Comment of the Week: Mensch Makes a Minyan
Posted on January 9, 2022 at 10:47 am by West Side Rag
Shy Yellin says:
I am the president of The Carlebach Shul, off West End Avenue. With many of our members and leadership out with Covid symptoms, this past Saturday, we were struggling for a quorum (minyan) of 10 men for our afternoon service. Around 4:30 I saw our honorable Congressman, Jerrold Nadler, walking down West End and asked him if he would like to help complete the quorum. Without missing a beat, he said yes and spent the next hour with us, and even was attentive as we discussed the relevance of the Biblical narrative of the Ten Plagues! It is rare that you have a civil servant so willing to pitch in without alternative motives. A real mensch. Thank you Congressman!
Clip art by bitterjug.
Oh my gosh. Amazing. Very cool.
Great story. Thanks, Shy Yellin, for posting this.
Great story. Thx for posting. Jerry is the best.
And once Nadler retires (the sooner the better) he’ll have plenty of free time to spend in the shul.
Term limits – now!
Was it really necessary to comment on such a nice story with negativity? It wasn’t about politics, duh. Just a lovely recounting of local act of kindness.
Well, he did/does push that ugly fact free Russiagate extremism, which is basically not different than McCarthyism and the still existent John Bircher garbage.
And I’m someone who votes for Rep. Nadler, he’s far better than the people who’ve run against him in the last 20 years.
Wonderful story. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t like Nadler’s policies and never voted for him. That being said he’s a real mensch and thanks for posting this great story. We need to all support our neighbors, especially now, even they have differing views…
Just the other day I told a friend that so many people think they are too busy or important to make time to help someone without reward, take a phone call from a nobody, etc. But so many genuinely successful people (this friend is a busy, important and gifted artist and professor, who I was thanking for his insights)always seem to have enough time to “give away.” A lesson in there somewhere!
He did attend yeshiva in his youth
Crown Heights Yeshiva.
And, yes, he is a mensch.
Postscriptum:
A minyan? Of ten men? Shall we “get modern” and why not a minyan of ten men AND women nowadays?
I don’t think you should be telling other people how to practice their religion.
Most Orthodox minyons do not count women. (One of the payers thanks G-d for not making me a woman!)
I wouldn’t expect any less from Jerry Nadler.
Mr Yellin: I’m sure your intentions are good but I wondered why you shared this story naming Mr. Nadler. Isn’t he entitled to privacy? He is a public figure but he was doing a mitzvah not campaigning. Maybe for some reason he prefers to keep his worship private. I have been called to complete a minyan too and I don’t expect or want publicity.
I agree that this story is heartwarming, but maybe it would have been so even without naming the person.Just my opinion.
Enough already. Good job and thank you Mr. Nadler