Soon - Chapters 1 & 2

 

 

SOON

 

 

©Copyright  2011 Steve Lieberman

All Rights Reserved

 

SOON - Chapter 1

 

The jurors filed into the hushed courtroom. David and his associates Steve and Isaac scanned their faces for a clue of the verdict. The foreman rose. "The jury finds the defendant, Atlas Energy Corporation., not guilty."

 

A sigh of relief, a rush of congratulations, and then back to the office to clear away the case's mass of papers.

 

Being Friday, Isaac left early, but David and Steve went to the Citylights Disco happy hour to celebrate. David downed a drink, and danced with a pretty stewardess named Suzy who Steve introduced him to. The throbbing pulse of the music vibrated through him as he glided in sync with Suzy's moves. A few hours later, it was goodbye to Steve, and back to Suzy's place to continue dancing.

 

The next morning, David put on Suzy's, extra roller skates and walkman, and they skated through Central Park, closed to traffic on weekends. Tuned to the same, disco station, they skated as well together as they danced. Wind rushing through his hair, he sailed and bobbed in time to the beat, watching the radiantly colored trees of late fall.

 

David Kahn, 28, reveled in the rush of freedom as he boogied through Central park. He mused how his life was getting faster and higher. Valedictorian of Great Neck High, honors at Harvard College and Law, and now he was making big money winning big cases at a big law firm. Six feet tall, intelligent brown eyes, brown curly hair, going out with gorgeous women... David was soaring.

 

Rounding a turn, Suzy's skate hit a rock and she crashed. Finding she had some scrapes and a twisted ankle, David carried her to a cab and took her home. He patched her up and bid her goodbye. Nice girl, he thought, maybe I'll see her again. But his sights were aimed high, and he was ready for a lot more flying before landing.

  

                     *

 

When David got to work Monday, a note on his desk said, "See Mr. Teller first thing this morning." David had been with the firm over a year, but he had never spoken with Mr. Teller, one of the head partners. When he went to the executive suite, the secretary buzzed Mr. Teller who came out and shook David's hand, motioning him into the office.  It was a stunning office, with a panoramic view of midtown. Aside from the large desk, there were two couches facing each other, and Mr. Teller sat on one and David sat on the other.

 

"I've been hearing good things about you, David," Mr. Teller began. "You did well on the Atlas case. There's every indication you have a bright future with our firm." Mr. Teller stood up, opened up a cabinet, and poured himself a drink, offering one to David who declined. David looked at his    boss:  about 60 years old,  stocky,  graying at the temples, with a red face that belied a temper.

 

Mr. Teller stood up, and walked to a wall of books, still holding his drink. "David, we're working on an important new liability case, and we've been doing research on the opposing firm. One of their lawyers grew up in Great Neck when you did. Did you know a girl named Fran Rosen?"

 

David was startled. "She was a girlfriend of mine in High School," David said. "But I haven't seen her since then."

 

"A stroke of luck," Mr. Teller smiled. He sat down on the couch, put his drink on the table between them, and leaned forward. "I'd like you to renew your acquaintance with Fran. You don't have to tell her where you work. Be discrete, don't push, but if she happens to tell you anything pertinent, let me know."

 

He got up. "David, it's been a pleasure seeing one of our rising stars. Keep me posted." They shook hands, and he saw David out the door.

 

David felt shaken when he got back to his desk.  On the surface he'd be resuming a friendship.  But it wasn't really honest.    His curiosity, however, was aroused - what did happen to Fran?             He called information, dialed the number, and someone answered.

 

"Hello, is Fran Rosen there?" David asked.

 

"Yes, speaking."

 

"This is David Kahn, from Great Neck".

 

"David!  How are you, old high school beau!"

 

"I'm fine.  How are you?" David asked.

 

"Fine. I'm working at home this morning. What have you been doing with yourself? How did you like Harvard?"

 

"Great."

