Page 127 - LEIBY

Chapter 16 127

Chapter 16

Morning dawned, and Leiby opened his eyes with a jolt. How
had he slept so long? And why was the place so quiet? The
hubbub that he was accustomed to hearing there was now
replaced with an uneasy silence. It seemed that yesterday’s
events had left the residents terrorized and even their sudden
salvation was not enough to lift their spirits. The moroseness
accompanied the men during davening in the small minyan
that they had established in the basement, and Leiby felt that
something awful had transpired. It was not just yesterday’s
attack that was still bothering them – it was more than that.
What was going on?

After davening he buttonholed Shneur, a Lubavitcher chassid
who had arrived with the ashlon24 directly from the Soviet
Union. He was always cheerful and usually succeeded in
cheering up the other refugees too, but now he looked serious
and withdrawn and barely exchanged a word with the other
men.

“What happened?” Leiby asked.

24 Ashlon ʹ Ă ĐŽŶǀŽLJ ŽĨ ƌĞĨƵŐĞĞƐ ǁŚŽ ŚĂĚ ŇĞĚ ĨƌŽŵ ƚŚĞ ^ŽǀŝĞƚ hŶŝŽŶ
ƚŽ WŽůĂŶĚ͕ ŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĞĚ ďLJ >ƵďĂǀŝƚĐŚĞƌ ĐŚĂƐƐŝĚŝŵ͕ ƵŶĚĞƌ ƚŚĞ ĚŝƌĞĐƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ
Rebbe Ryy”tz͕ ǁŚŽ ŚĂĚ ŝŶƐƚƌƵĐƚĞĚ ŚŝƐ ĐŚĂƐƐŝĚŝŵ ƚŽ ůĞĂǀĞ ZƵƐƐŝĂ͘