A sad situation in the Englewood community, in the early weeks of the COVID pandemic, inspired a heartwarming response that has outlasted and overachieved way beyond anyone’s expectations.
On Rosh Chodesh Iyar 2020, community member Yossi Grunberg learned of the passing of his father, Irving. Well aware of the shul closures and other pandemic precautions at the time, he worried if he’d be able to say kaddish with a minyan. A group of his friends banded together, organizing regular daily Shacharit and Mincha/Maariv services in Yossi and Deena Grunberg’s backyard, and the ‘Grunberg minyan’ began. The minyan met regularly on weekdays and Shabbats through the darkest days of the pandemic.
As restrictions eased up in early spring 2021, Grunberg minyan members were determined to keep their chevra together. They secured a place for the morning minyan at Congregation Ahavath Torah of Englewood and the minyan relocated there. The Grunberg minyan is now a regular feature of the shul, with a 8 a.m. weekday Shacharit service that can now attract as many as 20-30 guys. On Shabbat morning, the Grunberg minyan at Ahavath Torah can attract 70-80 participants (not all of whom are members of the preexisting or the weekday Grunberg minyan).
At the same time, the chevra has preserved its identity as an independent minyan by also organizing a regular Shabbat afternoon Mincha/seudat shlishit/Maariv service in the Grunberg’s garage. The minyan can attract between 10-25 people each Shabbat afternoon.
In the fall, one regular member of the Grunberg minyan, Rabbi Willie Balk—an academic adviser of undergraduate Torah studies at Yeshiva University—noticed that a few members of the minyan were also regularly studying Daf Yomi, either on their own or using online videos. Aware that the upcoming Daf Yomi cycle offered a few short tractates, each with its own satisfying siyum afterwards, Rabbi Balk started encouraging others to take up studying the Daf Yomi. At one point, he even distributed free copies of the then-current Gemara in the Daf Yomi cycle, as an incentive for others to join in.
One Shabbat, as he was leaving the Grunberg morning minyan at Ahavath Torah, a few guys responded to his urgings about Daf Yomi with a friendly challenge: “We could start studying the Daf Yomi together, on Shabbat day, if you teach the Daf at the Shabbat afternoon Grunberg garage minyan.” Rabbi Balk accepted the challenge and first taught the Daf in the Grunberg garage that afternoon. Since then, he has been switching teaching the shiur every other week with Zvi Rudman, another regular member of the minyan, who works as private commodities trader in Hasbrouck Heights.
Balk and Rudman report that the Daf Yomi shiur started in December and has become a very popular part of the Shabbat afternoon Grunberg garage minyan. The minyan has already held three siyums—for completing Gemaras Megillah, Moed Katan, and Chagiga/Seder Moed. One of the more rewarding aspects of the siyums is that different members of the minyan have led them—Mike Dube made the siyum on Chagiga/Seder Moed, Yaacov Ottensoser made the siyum on Moed Katan, and Yossi Grunberg made the siyum on Megillah.
Rabbi Balk commented that as the Daf Yomi is now working its way through Gemara Yevamot, a longer Gemara, there will be a bigger gap of time until the minyan holds the next siyum. Despite that, the number of people engaged in studying Daf Yomi in the Grunberg minyan continues to grow. Members have also created a WhatsApp group to explore questions and themes that come up in the Daf Yomi study.
Mike Dube, a member of the Grunberg minyan who is a private life coach and director of the Sharing Seats charity, said: “The Grunberg minyan was one of the greatest things to come out of Englewood from the pandemic. It took a very challenging situation for a close friend who lost his father, creating a band of brothers that supported 10 different charities, many acts of kindness, and helped our dear friend Yossi turn one of life’s biggest challenges, losing a parent, into a shining light of hope for his friends, and his father’s soul.”
“Studying the Daf Yomi with the Grunberg minyan has become the highlight of my Shabbosim and a welcome addition to my Shabbos routine,” said Rabbi Balk. “The quality of the group learning, and the connections between the guys, is quite rewarding. And I’ve even noticed a few guys talking about what they’re seeing in the Daf, outside of the shiurim. The addition of the Daf to the Grunberg minyan has been a real bonus.”
“The camaraderie of this minyan is really incredible,” said Rudman. “What is really remarkable to me is that the minyan has prompted many of us to ‘up our game,’ religiously. Before joining the Grunberg minyan, some of us might not have davened in a minyan every day, others might not have learned the Daf, and others might have only learned the Daf on their own. Through our involvement in the Grunberg minyan, we’re all doing more and collectively, we have the zechus of daily davening and Torah study.”
Harry Glazer invites feedback on this news story and suggestions of other developments that may merit coverage. He can be reached at [email protected]
