by Roger Herst
She kissed him affectionately. "Should we take the risk of a damaged baby? And the consequences if the dice doesn't role in its favor?" "You've never been adverse to risk," he said.
"But that's with my life, not our child's."
"We've still got the home in Carmel for a few more months. We could let Melanie do her thing, wait awhile, go back to that wonderful bed with that spectacular view and do it again. Why not?"
"Is that what you want, Kye?" she ask, stroking his chin.
"Only if that's what you want, too."
Gabby and Kye were thorough in accumulating medical facts. They waited for all the studies and tests to return and, when they eventually did, nothing new or revolutionary was learned. So together, they made their reluctant decision. Kye scrubbed in and stood by Melanie's side while she removed the embryo Gabby and Kye had never seen, but had already come to love. They filled the emptiness that followed by taking time from their jobs to spend with each other. The loss was diminished by joint sharing and by the hope that in a few months the process of creating life would start again. Kye hired a Japanese gardener to prepare another Carmel dream house for that day.
Before Gabby left for a long weekend in California with Kye, Chuck brought to her desk an envelope from Roland Sylerman. Usually, he read letters before he presented her with them, but on this occasion, he left the missive sealed in its envelope.
Dear Rabbi Lewyn:
Enclosed you will find our check for $25,000 for your Discretionary Fund.
It is a small token of appreciation for helping to bring our beloved daughter home. This was a gift from heaven, more than Norma or I ever deserved. Please use the money for whatever good cause you choose.
Your most respectful congregants,
Norma and Roland
Coincidental timing always amused Gabby. Just that morning she had received a letter from the president of the Reform rabbinical seminary in Cincinnati.
Dear Gabby,
It is always a pleasure to hear from you. Your address about the Holocaust Scrolls was received very warmly, even by members of my contentious faculty. And yes, I am much aware of Carey Sylerman's role in helping you to restore the lost Sefrei Torah.
I am adding my recommendation to yours for her entry into our rabbinical school. A seminary president shouldn't pressure his admission committee, but on occasion, we must make exceptions.
Given her background, Carey Sylerman promises to be a splendid rabbinic student. Perhaps she can teach us the secrets of memory.
Shalom Rav,
Dr. Isaac Blau, President
At the airport, before boarding a plane for California, Gabby did one last thing to make the imperfect world just a speck better. She sent a check for $5000 from her Discretionary Fund to Rabbi Olam v'Ed at Sh'erit ha-Pletah. Her accompanying note read:
So that the memory of your father and grandfather and their legacy shall not be forgotten.
Rabbi Gabrielle Lewyn
Upon her return to Washington a week later, Gabby asked Chuck if Rabbi Olam v'Ed had acknowledged the contribution.
"No," he replied, "but I just received the monthly bank statement and the sonovabitch cashed your check."
End
The Rabbi Gabrielle Series
Book I: Rabbi Gabrielle's Scandal
Rabbi Gabrielle, a young female rabbi in Washington DC, is called upon to defend an accused rapist in court, imperiling her career. She must negotiate a hostile climate both in her synagogue and in the community, while attempting to live a normal life as an attractive, unmarried woman. Here is a chance to have an internal look at the life of a clergywoman in a profession that has long been a man's proprietary domain.
Book II: A Kiss for Rabbi Gabrielle
Rabbi Gabrielle succeeds the senior rabbi a Congregation Ohav Shalom and in this new role must perform a funeral for her favorite Bar Mitzvah boy, now a young man recently murdered in a remote Washington DC park. This death brings her to a ghetto high school where the victim coached its struggling tennis team. An avid tennis player herself, Gabrielle attempts to keep the tennis team going and, because the police are unable to apprehend the murderer, investigates the crime. This brings her into conflict with Washington's thriving gun trade. Pursuit of the killer thrusts Gabrielle into the nation's spotlight, exactly where she doesn't want to be.
Book III: Rabbi Gabrielle's Defiance
Rabbi Gabrielle continues her personal and professional odyssey, this time toying with running for a seat in Congress. In the process she becomes entangled with a Korean computer geek who operates a successful on-line political campaign website for underfunded, unknown candidates. At the same time her congregation has lost a child burned to death in an accident lighting Hanukkah candles. Gabrielle must grapple with accusations against her talented but sensitive associate rabbi for unprofessional incompetence and a nasty law-suit leveled against Ohav Shalom. Arson is the subject and Rabbi Gabrielle becomes a hound dog on scent, all the while wrestling with a new romance in her life.
Book IV: Rabbi Gabrielle Commits a Felony
A prized Torah scroll is stolen from Ohav Shalom. The FBI determines the event to be a "Hate Crime" and initiates an investigation. But Rabbi Gabrielle unearths clues into the theft that lead in another direction. While intensely active in her daily rabbinical duties, her attention is drawn back 65 years to the origin of the stolen Torah in the Ukraine. The discovery brings this liberal rabbi into conflict with the powerful and well-organized Orthodox Jewish community in New York. Internecine warfare between Jewish denominations must be pacified before Rabbi Gabrielle can return to her post at Ohav Shalom.
Book V: Rabbi Gabrielle Ignites a Tempest
Rabbi Gabrielle takes leave from her rabbinical duties to pursue a doctorate in biblical studies at the University of Chicago. She is summoned to Israel by the Director of Antiquities in Jerusalem when her scholarly live-in boy friend cannot be found to help investigate the robbery of a newly discovered cave at Qumran, site of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. In the search to find him, Gabrielle becomes aware of her friend's involvement in this robbery and while attempting to shield him, gets swept into a cloak and dagger intrigue involving the Catholic Church and the Government of Israel.