“Minchah, Minchah” screams the gabbai while posting a sign saying the same thing. “We’re in need of a tzenter, a tenth man.” Shekiah was approaching, and they were short one person. This was happening at a rest stop alongside the Beni Roni highway in Eretz Yisrael. Everyone knew that this rest stop held minyanim close to shekiah for those who hadn’t yet davened.
This gabbai, who we’ll call Shmuel, took upon himself to stand at the side of the road and collect a minyan. Every day, he would be there to ensure that they had a minyan and anything else needed: chairs, tables, and drinks for all those who would stop to daven.
On one particular day, the minyan didn’t seem like it was going to happen. Shekiah was approaching, and the participants were getting edgy. Some of them were saying that they would daven themselves, while others said they’d continue on and find a minyan somewhere else. Shmuel the gabbai assured them that a minyan would show up. “We have had a minyan here continuously for a very long time. Many times, it seemed as if there wouldn’t be a minyan, and at the last minute ten men pulled in. Don’t leave.”
A short while passed, and a car pulled up. A fellow got out of the car, and Shmuel thought that finally they’d gotten their minyan, but that was not the case. This man’s tire had popped, and he had pulled into the rest stop to fix it and get on his way.
As he got out of his car, the gabbai approached him and invited him to attend their minyan. “Did you daven Minchah?” he asked him plainly.
“Excuse me, what was that?” asked the man.
“Minchah!” replied the gabbai. “Did you daven Minchah?”
“What is Minchah?” asked the man. “I don’t know what that is.”
The gabbai then realized who he was dealing with. He briefly explained the concept of davening, and the importance of Yidden davening together as a minyan, and the man seemed intrigued.
“I don’t know how to daven, but I’d love to attend. This sounds very interesting.”
“As a tenth person,” assured the gabbai, “you can serve as a tenth man, even if you don’t understand what they're saying (b’dieved). Sit here and when you hear the conclusion of a brachah, answer ‘Amen.’ To complete the minyan, you don’t need to know more than that.”
The tenth man was excited to learn about this. Never in his life had he known about this thing called davening, but now that he was being taught, he was happy to learn. He left his popped tire, washed his hands, and humbly headed into the shul.
Soon after that, the doors of the shul were pushed open and a different man burst in, seeking a minyan. “Where are they holding?” asked the newcomer.
“Starting right now.”
“Oh, I’m so happy. I thought I might’ve missed davening with a minyan, but I see that I didn’t!”
“You see?” Shmuel the gabbai said to everyone. “We always pull through.”
As the minyan started at Ashrei, the gabbai then turned to the new visitor and profoundly thanked him for offering to complete their minyan. “We’d love for you to join our minyan, but we’re fine without you.”
“If I’ve already come,” explained the driver, “I’ll stay anyway.” He stayed until the minyan concluded, and then everyone continued on their way.
Midnight that night, the gabbai awoke from a scary dream, his body shaking in a cold sweat. In his dream, he’d seen the man whom he’d invited to the minyan, telling him that he was coming from the Next World.
“It’s almost impossible to visit This World,” he said, “unless there’s a very great zechus or a great reason, yet because of you, I am being granted the chance. Please, go to my moshav, which neighbors Ashdod, and request from my children that they say Kaddish on my behalf. This Kaddish is greatly needed in the Next World, and it'll leave an everlasting impact on my neshamah.”
The gabbai was in shock. The only place he recognized him from was the minyan that afternoon, just a few hours prior. “How are you coming and telling me that you’re returning from the Next World? You were just with us!”
The man replied that he could only reveal one thing. He told Shmuel where he lived, and then Shmuel woke up.
The gabbai wasted no time inquiring about that man, and after researching, he found out that this man had been in a car accident just after the minyan and had died as a result. Hearing this, he understood how the dream had been real! He continued inquiring about his family and went to the shivah house.
In the small moshav where he had lived, there weren’t too many visitors, so when the gabbai came, he had undivided attention from all the family members. He saw that family was distraught and broken over their sudden loss.
He requested some pictures to ensure that it was the same man who he paid him a visit, and the pictures confirmed that it was him. Shmuel, the gabbai, went on to explain the story behind his visit and what brought him there. He explained the importance of Kaddish and the impact that it has on the neshamah, and the family was moved. Diligently, they sat and learned the laws of Kaddish, which they said throughout the year.
Months passed, and Shmuel forgot the story. One night, he was revisited by the man who’d asked him to return to his family. He asked Shmuel if he could complete the mitzvah he started by returning to his family and getting them to be chozer b’teshuvah. “That would bring me to even higher levels,” he said.
And so Shmuel did. The man confirmed with Shmuel that all this was in the merit that he davened Minchah that ONE TIME when he had pulled over to the side of the road.