 

"Let's get together and catch up on old times", she said, sounding excited to hear from him. They arranged to meet a week from Friday. David wrote down her address, and said goodbye.

 

David was deep in thought when Isaac walked in. "You look like you heard bad news."

 

"I didn't think it showed. I just did something shady for Mr. Teller."

 

"He's a bully," Isaac sympathized. "In my four years here he's often asked me to do things I don't approve of. But I have a way out. I say it's against Jewish Law, and it usually is."

 

"Jewish Law? I thought that only had to do with religious matters."

 

"Jewish Law covers every aspect of life", Isaac explained.  "My father, who's a Rabbi, sits at a phone much of the day answering questions of Jewish Law, and he gets lots of civil law and personal issue questions."

 

David ruminated a moment. "Just for the heck of it, I'd be curious if what Mr. Teller asked me to do is against Jewish Law."

 

"Call my father. I've talked about you, he'll know who you are. It's best to reach him in the afternoon. I'll tell him you might call." Isaac wrote down the number and left.

 

That afternoon David noticed the number on his desk, and on a whim, dialed it. A kindly voice answered "Hello?"

 

"Rabbi Levy?" David asked.

 

"Speaking."

 

 "My name is David Kahn, I work with your son Isaac."

 

"Hello David, Isaac told me you might call. I've heard so many good things about you. I heard you have a question that came up at work."

 

"I hope I'm not bothering you," David said.

 

"No, not at all. If no one asked me questions, I would get pretty lonely sitting by the phone."

 

David told Rabbi Levy about what Mr. Teller asked him to do.

 

"This is not so straightforward", Rabbi Levy answered. "I'd like to do some research on it and get back to you. Better yet, why don't you come for a Shabbos? Shabbos afternoon we'll have plenty of time to discuss the issue in depth. That's when I like to answer my more complicated questions."

 

"Well, I don't know..." David was taken by surprise.

 

"You can stay by Isaac's, and eat lunch here. Would this Shabbos be convenient for you?"

 

"I  guess  so," David said hesitantly.  He hadn't made any dates yet.

 

"Fine.  I'm  so glad you called.   You have an interesting question.   I very much look forward to meeting you and speaking to you about it.” 

 

David's hand shook a bit as he put down the phone. Shabbos? He had no idea how Orthodox Jews observed Shabbos. His familiarity with Judaism was weak at best. He got up, and went into Isaac's office. Isaac was smiling. "My father just called and told me the news. Have you ever observed Shabbos before?"

 

David shook his head.

 

"You'll love it," Isaac said. "It's a day worth living the rest of the week for, a day of peace. Anyway, Mr. Teller must have given you an interesting task, because my father usually can answer most questions 1-2-3."

 

 "Today's Monday. Should I prepare anything for Shabbos?” David asked.

 

"Just bring yourself.  You’ll love it”, Isaac repeated.

 

SOON - Chapter 2

 

On Friday morning David brought a valise to work with an extra change of clothing for his first Shabbos. Shabbos - the word had an exotic flavor, David thought. It reminded him of Hasidic men with long beards and black coats scurrying around the city. David had been Bar mitzvah'd in a Reform synagogue when he was 13, but he had never understood - or barely been curious about - what that or any other Jewish ritual meant. It seemed like a distant land.

 

Leaving work a little early,  he and Isaac took a train to Avenue M in Flatbush. Walking to Isaac's house, he saw men with black hats and yarmulkas hurrying home.  About half the stores had some Hebrew lettering on them.  Isaac had a pretty one family house, and his lovely pregnant wife,  Sarah, came out of the kitchen to welcome David.   Isaac introduced his three children: "Here is Nachmun,  6 - Tzvi,  4 - and Rachel our baby,  who was 2 last week."

 

David was shown his room. He took a shower, got dressed, and met Isaac in the living room. Isaac's family had washed, and they and the house looked clean. They all wished each other "Good Shabbos", and Isaac and David walked to synagogue three blocks away.

