The years of the Great Depression were not easy — especially for a shomer-Shabbos family. Having to find a new job every Monday morning left them with almost nothing — if not nothing — to eat.
One Friday night, the Scheinerman family was gathered around the table, surrounded with the Shabbos aura, conducting an enjoyable and uplifting seudah — though with barely anything to eat. Suddenly, there was a knock on their front door. Before anyone could get up to see who was there, it flung open widely and in stormed a man, raging in anger.
“How dare you be so irresponsible!” the man barked. “Your family is starving, and you are taking a ‘vacation’ every week. Get to work! Do something to sustain these poor children!”
Listening to his disgrace, Reb Perez Yosef Scheinerman had a grin spread over his face. Knowing that he was doing the right thing allowed him to remain content, and the man’s screaming didn’t affect him in any way. “This is the right thing, and I’ll do it — forever,” he thought to himself, sitting quiet like a mouse.
But his 9-year-old daughter didn’t let that go. She couldn’t sit there listening to such a disgrace. No way. The aidel 9-year-old stood herself up on her rickety chair and began screaming back in her sweet voice. “Get yourself out of here. This is our pride. We are proud of it, and don’t you deprive us of observing the most joyous day of the week. We won’t bend even in the slightest for any money in the world. We’ll forever be devoted to Shabbos, because that’s what we want to do, and we’re proud of it.”
This man was in shock. He wasn’t expecting such disgrace, especially not from such a young child. Seeing this man’s heart sink, Mr. Scheinerman put on a face of disappointment and motioned her to sit down and say no more. With that, the brazen man stormed out of their house, humiliated.
After he left, Mr. Scheinerman’s face began to glow once again, but this time even more than before. He reassured his daughter that she did right, and that he was proud of how she had the courage to defend the honor of Hashem. He had masked his face with disappointment only to protect the honor of this fellow, but in truth, he was very pleased.
Reb Moshe Feinstein would comment that while many people during those Great Depression years were moser nefesh for Shabbos, their children did not grow up and follow in their ways. And he explained why: They portrayed Yiddishkeit with the mindset of “oiy vi shver tzu zein a yid — it is so difficult to be a Yid.” That’s what did it. A child who sees that being a Yid is overburdening won’t want to do it himself.
Not so was the chinuch of Mr. Scheinerman. He transmitted Yiddishkeit to his children in a manner that observing Torah and mitzvos is the most delightful thing in the world. And for this reason, Reb Moshe said that he was zocheh, Baruch Hashem, that all — yes all — his children remained loyal to Torah and mitzvos. The pride that they saw by their father is the pride that they kept to — proudly.
He had a drawer in which he collected all his pink slips. While many would avoid looking at them so as to not stir up some negative emotions, Mr. Scheinerman placed it in the center of the room, and the entire family would dance around it every Shabbos, as if they were dancing before a chassan on the day of his chasunah. They were jubilant to keep their bond with Hashem fresh.
On another occasion, during the Great Depression, Mr. Scheinerman joined with a partner to purchase a lottery ticket in the hope that the winnings would benefit him and his family. A while later, he got a knock on his door, informing him that their poverty was alleviated. They’d won the lottery! He was overjoyed. It wasn’t in the millions, but it was enough to put food on his table — lavishly.
But as soon as he heard that the ticket was purchased on Shabbos, he said that he did not want the money. He didn’t want to derive any benefit from something that came at the expense of Shabbos observance. He told the partner to keep all the money for himself, and he didn’t even ask back for the money spent to buy the ticket. He wanted nothing to do with it.
After seeing her father do these courageous acts, is it any shock how the 9-year-old girl had the courage to defend the honor of Shabbos?
