I remember that the conductors on the line running through
Kremetchuk had learned a few words of Yiddish. For instance, when the
train would stop at a station the conductor would walk up and down the
platform and cry out a few times--_mu kennt_. This meant that the
inspector wasn't on the train and you could jump on and hide under the
seats. Or if the inspector was on the train the conductor would walk up
and down and yell a few times, _Malchamovis_! This is a Hebrew word
that means Evil Angel and it was the signal for nothing doing.
"The story I remember is on a train going but of Kiev," said Mishkin.
"Years ago it was. I was sitting in the train reading some Russian papers
when I heard three old Jews talking. They had long white beards and there
were marks on their foreheads from where they laid twillum. Yes, I saw
that they were holy men and pretty soon I heard that they were upset about
something. You know what? I'll tell you.
"For a religious Jew in the old country to pass an evening without a
minyon is a sin. A minyon is a prayer that is said at evening. And to make
a minyon there must be ten Jews. And they must stand up when they pray. Of
course, if you are somewhere where there are no ten Jews, then maybe it's
all right to say it with three or four Jews only.
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