Yom Kippur Minyan Secured by Chance Encounter in Early Settlement

Moshe Neiman, a founder of the Mitzpe Yeri, recounted the story of how the first Yom Kippur prayer quorum was assembled in the nascent settlement. During the High Holidays in the early days of Mitzpe Yeri, the community struggled to form a minyan, a quorum of ten required for public prayer. Neiman, then a young yeshiva student, recalled that even for Rosh Hashanah, there was no minyan, leading to a newspaper article questioning the settlement's viability.

Facing the same issue for Yom Kippur, Neiman and others considered traveling to a larger yeshiva. To bolster the settlement, they placed an advertisement in the "HaTzofeh" newspaper seeking families to move to Mitzpe Yeri. A couple responded, and Neiman traveled to Givatayim to meet them. To his surprise, an elderly retired rabbi and his wife, who had moved to Israel for Zionist purposes, arrived with a truckload of belongings.

On Yom Kippur eve, the rabbi declared he would stay for the prayers, even if he had to pray alone. This commitment spurred Neiman and the other residents to stay as well. However, they still lacked a tenth person for the minyan. Neiman then decided to recruit the father of one of the core group members, Arieh Julius, a former radio announcer, scholar, and journalist living in Neve Yaakov.

Neiman found Julius preparing the pre-fast meal with his family. He explained the urgent need for a tenth person for the minyan. Julius agreed to come after a brief discussion with his wife, who initially seemed hesitant. Julius then informed his synagogue that he would be unable to serve as cantor or Torah reader due to his commitment to Mitzpe Yeri. He rushed to Neiman's car, and they arrived at Mitzpe Yeri just before the "Kol Nidre" service, successfully forming the first Yom Kippur minyan for the settlement.