Great story. I saw it happen before my own eyes.
I was halfway in my car to leave. Rabbi Yisroel certainly has the magic touch to pull Jewish rabbits out of the hat time and again when least expected. I was totally amazed when the lone person (bike rider) on the street at 7 am was Jewish and made the last-minute minyan happen.
Moral: Nothing’s impossible, especially at Lafayette Chabad.
STORY:
We were 9 men this morning at service, one short for a Minyan and the feeling of disappointment was seen on many. One of the men needed to say Kaddish for his father but no one was coming.
As some were on their way out, including Rabbi Yisroel, a man was flying down the road on his bike.
“Are you Jewish?” asked Rabbi Yisroel. “Yes” the man replied. “Can you help us for a Minyan to say Kaddish?”
“I’m in a rush for work” he replied.
Rabbi: “60 seconds”…….
And that was that, he agreed and we had our Minyan… Thank G-D we as a community have been going strong for close to 4 weeks now, please join us when you can, everyday at 6:30- 7:00AM and Sundays at 8:30 @Chabad and you just might be a part of the next minyan miracle
Have a great day.
-Rabbi Avroham
Ten days earlier, on a late February Saturday morning – one of the few days I have missed minyan – I learned that my uncle just happened to be walking nearby , and, again, Rabbi Yisroel was able to pull him in as the ’10th man’ for the minyan that day. There have been at least a half dozen similar ‘saves’ by Rabbi Yisroel – some where he literally has walked the streets ‘fishing for a Jew,’ as it were, in recent weeks. That makes FOUR WEEKS straight without a minyan break! Rabbi Yisroel notes that, somehow, my uncle was there to fill in for me that day! Call it ‘divine providence,’ says Rabbi Avroham, who only joined Lafayette Chabad a short time earlier. (Perhaps his presence also contributed to the recent ‘nachas.’)