"Who woke you up for the minyan yourself?You did! You know this, but let the people hear it!"

AT a recent bar mitzvah, Rabbi Zevi Trenk, menahel of Yeshiva Darchei Torah’s Mesivta Chaim, who’s known for his gregarious love of talmidim, was sitting in the back of the hall. As the bar mitzvah boy’s speech drew to a close, Rabbi Trenk suddenly exclaimed in his trademark booming voice: “I saw you in the summer every day by the minyan! Who woke you up for the minyan yourself? You did! You know this, but let the people hear it! This boy got up every day in the summer to daven with a minyan and then he would go out and wait for the bus to take him to the kosher day camp!” The bar mitzvah boy might have been blushing, but the applause from the guests indicated Rabbi Trenk was right on track.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 910)