The Chickens and the Ticket

A story –form past times- that may help us in these time

“Ein od milvado”[Hebrew]
[ “There is no[power] besides Him” ]: straight from the Tora, no “segula”!! Likely more powerful than all segulot.

The Chickens and the Ticket
The following story is taken from Me’oros Ha-Daf Ha-Yomi, (a
daf yomi pamphlet by Kollel Chassidei Sochotchov, Bnei Brak),
vol. 96, citing “VeAmech Kulam.”
Everyone in the compartment of the dilapidated train made a lot
of room for her to sit down. Not that the other passengers re-
spected elderly woman – no one wanted to be near her, for she
was traveling with filthy, smelly chickens and geese! The shrill
whistle from the platform signaled that the train was about to
pull out. Suddenly a young and frightened boy, out of breath,
jumped into the compartment. As he refilled his lungs with air,
the train jerked forward and started to pick up speed.
The boy quickly studied everyone in the coach, which was
crowded with robust Russian farmers and peasant housewives.
He saw that the only place left for him was near the old woman’s
geese and chickens. “Sometimes life surprises a person,” Dovid
Mendel mused. Not many hours ago he was happily and calmly
studying Gemara[= talmud [the oral written down jewish tradition]with his
chavrusa,[study-partner] and now he found himself
shivering like a windblown leaf in a fourth-class coach of a
packed train heading to Kiev. That morning, a high-ranking
Russian soldier with a scowl on his face had handed the Rosh
Yeshivah [head of the tora school] a government order saying that all the
yeshivah [tora school]students had to leave Lubitz within twenty-four hours.
Not obeying the order would bring bitter consequences.
The yeshivah boys knew about Stalin’s evil decrees. Sadly,
therefore, they went to their rooms, packed what few possessions
they had, and started off in different directions, heading for their
homes. Of course, Dovid Mendel wanted to go home, too, to Kiev,
but he didn’t have a penny to his name. He came from an impov-
erished family, and it had taken his parents many months to
gather enough money to send him to the yeshivah. Now he had
no money to return. The Rosh Yeshivah [head of the tora school] was not able to
help in this respect but blessed him that he would not suffer misfor-
tune. Then he told him to leave Lubitz as quickly as possible.
“One thing I can give you,” said the Rosh Yeshivah with tears in
his eyes. “Some advice – any time you are threatened with trouble
say to yourself the verse “Ein od milvado”[Hebrew]
[ “There is no[power] besides Him” ]
The landscape outside the window of the racing train changed
rapidly. Soon, they would arrive at the first stop, where a checker
would board the train to make sure that everyone aboard had
tickets. From minute to minute, Dovid Mendel’s concern grew
and grew.
The old woman finished feeding her fowl. Dovid Mendel stud-

ied her deep bewrinkled face, and realized that she was Jewish –
the only other Jew in the coach. In his predicament, he had no
choice and decided to ask her for help.
When he saw that no one would notice, he whispered his story
to her, but she did not seem to hear. Finally he begged her,
“Please, can you help me?” When he finished pleading, the old
woman fell into a deep sleep without a word of response, and her
thunderous snoring was heard throughout the crowded coach.
The train continued to speed on towards its first stop. Con-
templating his bitter fate, Dovid Mendel did not notice that the
old woman had awakened and had stood up, holding a large
goose and a noisy chicken. Then she started to stroll with them
around the coach.
The other travellers were suddenly startled by the shrill shouts
of a chubby and stalwart man who was terribly annoyed by the
chicken and goose. His cries woke up several passengers who had
been sleeping. The old Jewish woman paid no attention, how-
ever. “Excuse me,” she said, “but will this ticket get me from
Lubitz to Kiev?” “Lady,” the man replied. “I already told you
that it’s all right! Don’t worry! Your ticket is just fine. It’s 100%
good!” She then continued to slowly wander from one person to
another accompanied by her birds, showing each passenger her
ticket and innocently asking, “Will this ticket get me from Lubitz
to Kiev?” Each time, she received a clamorous dismissal: “Yes,
yes, it’s a good ticket, don’t worry. Just go and sit down!”
During the tumult Dovid Mendel awakened from his troubled
thoughts. His first impression was that not only had his fate not
improved, but now he must suffer travelling next to this bizarre and
hapless woman. He pleaded to Hashem [G-d] to save him from the mis-
fortune that probably was about to befall him for not having a
ticket to show the checker.
The old woman finally returned to her seat – seemingly satis-
fied that her ticket would get her to Kiev. She put the goose and
chicken back in their place and contentedly went back to sleep. It
seemed to Dovid Mendel that every so often she winked at him –
but on the other hand, he wasn’t sure.
The train started to slow down and pull into a station. Dovid
Mendel saw the ticket checker waiting on the platform, just as he
had imagined in his dismal musing. The checker was tall and
stocky, with a cruel face. He had handcuffs hanging on his belt,
intended for passengers like Dovid Mendel who sneak aboard
without paying. “Ein od milvado,” [there is [no] power besides Him]whispered
Dovid Mendel, trembling.
Suddenly Dovid Mendel felt something being shoved at him.
The old lady was pushing her worn-out ticket at him. Before he
could ask her what she was doing, she quickly motioned to him to
remain quiet, closed her eyes, and appeared to fall into a deep
sleep again.
As the checker approached and yelled, “Ticket, please!” Dovid
Mendel held out his ticket. Then the checker passed on, looked
down at the wrinkled old woman and said, ‘Ticket, lady. Lady –

