He's an international celebrity for his role at the shul on 13th Avenue and 53rd Street
If the Shomrei Shabbos shul is an unlikely claimant to the title of America’s most trafficked minyan factory, its two floor managers, Moshe Metzger and Hillel Mozes, are the equally unlikely heroes. Together, the pair shepherd the minyanim that begin with “tallis and tefillin before Barechu” and continue for 22 hours, all while managing the sandwich and cholent station, the ride gemach, and a coffee and tea room that rivals Starbucks.
Hillel Mozes in particular has become an international celebrity for his role at the shul on 13th Avenue and 53rd Street — his ebullient disposition, his ironclad mental archive of faces, not to mention his renowned ride service that matches hitchers with people driving to Staten Island, Lakewood, or even Cleveland.
Boro Park was abuzz last Tuesday over a small ad placed in the Luach Hatzibbur, a free publication distributed to neighborhood shuls, announcing that Shomrei Shabbos was seeking a new gabbai. Hillel Mozes, it turned out, was retiring after only 45 years on the job.
“His wife called me a while ago and said she wants him to retire,” said Moshe Metzger, in between taking a small snack in a basement room and continuing his pushke-pushing among the three simultaneous minyanim then taking place. “She said I should start looking for a replacement.”
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