 

The synagogue - or 'shul' as Isaac called it - was a small brick building, nestled between two houses. Inside there were about 50 men wearing black or blue suits and black hats. Isaac introduced David to a dozen friendly people, and then went to the front where he introduced David to Rabbi Levy. "Good Shabbos, David", Rabbi Levy said warmly, holding David's hands between his. The Rabbi was slight and short, and his eyes shone and seemed to laugh as he spoke. "I'm so glad you came and I look forward to speaking to you at length tomorrow", the Rabbi said.

 

Isaac took David to the bookshelves, and gave David one of the few books in English. "This is called the Artscroll Prayer Book and should help you follow what's going on", Isaac said as he opened the book to a page labeled 'Minchah'. "We are about to say the afternoon prayers. That will be followed by psalms that welcome the Sabbath, and then 'Maariv', the evening prayers."

 

The praying began, led by someone at the front. For the next half hour, the people alternatively sat and stood, were silent and spoke. David read portions of the book. When it was over, David said to Isaac "Do you read this 1000 page book every day?"

 

"Parts of it," Isaac laughed, "and after 30 years you get to say it pretty quickly."

 

As they walked back,  David noticed how quiet the streets were. There were few cars, and the only sounds were of men talking coming home from 'Shul'.

 

Isaac's wife and children greeted them with "Good Shabbos", and they went to the dining table that was set around a beautifully lit candelabra.

 

Isaac sat at the head of the table, with Sarah and the younger children on one side, and David and Nachmun on the other. They stood as Isaac held a cup of wine and said a prayer in Hebrew that David didn't understand, except that it had the word 'Shabbos' in it. Then they all went into the kitchen and used a big two handled cup to pour water on their hands and say something in Hebrew. Isaac showed David what to do, and he repeated each word after Isaac, wondering what this meant. Back at the table, Isaac held up two loaves of bread, said something in Hebrew, and passed out pieces of bread to everyone. Then the real was served.

 

As they were eating, Sarah smiled warmly at David and asked, "Are you familiar with Shabbos?"

 

"No," David answered. "This is my first one. You'd be amazed how little I know about Judaism. I don't even know the Hebrew alphabet. So that I don't embarrass you or myself, what should I avoid doing on Shabbos?"

 

"We don't turn lights on and off. We don't write. And we don't carry things outside", Isaac answered.

 

"It sounds so restrictive," David said.

 

Sarah responded, "Shabbos has been called an Island in Time. It's said that on Shabbos we get an extra soul. I don't know how people survive without a day to be with their families, rest, and think.'

 

"By the way," Isaac interjected, "are you a Kohane, Levy, or Yisroel?"

 

"I don't know what you mean".

 

"On Shabbos morning in Shul," Isaac explained, "we ask people to say blessings over the Torah reading, and we wanted to ask you. All we need to know is your and your father's Hebrew name. The Kohane and Levy are descendants of the priests of the Temple, and they get to say the first blessings on the Torah. I'm a Levy, that's why my name is Levy. Many people named Kahn are Kohanim".

 

"I can try to find these things out," David said. "But I have no idea what my Hebrew name is. And if the blessing is in Hebrew, I'd be lost".

 

It was a pleasant meal,  and when it was over,  Sarah passed out little books.   "Are you familiar with benching?" she asked. David shook his head.

 

Isaac explained: "It's what we say at the end of a meal to thank God for His generosity. If you want to say it, the English translation is on the left side of the pages." As the others 'benched', David read it. He was amazed how long it was, almost 8 pages. All this praying and blessing, David thought, must take up half their time.

 

After talking a bit more, they all went to their rooms for the night. As he lay in bed, David felt a surprising calm. He thought how he'd probably now be at a disco now - how different Shabbos was from what he knew as 'the weekend'. There were too many rules and strange rituals, he thought, but he liked the peace of Shabbos. "I wonder if I'm also entitled to a second soul on Shabbos," he smiled as he drifted to sleep.