ticket!” She did not wake up and he shouted his command again:
“Lady – ticket!” She still did not budge, and then the other pas-
sengers began to call out from all sides of the coach: “Leave that
crazy woman alone! In the name of all that is holy, please, do not
wake her up!” The passenger that she had disturbed first said to
the checker, ”Believe me, she has a ticket! Everyone here saw
her ticket. Just don’t wake her up! We have already suffered
more than enough from her!”
Lacking much choice, the checker continued on to the next
compartment. Dovid Mendel thought he discerned a slight smile
in the corner of the clever old woman’s mouth. Her eyes re-
mained closed. She remained ”asleep,” not bothering a soul, just
as the other passengers wanted.
This old Jewish woman put herself in great peril in order to
help her fellow Jew, though she had never seen him before in her
life. What great courage she demonstrated! One small slip and
both she and the boy would have wound up in a terrible Soviet
prison for many years. Later, when Dovid Mendel went over to
her to express his deep gratitude, she explained with shining
eyes and simple faith, “When you told me that you are a yeshivah
bachur, [=boy learning in a tora school] I knew I had to do whatever
I could to save you.”
FROM THE BOOK : TRUST ME ! BY RABBI ELIEZER PARKOFF
[FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS]

Translation by AI into Hebrew: no idea if it came over well [did not check]

“כרטיס!” היא לא התעוררה והוא צעק שוב בצו אחד:
“גברת – כרטיס!” היא עדיין לא זזה, ואז הנוסעים האחרים
התחילו לקרוא מכל צדדי המרכבה: “תנו לאישה המשוגעת הזאת לבד!
בשם כל הקדושים, בבקשה, אל תעירות אותה!” הנוסע שהיא הפריעה לו
אמר לבוחן, “תאמין לי, יש לה כרטיס! כולם כאן ראו את
הכרטיס שלה. רק אל תעירות אותה! כבר סבלנו
מספיק ממנה!”

בעודו חסר ברירה, הבוחן המשיך לחלקה הבא. דוד מנדל חשב שראה חיוך קל
בפינת פה של האישה הזקנה ומתומצתת. העיניים שלה נשארו סגורות. היא נשארה
“נרדמת”, לא מפריעה לאף נפש, כפי שרצו הנוסעים האחרים.
האישה היהודית הזו התעמתה בסכנה גדולה כדי לעזור לעצמה כיהודיה אחרת, אף על פי שהיא לא פגשה אותו מעולם בחייה. כמה אומץ גדול היא הראתה! טעות קטנה אחת ושניהם יכלו להסתיים בכלא סובייטי נוראי לשנים רבות. מאוחר יותר, כשדוד מנדל התקרב אליה כדי להביע לה את הכרת התודה העמוקה שלו, היא הסבירה בעינים מתגברות ובאמונה פשוטה: “כשאמרת לי שאתה בחור תורה, ידעתי שאני צריכה לעשות כל מה שאני יכולה כדי להציל אותך.”

מתוך הספר: “תאמינו לי!” מאת הרב אליעזר פרקוף
[מהדורות פלדהיים]