Naomi, The Rabbi's Wife

by Miriam Finesilver

  Feeling like a complete outsider, Naomi retreated to sitting on a concrete bench several yards away from the others. Once the music faded and everyone had applauded the breathless women dancers, Sylvia approached Naomi.

  “I was so afraid you weren’t coming. I kept looking for you. You worked so hard making this the most beautiful sukkah ever, how could you not come and enjoy it with us?”

  Rabbi Lehrer’s wife led Naomi to the others seated at tables inside the ornate hut. Once again the kind woman had placed Naomi at the table where she, her husband, Daniel and Sharon were seated.

  Daniel rose to pull out Naomi’s chair at the same moment Beatrice came serving two huge platters, one with stuffed cabbage and the other with small fried dumplings filled with ground meat and mashed potatoes, known as kreplach.

  Naomi smiled. “Beatrice, it all looks delicious. Do you have more food to bring out? Let me help.” She rose from her seat and headed for the kitchen.

  She passed where Sharon sat, who grabbed Naomi’s hands and shrieked, “What’s on your fingers?”

  With all eyes now on her hands, Naomi looked, too. “Oh,” she said with a grimace, “these are the wicked stepsister’s fingernails. I’m sorry.”

  Beatrice lifted Naomi’s hands to her eyes, and saw the absurdly long shiny black fake nails, filed to a dangerous point. “Not with those nails, honey. Of course, you could probably slice the bread for us. Our knives are dull compared to these.”

  Sylvia reached over and put a generous portion of the kreplach on Naomi’s plate. “Sit, sweetheart. Sit.”

  She sat back down and thanked Sylvia. “Guess I better explain, huh?” Naomi gave them a synopsis of her day filming the television commercial. She concluded by explaining, “So, since Cinderella kept flubbing her lines, I’ll need these fingernails for tomorrow morning. Could be a whole day more of shooting.

  Daniel announced to the table, “And Naomi has rescued me. She’s going to help with the Chanukah play.”

  Oh dear, she hadn’t given this much thought; her mind was most definitely preoccupied with Daniel, but not with the Chanukah play. Suddenly one came to mind—a performance done with the youth from her shul in Ellenville. She leaned over to Daniel. “I have the perfect play for us to do.”

  More and more of the families were now arriving in the synagogue playroom in anticipation of seeing the children perform. An excited buzz was in the air.

  This year Chanukah uniquely fell on December 24. While so many celebrated Christmas Eve, at Temple Beth Orr they were enjoying the first night of the Feast of Dedication.

  Naomi gathered the children who were in the play together, but noticed Mindy was missing. “Steven, where’s your sister?”

  Eight-year-old Steven lisped, “Mindy afwaid, Mith Goldblatt.” He cupped his hand to his mouth, making it clear he had a secret. Naomi stooped down, her ear to his lips. Steven whispered, “Mindy locked herthelf in the bathroom.”

  Daniel walked over to Naomi. “Nervous?”

  Naomi stood back up. “Got a little problem here, but believe me I know how to handle it.”

  Daniel put an arm around Naomi and pointed toward the first row of folding chairs. “See those people over there? That’s my parents.” And when a young woman walked in the door, he exclaimed, “I don’t believe it. My sister came.”

  “What’s so unbelievable about that?”

  “Tell you later.”

  “I gotta go take care of the little problem we have—Mindy.” About to walk their separate ways, Naomi spied her parents walking through the door. She grabbed Daniel’s arm and said, “My parents are here, too. They’ve surprised me. Okay, talk later.”

  Naomi walked into the girls’ bathroom and knocked on the door to the closed stall. “Mindy, it’s going to be okay. Come on out.”

  The young girl opened the door and stuck her head out. “Miss Goldblatt, I’m scared. You know how I start giggling? I’ll mess everything up.”

  Mindy listened intently as Naomi recounted her own days of stage fright. “And tomorrow, I have an audition for a big TV show, and am I nervous? Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean I won’t go. Mindy, you’ve been doing a great job and everyone’s going to love you tonight. Do you trust me?”

  Mindy looked at Naomi and smiled. “I trust you, Miss Goldblatt.” She grabbed hold of Naomi’s hand and together they walked out of the little girls’ room.

  Naomi did indeed have a big audition coming up—Saturday Night Live was giving her another chance. Although she had been overjoyed when she received this news from Rhonda, Naomi now experienced something much more gratifying—a joy that penetrated into her soul. Little Mindy trusted her.

  Together Naomi and Daniel gathered the cast of children and gave them last minute instructions. Daniel promised them, “You’ll be great. And afterwards, all the latkes you can eat.”

  Before Naomi could walk away, Daniel squeezed her shoulder. “You’re gonna be great, too—no, you are great. See you afterwards.”

  Rabbi Lehrer carried a handheld microphone and walked to the center of the room. “Welcome everyone. What a wonderful turnout we have tonight. You are in for a special treat. Our new friend, Naomi Goldblatt, has directed what she informs me is called ‘story theatre’ and Rabbi Dan has worked tirelessly on this as well.” He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Cantor. “You should be very proud of your son. And now, Rabbi Dan, if you would introduce our wonderful cast.”

  Taking the microphone from Rabbi Lehrer, Daniel smiled at the audience. “Let me first introduce you to our writer, director and narrator. Naomi Goldblatt.”

  Naomi had already taken her position over to the corner of the room, sitting on a piano bench. She stood up and waved to everyone.

  “Now, here’s our cast.” Daniel turned to the children fidgeting restlessly behind him and instructed, “Remember, when I call your name, step forward. Ready? First, Mindy Kaplan.”

  He beckoned the bashful girl to step forward, “Come on Mindy. Ahh, good girl. Mindy will be playing Rachel Levine. It’s okay, honey, you can step back now. Now for our three latkes, we have Steven Kaplan, Doug Berkowitz, and Barbara Stein.” Three children dressed in brown burlap sacks, representing potato pancakes, came forward.

  Daniel waited until they moved back to their place. “And guess who’s playing the rabbi? Rabbi Lehrer’s and Sylvia’s grandson, of course, Barry Lehrer, and for our music teacher, Judith Cohen.” Judith, an extremely outgoing girl, came forward and twirled around and curtseyed before returning to her place with the others.

  “Now for the mayor, Jonathan Berman.” Jonathan came forward wearing a large hat with the label “Mayor” boldly imprinted on it. Daniel then finished by introducing seven other children who would be acting as somewhat of a chorus in the story. Walking over to Naomi, he handed her the microphone.

  Naomi addressed the audience. “It was the first night of Chanukah. Rachel was at the shul making potato latkes. Everyone agreed she made the most delicious latkes in town. She dropped each latke into the sizzling oil.”

  With a little coaxing from Naomi, Mindy finally stepped forward, wearing an apron and holding a frying pan and a spatula. The young girl flipped a piece of brown paper in the pan as if it were a latke. Unfortunately she flipped it too high and could not catch it back into the pan. Mindy’s brother ran to pick it up and handed it back to his sister. The other children snickered.

  Rabbi Dan, standing in the corner opposite Naomi, shushed the children, even though he himself chuckled.

  Naomi told the audience, “While frying up her latkes, Rachel began to sing.”

  Mindy, in a surprisingly loud and confident voice, sang, “I make latkes nice and round. Everyone tells me my latkes are the best ever found.”

  As narrator, Naomi continued. “Then three latkes jumped right out of the oil and went plop onto the floor. They started singing.”

  “Bet you can’t catch us.” The children pranced around the stage, not exactly coordinated with one another, but t
rying their hardest.

  “Then Rachel exclaimed . . .” Naomi waited for Mindy to say her line, but when none was forthcoming, she cued her by whispering, “Stop, we . . .”

  Immediately Mindy said, “Stop, we need you tonight.”

  While Naomi narrated, the children carried out the action. “Rachel ran after the latkes. The latkes rolled past the rabbi’s study and when the rabbi saw them, he called out . . .”

  Barry Lehrer, wearing a prayer shawl and yarmulke, ran to the latkes and yelled, “Stop latkes, stop.”

  The boy also wore wire-rimmed glasses in imitation of his grandfather. He had been directed to take on some of Rabbi Lehrer’s mannerisms, such as peering over his glasses. However, Barry seemed to be enjoying this way too much. Naomi hoped his grandfather would not be offended and blame her.

  She continued the narration. “So now the rabbi chased the latkes and Rachel chased the rabbi. Now the bad little latkes rolled past the room where the music teacher was practicing her tune. When she saw the latkes, she trilled in a sweet voice. . .”

  The young girl playing the music teacher sang, “Stop. We need you for tonight.”

  In a panicked voice, Naomi told the audience, “But the latkes continued running and singing. So the teacher chased the latkes, the rabbi chased the teacher and Rachel chased the rabbi. The latkes rolled out the door and in front of the shul where two boys were playing ball.

  Two boys mimed throwing a ball to each other until the latkes walked in front of them. Together they screamed, “Stop, we need you for tonight.”

  Naomi increased the panic in her voice. “But the latkes did not stop and they all chased the latkes through the town until they reached the mayor’s office.”

  The boy wearing the mayor’s hat stepped out and demanded, “Stop latkes, by the order of the mayor.”

  Naomi walked to the center of the stage and leaned in to the audience. She worriedly told them, “The latkes didn’t stop and now everyone, including the mayor, was chasing them. But after all this rolling, the latkes were hot, even hotter than when they were in Rachel Levine’s frying pan. Just at the edge of town was the river. The latkes rolled straight toward it, but everyone yelled . . .” Naomi crossed back to the piano bench.

  The children yelled, “Stop latkes stop.”

  Naomi had directed them to speak as a chorus, but they never did grasp this concept. Hearing their individual voices overlapping one another, Naomi laughed. “The latkes hadn’t listened before and they didn’t listen now, but as they plopped into the river, kerplunk.”

  The latkes were now supposed to mime dropping into a river, but instead they started a shoving match with each other. In a louder voice, speaking directly to the little latkes, Naomi repeated, “As they plopped into the river . . .”

  The latkes finally went kerplunk, and Naomi continued. “A miracle happened in front of everyone’s eyes. The water turned into chunky applesauce. Rachel blinked, then one, two, three, she grabbed the latkes right out of the river and put them on her tray. There were enough latkes and enough applesauce for everyone to have a bite.”

  Naomi stood, grabbed the hand of the child nearest to her, and they all bowed. The crowd rose from their seats, cheered and applauded the little actors. Families grabbed the children and enthusiastically scooped them up in their arms. But little Mindy, not forgetting her friend, Miss Goldblatt, squirmed out of her mother’s arms, ran to Naomi and hugged her waist.

  Daniel called to her. “Naomi, please, I want you to meet my parents.”

  “Okay, but let me get mine first. Then we can all meet.”

  Saul was so proud of his daughter he even gave her a bear hug, a rare occurrence. Before she brought her parents to meet Daniel and his family, he came over to her.

  “Naomi, this is my mom, Zofia, my dad, Stefan, and my sister, Dana.”

  She shook each of their hands and introduced her mom and dad. Daniel reminded them there would be food served in the social hall.

  “Yes, I smell. Delicious,” said Stefan, speaking with a thick Polish accent.

  Dana stood apart from everyone and had none of the warmth found in Daniel. In shaking her hand, Naomi actually became embarrassed as Dana did not even move her hand in the slightest.

  Stefan was a thin man with thick salt and pepper hair. He had clear blue eyes, eyes that seemed to have seen a lot of pain. And there was a softness about him, like one who knew life was fragile. His wife, also with a thick Polish accent, seemed more hardened than her husband. Her hair was more white than silver, and with a face which seemed too young for such white hair.

  Rabbi Lehrer and Sylvia joined them. The Rabbi congratulated Naomi on doing an excellent job, and told Saul Goldblatt, “You should be very proud of your daughter.”

  As they all followed the smell into the social hall, Sylvia leaned in to Naomi. “Next is Purim, you know. You would make a wonderful Queen Esther.”

  Dana abruptly announced, “I’m leaving. I’m going with Ed and his family to midnight mass.” She turned around and was gone. Stefan shook his head and put his arm around his wife, appearing to soothe her. Naomi could not help but notice the tightening of Daniel’s jaw. She never saw him this upset.

  Once they were all seated, Beatrice came and placed a platter overflowing with latkes, while another woman brought two bowls, one with sour cream and the other with applesauce. Daniel’s mother reached for the sour cream and Naomi caught sight of the numbers tattooed on her arm. Zofia must have instinctively known they were seen because she quickly took the sleeve of her sweater and pulled it down to cover the hideous mark.

