All for the Boss
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herman was among the first men who in the bewildering night of a new world, chose one fixed point as their polestar. His age-old religion told him that this world in all its complexity, has one Boss: The Almighty who created it. R’ Herman’s slogan in life became: All for the Boss! For the sake of that Boss’s Torah and commandments he was ready to move. And move he did.
Here is the story of a great man, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Herman, a Torah pioneer in America. told by his daughter Ruchoma Shain...
At the age of eight Yaakov Yosef Herman arrived with his parents from Eastern Europe in 1888 into the bustling teeming Lower East Side of New York. A new world too busy for the “old fashioned” religion of Orthodox Jews. It was a world where if you didn’t come to work on Saturday you went looking for a new job on Monday. For five years his Father tried to earn a living working or teaching Torah and he failed.
He had to take his family back to the old country-without enough money to take Yaakov Yosef along.
“The cousins agreed to provide Papa with room and board for the price of one dollar a week. Papa worked as a handy boy for the salary of one and a quarter dollars a week at a fur shop, It was one of the rare ones that was Shabbath-observant.
When Papa returned from the pier after bidding farewell to his parents and sister, he was a forlorn lad. Suddenly, he thrust his hands in his pocket and felt his treasured pack of marbles. He squared his frail shoulders, pulled the marbles from their bag and threw them to the curb. As the gaily colored marbles rolled down the dusty street, the last vestige of his childhood followed them. “No more playing games for me. I have to be a man now,” he said to himself.
Though he valiantly tried to become a “man” it was no easy task for a thirteen-year-old boy to grow up overnight. Pangs of lonesomeness overwhelmed him, and his pillow was often soaked with tears.
However, instead of bearing a grudge against his parents fro leaving him, Papa determined to work with greater effort and save enough money to bring them and his sister back to America and help towards their support.
Several weeks after Papa had started boarding with his cousins, he was told, “If you want to remain with us, you must pay 1.25$ a week.”
Papa felt a terrible sense of betrayal. With choking sobs he ran from their house. It was Friday. The sun was soon setting, and Shabbos was fast approaching.
Papa resolved not to return to his cousins’ house even if it meant spending Shabbos in the street. He hurried to a bakery and bought three little Challos (rolls).
The sun set. Shabbos came and found a lonely, forsaken boy sitting on a hard bench in deserted Hester Park. There was no place for a young, confused, broken-hearted lad to go in the vast city of New York.
Papa made kiddush (blessing) over two challos and hungrily gulped down one of them. All through the long night he sat huddled on the hard bench, half-dozing and half-awake.
When dawn finally broke, Papa made a vow that when he would marry and have a home of his own, he would never sit down at his Shabbos or Yom Tov table without having guests gathered around him. He would even search in the parks for lonely, hungry people to feed.
Papa Corners the Market
During Papa’s engagement period he told Mama the story of his childhood and the vow he’d made. He requested that Mama be willing to have guests at their Shabbos and Holiday table. Mama agreed immediately. The “Herman business of hospitality” had its roots then and there.
It was nothing unusual for the family to have 30 guests at one time.
My sister Esther related the following incident about this “business” It best describes Papa’s and Mama’s devotion to it and Papa’s manner of teaching and impressing upon his children the great deed of hospitality.
Let me tell it to you in her own words.
“You know what was doing in our house. Since I was the oldest I got the full brunt of all the work. Mama never had a moment’s time. She was either busy with you children or with the guests who came in morning, noon or night, without any advance notice.
“I never went any place. I was glad if I could go downstairs in the street for a little while just to jump rope with the other girls my age.
“Once when I was almost ten years old, Mama whispered to me, ‘I have a great surprise for you. Because you are such a good girl and always help me, I will take you to see Uncle Leib leave for Europe.’ He was leaving the net day, and Mama would take me to the boat to see him off.
“I was beside myself with joy and anticipation. I would see a big boat; I would have Mama all to myself. I was so excited I could not close my eyes the whole night.
“From early in the morning, I began pestering Mama, ‘When are we going? What should I put on?’
“Mama kept shushing me, ‘Don’t let the other children hear, or they too will want to tag along, it is still early. The boat only sails at three in the afternoon.’
“I chose my nicest dress and prepared my Shabbos shoes. I made Mama so nervous that she finally gave me permission to dress. I could not eat my lunch from excitement. You would think I was sailing that day.
“Finally Mama started to get dressed. Aunt Sarah was called to watch you children. She had her hands full, because you understood that something was up if Mama was taking me someplace.
“After what seemed like hours to me, Mama was ready. She whispered, ‘Esther, sneak outside the door when the children are not watching.’ I barely made it to the door, when it was thrown wide open. In walked Papa with a guest.
“ ‘Get busy,’ he said. ‘We have a guest.’ Papa had that certain gleam in his eyes that was always there when a guest came to our house. I cannot explain it exactly, but young as I was I had learned to recognize it.
“For me, it was the end of all my dreams. My world collapsed. I realized we would not be able to go to the boat. Mama tried to appease me, but I was beyond comfort. “I hated everyone in the world. I just wanted to run away from the guests and the house. I was afraid to say a word to Papa. I ran into the bedroom and cried my heart out.
“Papa followed me, and with blazing eyes he said, ‘Esther now is not the time for tears. Mama needs your help. I will talk to you later.’
“When the guest was fed and left our house, it was late in the afternoon. Papa took me into the last bedroom and close the door. He took my hand and squeezed it tightly.
“ ‘Listen, daughter, and I will explain to you why you had nothing to cry about. In fact, you should really have felt that today you are the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.
“ ‘Do not think that when we give guests food to eat we are doing them a favor. No, they are really doing us the biggest favor. Do you know how much we earned today? We are one of the richest families in all of America.
“ ‘Look at your friends’ homes. Do they always have poor people eating there? No! There are very few homes in America which make a business of feeding poor people and guests. There are hundreds of god deeds people observe but hospitality is neglected by almost everyone.
“ ‘Do you know what Ima and I are doing, Esther? We “cornered the market” on this great deed! All the many “dividends” that we shall earn from it will remain with our family forever and ever.
You are a very rich girl, for you help Mama with the guests. Your children and grandchildren will also be wealthy because of our outstanding "business of hospitality.”
“ ‘You will go with Mama someplace another time, but when you can earn millions within a short while, you grasp the opportunity. You do not allow it to slip through your fingers.’
“I did not understand everything Papa was telling me-especially the business angle of ‘cornering the market.’ However, something stirred deep within me and said that I was witnessing a great and wonderful occurrence.
“Suddenly, my intense disappointment vanished. I truly felt I was one of the richest girls in the world.”
”All for the Boss”
By: Ruchoma Shain
