[Avodah] Right vs. Wrong; Tzaddik vs. Rasha

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:

> I'm reminded of R' Yisrael Salanter's observation. It is common to catch
> someone outside announcing that they were looking for a "tenster" for
> their minya. But how often does someone stand outside offering food so
> that they can have a se'udah?

FWIW, I have seen this, though not very often.  But perhaps you're
looking at it from the wrong perspective.  You're looking at it as a
chisaron in the offerer - when he has nine men ready to daven he stands
outside and trawls for a tzenter, but when he has nine men ready to eat
he washes and sits down.  Let's see it from the other side: when there
are nine men ready to eat, they don't have to look far or hard to find
that tzenter - many people will volunteer to eat with them.  But when
they need a tzenter to daven, suddenly everyone is busy, and they have
to wait long enough and look hard enough that it becomes noticeable.

I've also experienced one that morphed into the other.  Last summer,
on holiday in LA, I was walking down the street and someone asked me
whether I'd davened mincha.  As it happened I had, but since I was in
no hurry I said I'd stay and be counted in the minyan, though not in
the six who were davening.  It turned out that they were having a
sheva brochos, and after mincha the hosts insisted that I stay for
dinner (and they were certainly not short of a minyan for benching).

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas