In my aimless studies I came across this new word. I was reading "The Jews in Early New Orleans," by Bertram Korn. In it he discussed the father of one of the first Jewish settlers in then French New Orleans, David Monsanto. Korn's sources are the Municipal Archives of the Hague. He describes here Monsanto's state after a severe and ultimately irreversible personal financial collapse: "He who had gratefully accepted and paid for the high honor of serving in 1736 as the "Bridegroom of Genesis" on Simchas Torah..., now served as minhanista - that is, one of the unemployed, idle and retired men who, in exchange for a small allowance, were required to attend services in the synagogue every weekday, in order to assure the presence of the mandatory quorum (minyan)..." p. 12. with note on p. 267.
Minhanista is certainly a better word than my current fall-back, i.e. Ringer. With Sam now firmly ensconced at the Jewish home we could use a new one and there is at least one candidate who has presented himself.