  Toward the end of the evening, Daniel explained he would drive home with his parents and spend a few days with them in New Jersey. “What about your parents, Naomi? It’s a long drive for them to go back tonight. Do you have enough room in your place?”

  Although it was a two bedroom apartment, she had only one bed. Saul and Helen could stay at Naomi’s Aunt Ida’s on Flatbush Avenue, but it was snowing out. Also, it was Christmas Eve which meant the subway system would be running on a shortened holiday schedule.

  Daniel offered, “They can stay at my place tonight. Here’s the keys. I’ll write down the address.”

  Even though affection continued to grow between her and Daniel, she had never been to his home and he never to hers. Watching Daniel write his address on a napkin brought an unexpected warm glow deep within her soul. She felt . . . ? Cherished? Was this possible?

  Maybe this is a sign God has forgiven me.

  Nevertheless, an ache gnawed at her when she looked across the room at Mindy and her mother.

  CHAPTER 8

  Dayenu

  “You did good, cookie. They liked you, but they said they already have Gilda Radner, so they don’t need you. It’s a compliment if you think about it.”

  “Thanks, Rhonda.” Naomi tried catching her breath. “I appreciate you’re letting me know.”

  Now Naomi could get back to her exercises. Twenty-five more jumping jacks to go and then the sit-ups. At one time losing out on a job with a blockbuster TV show would have devastated her. Yet she seemed actually relieved. All she wanted was to dream about Daniel—anything else would have been a distraction. For the last six days, he had been staying with his family in New Jersey and calling her every day, each phone call ending with confessions of missing each other.

  Towards evening, he called. “How’d it go? Did you get any news on your audition?”

  “They said I’m too much like someone already on their show. But that’s cool. How about you? What’d you do today?”

  “Same old thing . . . helped Dad at the furniture store. He’s really having a hard time moving his inventory these days. I’m glad I’ve had the time to help him some, but I’ll be leaving in the morning. Can’t wait til tomorrow night. I’ll pick you up at six, okay?”

  “I can’t wait.”

  Tomorrow would mark their first official date. New Year’s Eve. Both admitted they had never gone t
o Times Square where crowds gathered each year to see the ball drop at midnight.

  Daniel suggested, “Let’s go. First I’ll take you to Luchow’s for dinner.”

  Naomi would finally eat at the legendary German restaurant near Union Square. Growing up, Dad had mentioned the name Luchow’s many times, and always with a tone of reverence.

  With the date set, Naomi had instituted her new exercise regimen. She already knew the dress to wear—a blue velvet form-fitting cocktail dress which had been sitting in her closet for at least two years. Another thrift store eye-catcher, worth buying and holding onto until the right occasion presented itself.

  Oh boy, I have four days to lose five pounds. And what if I eat too much at dinner? Then my dress just rips. Charming., Excited as she was, the adrenaline alone might burn off a few pounds.

  Sit-ups finished, she couldn’t resist trying on the dress once again. The scale hadn’t shown any change as of yet, but after all the exercising, maybe a few inches had miraculously vanished.

  On the way to the bedroom, her eyes caught sight of the time. Meeting Anne for lunch in less than one hour, there would be no time to even shower.

  They chose a new vegetarian restaurant in the downtown Wall Street area. Getting there on time was more doable than going further into midtown. Anne was starting her new year’s resolution early; no more meat for her.

  One way to not gain weight—tofu and sprouts. Yuck.

  Happy to the point of giddy, Naomi stepped into the train imagining Anne’s delight in hearing about Daniel. The door was about to close when a mother and her three-year-old daughter boarded the train and found the only remaining seats.

  The little girl wore the cutest mittens, and reminded Naomi of Mindy Kaplan. She then experienced a quick and sharp stab into her soul. Was mine a girl? Was “it” a she?

  Naomi wanted to avert her eyes, but couldn’t ignore the fact the mother looked utterly confused as she studied a subway map which she kept folding and unfolding. No one else on the crowded train seemed to notice the woman’s distress.

  Naomi rose from her seat, grabbed a pole to hold onto as she stood in front of the woman. “Can I help? You must be new to the city?”