THE MORNING MINYAN

By MIKE SARNE

Out of the night they come, scurrying figures muffled against the cold, puffing clouds of wintry steam, wending their way to the New West End. Their numbers are few, this band of brothers. The ‘happy’ few. Glad to be conscious at 7.00am.

Each morning they sacrifice the most precious thing they have – the extra 20 minutes in bed before you really have to rise, the delicious roll over after the alarm has rung, the cup of tea drunk at a leisurely pace. Their self-denial is unseen and unsung. Well, not quite. Once inside the pre-heated shul a sort of flowering emerges. The morning minyan begins to bloom as their voices gather strength. The service has a therapeutic effect. Hangovers clear miraculously, stiff limbs become supple, even laughter is heard as the Minyan men discover life before dawn.

Coffee, toast, juice and on Fridays salmon all with an occasional schnapps! A short drasha by Rabbi Shisler gives a good thought for the day. And subtly, but somehow suddenly, these lives are changed. They put into perspective a person's priorities in a way you can’t when you daven alone. You leave shul an hour later feeling warm, the world is no longer a hostile place. You smile indulgently at bustling commuters. You have made peace with Hashem.