From Pinsk to America
Beryl, pious but poor, was applying for a job as shamesh of a synagogue in Pinsk. The interview was going well, until the president of the shul handed Beryl the shul bulletin, in Yiddish, to read. Embarrassed, Beryl admitted that he was illiterate.
"We can't hire a shamesh who doesn't know how to read," the synagogue president said.
With no other prospects in Pinsk, Beryl sailed to America. Like other immigrants, he became a peddler. He prospered. Quickly he was a business owner, then a magnate, then a multi-millionaire.
In a business meeting one day, one of Beryl's employees handed him a report to read. "I don't know how to read," Beryl told him.
The employee was amazed. "Do you know where you would be today if you knew how to read?" he asked.
"Of course," Beryl answered. "I'd be a shamesh in Pinsk."
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