The author Isaac Bashevis Singer traveled to Vilna before the War. When he returned to the United States, he remarked: “I saw a Jew who learns גמרא all day; I saw a Jew who spends his day devising get rich schemes; I saw a Jew who races after women; and I saw a Jew who
R’ ישראל בן שבתי, the מגיד of Koznitz, was sitting in shul one תשעה באב when he heard boys playing with a ball outside. “רבונו של עולם,” he said. “If the ball playing on תשעה באב bothers You, take תשעה באב away from us."
Reb Berel Charif interrupted his learning to get a glass of tea. Upon returning to his גמרא, he couldn’t remember where he placed his eyeglasses. It was his customary practice to place them on top of whatever ספר he was learning so that he always knew where to look for them when he resumed his
R’ שלום מקאמינקא and a group of his חסידים were staying at a village inn. When it was time to pray מנחה, the רבי asked the innkeeper where is מזרח? The innkeeper thought that the רבי was asking where is the מזרח sign that many homeowners would hang on the wall. He told the רבי
In a דרשה one שבת, the רב told his קהילה that one day the רבונו של עולם was looking down on earth and saw all the evil that was going on. So He sent an angel to check it out. Upon his return, the angel reported that mankind was indeed sinning and that only about
A young man walking down the street was approached by an older man who said that he was an אבל and asked him to come and be the tenth for a מנין. “We need you to complete the מנין for מנחה, מנחה פשוטה. Just a מנחה פשוטה. The young man refused. When asked why, he
R’ מרדכי בנט of Prague was not surprised when a wealthy קמצן rejected his צדקה request. But he could not remain silent when the קמצן said "I like to give צדקה בסתר, without anyone knowing who gave and who received." רבי מרדכי responded: "It's really odd and perplexing that the עבירות that you do בסתר,
A Jewish couple won the lottery. They immediately set out to begin a life of luxury. They bought a magnificent mansion and surrounded themselves with all the material wealth imaginable. Then they hired a butler who was very proper and very British, and brought him back to their home. The day after his arrival, he
A בדחן once observed that during the Jewish summer, we spend seven weeks counting and sighing, three weeks mourning and sighing, four weeks sounding the שופר and sighing, and the remainder sweating and sighing.
A Jewish mother said: “I have two daughters. I named one שמחה and the other one מנוחה. Both are ב״ה married. מנוחה has children, but שמחה doesn’t. When מנוחה comes to visit, I have שמחה but don’t have מנוחה. When שמחה comes to visit, I have מנוחה but don’t have שמחה.”
