovative service: he would sell and deliver eggs directly to the customer.

Business began slowly, with an order here and an order there. Word of R. Shmuel's prompt and ethical business spread, and soon he acquired his first regular weekly customer for a large carton of eggs. One afternoon, R. Shmuel was busy making his scheduled deliveries. He walked up the narrow flight of steps and carefully placed the carton on the doorstep of his one weekly customer.

R. Shmuel descended the steps and continued his route along the street. Quite unexpectedly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Excuse me, can you help us make a minyan for Mincha?" The man motioned toward the basement entrance of the building he had just left. "Certainly," replied R. Shmuel and turned to enter the building. Within a few minutes, the afternoon prayers commenced.

The small minyan of ten grew as more members entered. All proceeded normally until the middle of the prayer leader's repetition of the central prayer. A sudden movement at one side of the shul caught R. Shmuel's attention.

A man was entering the low-ceilinged shul with a large carton in his hands. R. Shmuel had no trouble recognizing the carton-it contained the eggs he had just delivered! R. Shmuel watched in confusion as the man circulated the room. Each person took a few eggs from the carton and put them aside until the end of Minchah.

When his turn came, R. Shmuel waved the man on, indicating that he had no need for eggs. He looked at the eggs in the man's hand, then stared around the shul. Each man there was now the proud possessor of one or two eggs. R. Shmuel was flabbergasted. What was the reason for this strange ritual with his eggs?

When Mincha was finished, R. Shmuel approached the man with the now empty carton. "Tell me, where does this custom come from-to give out eggs during the prayer minyan?" The man smiled at his puzzled expression. "This is the shtiebel (shul) of the Skvere Rebbe," he explained.

"The Rebbetzin, who lives upstairs, wanted to support a fellow in the wholesale eggs business. She places a weekly order, but she doesn't really need so many eggs. So she asked me to give them out to the participants in the Mincha minyan on the day she receives the eggs so that they won't go to waste. Understand? It is as simple as that."

R. Shmuel nodded thoughtfully. "Oh, yes," he said fervently, "I understand a lot better than you think." R. Shmuel thanked the man and ascended the stairs into the waning sunlight. His burden had been lightened by the discreet concern and kindness of the Rebbetzin of Skvere, Trana Twersky,[1] of blessed memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from a submission of Daniel Keren based on an e-mailing of "Good Shabbos Everyone." The bio notes are mostly rewritten from Wiki. Photo Credit: Yitz Twersky, Kew Gardens Hills, NY

Connection: Weekly Reading-Free food (the 'Manna') from Heaven

Biographical notes:
Rebbetzin Trana Twersky, born in the first decade of 1900's, was the daughter of Rebbe Pinchas ("Pinye") Twersky of Ostilla (1880-1943) and granddaughter of Rabbi Yissachar Dov, the 3rd Rebbe of the Belz dynasty. In 1925, she married Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Twersky, the 4th Rebbe of the Skver dynasty. They had three daughters and one son, Rabbi Dovid Twersky, who is the current Rebbe of Skver and the head of the chasidic village of New Square, in Rockland county, New York.

photo: Rabbi Pinchas of Ostilla

Rabbi Yaakov-Yosef Twersky [5659 - 2 Nissan 5728 (1899-1968)] was the son and main successor of Rabbi David ("Dovidl"), the third Rebbe of the Skver dynasty. After World War II, he lived in Bucharest, and then in 1948, he emigrated to the United States. After spending a few years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1954 he established a settlement in what was then rural Rockland County, New York, and named it New Square. After some housing was constructed, he moved there with four families of followers in December 1956. By 1958, the community had 68 houses, and as of the end of 2022, the population is over 10,000.

Footnote: [1] The main English spelling. In Yiddish, the name ends with a yud, so the spelling Trani or Trany is also in use.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

To receive the Story by e-mail every Wednesday--sign up here!

A 48 page soft-covered booklet containing eleven of his most popular stories may be ordered on our store site.

FLASH! "Saturday Night, Full Moon" by the first of 3 books by Yerachmiel Tilles, the Ascent storyteller, featuring 33 of his best stories, is

now available for purchase--through ASCENT-in-Safed or the publishers
Want to see our preview, which now includes feedback, approbations and the spectacular cover?