Adam Bistritzky (Mendy’s son) gets a text from a friend in Brandies asking if his grandfather that passed away is Leibel Bistritzky that had the store on the lower east side? to which Adam responds yes why? the friend responds that his professor just used him as an example in his Jewish ethics class.
Mendy sends me an email with the professors information and I contacted him to which he sends me the following email.
Dear Schneur,
I’m glad you found me.
I mentioned your father z’l in a class I taught this semester on Jewish business ethics.
I doubt I told them anything you don’t already know. I recounted for them the story about him in the NY Times shutting his store ערב פסח, the busiest day of the year, to daven מנחה, in defiance of how conventional economic theory tells us businessmen, and people, behave. The reporter, Leonard Silk, then asked, is Mr. Bistritsky too simple a man for economic theory to comprehend, or maybe too complex?
Maybe both?
(I grew up in Manhattan with wonderful memories of the store) When I was living in Israel, I went on to tell the class, I met him when he was volunteering at Hadassah, dispensing sandwiches and good cheer to patients and families.
I told the class, you see, feeding people is secondarily a way of making money, it’s ultimately an act of care, and here is an example of a seamless integration of פרנסה and values.
I’m sorry to hear of his passing, and hope this is helpful to you.
B’vrakha,
Yehudah
More about professor Mirsky can be found here http://www.brandeis.edu/facultyguide/person.html?emplid=d6eca65de0085cae06ab5fba2cd72c63111a5df0