Welcome to the Daily Holy Story. After World War I, the Bolsheviks took over Russia, and because of the Bolsheviks, the Jewish people began to see light. They began to become successful in business, and they flourished, especially in the area of diamonds and precious stones. The Jews began to flourish.
There was one Jew who would go to the diamond district every morning to sell precious stones and diamonds. He was also very successful. One morning, early on his way to his office, where the diamonds were, somebody suddenly yelled out, “I need a tenth man, tenth man!” He turned and saw a man standing by a little synagogue, waving to him to come in and be the tenth for a minyan (quorum of ten). Thinking he had a little time, he entered the synagogue. But to his dismay, he saw only three people there besides himself and the man who had called him. Perplexed, he turned to the man and said, “You told me you need a tenth for a minyan, and you only have five. It will take you all morning to get a minyan. I need to go.”
The man said, “No, please, please, stay. I promise you, very quickly, I will get a minyan, because many Jews passed by the synagogue on their way to the diamond district.” Without any choice, confused and not realizing that I had been trapped from the beginning, I stayed and read Tehillim (Psalms). After ten minutes, he succeeded in getting another two people, and now we were a total of seven. I started toward the exit door, and he pleaded with me, “Please, today is the Yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of my father. If it was the Yahrzeit of your father, I would stay for you. So please, now you stay for me.” Without any choice, I stayed in the synagogue, resolved that most of my morning would probably be wasted, if not at least half the morning.
When he finally got ten men, I thought he would read a Mishnah and say Kaddish (mourner's prayer). But no. He began from the beginning of the tefillah (prayer), and now I was resolved that I was really going to lose my entire morning. After the entire prayer, after finishing Shacharit (morning prayer service) and saying Kaddish, he gave us some cake and whiskey to make Berachot (blessings). Then I left, realizing that my entire morning was wasted.
As I read the Mishnah, I thought, As I approached the Diamond District, I realized that there was a man screaming and yelling, waving his hands. I recognized somebody, and he told me, “Quick, get out of here. Run for your life. The Bolsheviks entered the Diamond District, and they took over the entire area. They began to chase the Jews away, and they even killed some of them. So get out of here quick.” I ran. I ran for my life. I hid for four or five days until I was finally able to leave Russia, ending up in the land of Israel. What would have happened if I hadn’t gone to the minyan? The minyan of ten saved my life. Have a wonderful, wonderful day.