 

David still felt the peace of Shabbos when he woke the next morning. He got dressed, met Isaac downstairs, and walked to Shul. In Shul, as the others prayed, David read more from the Artscroll prayer book. "Why all this praising God?" David thought. After about 45 minutes, they opened a closet in the front, took out a large scroll David assumed was the Torah, and somone read from it out loud. The reading was done in sections, and a different person said a blessing over each section. After the Torah was put away, the Shul became silent and Rabbi Levy climbed the platform in front and began speaking.

 

"In this week's Torah reading, Yitzchak - who is old and blind - wants to give blessings to his sons - Yaacov and Esav". Isaac whispered to David that these were the Hebrew names for Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. "Yitzchak wants to give the spiritual blessing to Yaacov, and the material blessing to Esav. Rivkah, Yitzchak's wife, tricks him into giving both blessings to Yaacov. Rivkah knew that in order to be spiritual it helps having food in your stomach. She believed in the spiritual mission of Yaacov - from whom we are descended. She wanted to assure that Yaacov had the sustanance to carry out his mission."

 

David was surprised by the power and electricity of Rabbi Levy's voice. A fire seemed to project from his small frame.

 

"We, the Jews, received both blessings. But we only have three physical blessing to help pursue the spiritual. If we use the physical blessing as an end in itself, then we obtained it under false pretences - and then Esav's anger at us is justified."

 

Rabbi Levy returned to his seat, and the praying continued another half hour. Afterwards, Isaac's and Rabbi Levy's families met outside the Shul to walk to Rabbi Levy's house for lunch. Rabbi Levy introduced David to his wife and his daughters Esther and Rivka. While walking, Isaac explained to David that he was

 the oldest,  a younger brother Moshe, 20, was learning in Yeshiva in Israel, Esther was a year older than Moshe, and Rivka was 12.

 

The table was set when they arrived, and Rabbi Levy, standing at the head of the table, said the blessing over wine that they called 'kiddush'. Then they washed for bread, and began a delicious meal. "This is a warm family," David thought as he ate, talked, and listened to the Shabbos songs.

 

When the little benching books were passed out, Isaac noticed there were none in English. He whispered to his sister Esther, and she went upstairs and returned with a prayer book that had the benching in English. As she handed it to David, he was struck by her innocent beauty.

 

After benching, Rabbi Levy invited David into his study down the hall. It was a medium size room with a desk in the middle and walls packed with Hebrew books from floor to ceiling. David sat down as Rabbi Levy started pulling books from the shelves.

 

"I enjoyed researching your question," the Rabbi began. "It seems there are four issues involved." He then talked for about an hour, bringing in dozens of opinions from people David had never heard of, weaving the opinions together, jumping up occasionally to get and quote from another book. His eyes glistened and darted as the books piled higher on his desk and he pulled the strands of opinion together into a conclusion.

 

"Therefore," he summed up,  "most opinions follow the Ramban, who would frown upon it,  but there are others who could let one be somewhat more lenient in matters of great need."

 

In Law school and after, David had rarely heard such a masterful legal treatise. He looked at the books piled on the desk, at those that filled the room, and then at the smiling Rabbi. "Thank you for an enlightening answer. If you don't mind my asking you," David said as he waved his hands at the shelves, "what are all these books, and who are all these people you quoted?"

 

Rabbi Levy leaned back in his chair. "These are my law books," he said. "This is our legal tradition, covering every nuance of our lives, that our sages have handed down to us from generation to generation for 3500 years. It pains me that so many Jews in this generation know so little about it." David thought he saw a tear in his eye. The Rabbi got up, and stood by the shelves. "As for who the sages I mentioned are, it is all rooted in the Torah, the five books Moses received from God at Mount Sinai. After 400 years we conquered all of the land of Israel, built our temple, and saw it destroyed and rebuilt. Then our sages collected the writings of our prophets and kings into the Tanach, the Bible. For 1000 years our temple stood, where our priests led our nation in worship of God. All the while our tradition and laws were kept alive by word of mouth. When 2000 years ago our temple was destroyed, Yehuda Hanasi brought our sages together and preseved a summary of our laws in the Mishnah. Five hundred years later, our sages put together the Talmud, explaining the laws of the Mishnah in more detail". The Rabbi pointed to a set of over 30 large books.

 

"A thousand years ago the Rambam, Maimonedes, wrote a summary of our laws distilled from the Talmud. A hundred years later Rashi and Tosfos wrote commentaries on the Talmud, explaining nuances we wouldn't otherwise understand. All the while, Rabbis answered the questions of their communities based on the knowledge of these works, and their writings fill these walls. Four hundred years aao, Yosef Caro wrote the Shulcahn Aruch, another summary of our laws we use extensively today. And only 60 years ago the Chafetz Chaim wrote the Mishneh Brurah, another extremely useful summary."

 

Rabbi Levy sat down and looked at David.  "Most days, when I am not learning or teaching, I sit at my desk answering phone calls, giving my humble interpretation of what our great sages taught concerning the daily problems of our troubled age."

 

Rabbi Levy had been talking about one and a half hours, and he looked a little tired. David got up, and thanked the Rabbi for sharing his time and knowledge.

 

"It is entirely my pleasure," the Rabbi said as he stood and shook David's hand. "If you have any more to talk about, I'm available. You're an intelligent young man, and smart people often have many questions. In fact," the Rabbi said as he walked to his shelves, "I have a book in English on the history of our people. Would you be interested in reading it?".

 

David thought a moment and said yes.

 

"I'll have Isaac bring it to work for you. Now I'm ready for my Shabbos nap, that fuels me for the whole week." He walked David to the living room where the Rabbi's wife was reading. She looked up and said, "Isaac and his family went home. He said the door is open."

 

David put on his coat and stepped into the Saturday sunshine. Thoughts were swimming in his head as he walked to Isaac's house. Mishnah, Talmud, Rambam, Rashi. In his 20 years cf education, he had only vaguely heard of these.

 

Isaac's house was quiet when he let himself in - everyone was probably asleep. He went to his room, lay down, and took a nap. When he woke up, he lay in bed feeling the peace and quiet of Shabbos. Isaac knocked on the door and said it was time for Minchah. They walked to Shul, where David continued reading the Artscroll prayer book as the others said their afternoon prayers.

 

In  the half hour waiting for the evening prayers, everyone went to  an adjoining room where they washed for bread and ate what Isaac called the 'third meal1 of Shabbos.   Rabbi Levy    read and discussed rules about Shabbos.   At the end he put his    hand on David's shoulder and said, "I want us to welcome a good friend, Mr. David Kahn, who is staying with us for Shabbos." He turned to David and said, "May you have blessing and success in all that you do."

 

They then 'benched', went to the Shul,  and said  'Maariv', evening prayers.   Isaac  then turned to David  and  said, Shabbos is over".  Before walking home with Isaac, David thanked Rabbi Levy.

 

 "We enjoyed having you, Levy responded, and you are you are always welcome,"  Rabbi Levy responded

 

 Isaac's children jumped all over him when they returned. He took out a spice box, filled a cup of wine, and as his wife held a lit braided candle with a big flame, he said some more blessings in Hebrew. Then they all said "Good Vock," that they explained meant 'good week', to each other.

 

David packed his things, and thanked Isaac and his wife. Shabbos is specical," Sarah said. "It's not that we keep Shabbos as much as Shabbos keeps us."

 

"I'm going to a party at my sister's," David said. "How do I get to Greenwich Village?" Getting directions, David left as Isaac's family waved to him from the door.