They called from the shul 2 days before Yom Tov to ask YM to lain chassan Torah and chassan Bereishis, the last and first aliyahs of the Torah. NOT because there was a shortage of lainers - the shul was literally crawling with people who know how to lain V'zos Habracha and Bereishis, but I suspect as some sort of honour.
The two aliyahs, combined, went for $26,000. Not that anybody buys aliyahs, I hope you'll understand. A group gets together to bid and then chooses one person to actually receive the aliyah. The person also has to pledge Torah study and a super-deluxe "7-forker" kiddush, so it's not all about the money.
So anyway, I'm sure he felt extra pressure to deliver almost $30K worth of laining. But he did an honourable job, even given the short notice and some last-minute confusion concerning whether or not the shul uses a special tune to lain those parshiyos on Simchas Torah.
Lots of nachas. I forced myself to stay 'till the end, even though they were well over an hour behind schedule and we were expecting guests at 2. He finished at 2:15, which was 15 minutes after the entire davening was supposed to be over. Ted was stuck there 'till 3:30. Gaah... almost longer than Yom Kippur, but at least they feed you first.
15 years ago today, I was home, Jeremy out dancing at Chabad Edinburgh, pager strapped to his belt, expecting our first baby any second (he was due the first day of Sukkos). He narrowly missed being named Yerachmiel Simcha and was induced the following evening - hence his birthday this Tuesday at 9:05 a.m.
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