Birkas Hamazon - Bencher Full Edition: The Pirchei Shoshanim Pictorial Series - Softcover

Polungian, Lithuania in the shul, the shammash Shavuos was busy decorating the synagogue with greenery and branches in honor of the festival. To those who asked about this custom, he enjoyed telling them that the festival of Shavous falls each year precisely three months after the seventh of Adar, the birthday of Moshe Rabbeinu. It was on this day of the month, three months earlier in the year, that Moshe Rabbeinu’s mother hid him in the midst of the needs in the Nile river. And so the shammash would decorate the synagogue with branches and greenery, adding in a few flowers here and there to finish off the look. The shammash was nearly done. As he put the final touches on the display, the door of the synagogue suddenly burst open. In ran a small ten year old child, fleeing from a group of children who were chasing him. In his rush, the little boy didn’t pay too much attention to where he was going. Bang, The shammash watched, aghast, as the child tripped over one of his careful arrangements. The entire display of greenery tipped and fell, ruining hours of careful and painstaking work. The shammash couldn’t control his anger. The sound of a slap echoed through the synagogue as the shammash hit the youngster with all his force. A short while later, Rabbi Shlomo Itzik, happened to pass by the synagogue on his way to the mikvah. He noticed a child sitting and crying in front of the building. “What’s wrong?” he asked with concern. In between sobs, the boy managed to relate the story. After hearing him out, the Rabbi asked the boy to gather all his friends to gather together all the children of the town. When all the children had arrived, the Rabbi led them in the synagogue, where the shammash was still hard at work, fixing up the display of greenery. “We will no longer decorate the synagogue with greenery on the ever of Shavous,” the Rabbi announced. “Instead you.” He turned to the children, “will be responsible for fixing up all the torn seforim [books] in the synagogue. Together with the shammash you will fix all the torn sefarim [books] with paper and tape, so everyone will be able to use these holy books. Now go take the greenery out of the synagogue!” From that day on, it was no longer customary to adorn the synagogue in Polungian with greenery in honor of the holiday of Shavuos. Instead, a group of children, aged 5-13, would gather in the synagogue, to repair the ripped and torn sefarim so everyone would be able to see them.The name of this group?