The בית הלוי of Brisk was traveling by train. There were nine other Jews present and when the time came for תפילת מנחה, seven of them gathered around the בית הלוי to pray במנין. The two others, however, were משכילים and when they saw that they were about to pray מנחה, they walked out of the wagon and left the others without a מנין. After the others finished praying ביחיד, the two returned and took their seats. Their insolence very much troubled the בית הלוי. Thus, when the others asked him to say a few words before ערבית, from the פרשת השבוע, which was פרשת וישלח, he said the following out loud so that the משכילים should hear. “This week’s פרשה relates that יעקב אבינו sent a מנחה to his brother עשו consisting of, among other things, עדר של עזים. I had always wondered why he didn’t also send an עדר of כלבים to guard the animals. This afternoon I witnessed the explanation: he knew that דרכם של כלבים לברוח מן המנחה.”
06/10/2021