Serializing a new novel.
Chapter 17: The Meeting Jerusalem (October 2001)
Esther has been successful at work, but so far not at
shidduchim. Now it has been suggested that she meet
Daniel who has been learning at Mir yeshiva for only a
year.
We apologize to our readers for not putting in an
installment last week, and this week we are putting in a
double-sized section.
*
Esther's parents spent the following weeks making inquiries.
First they asked their brother-in-law whose neighbor was a
mashgiach in the yeshiva. "Yes, I have heard his name
mentioned," was his reply. "He is from America, but his
chavrusa is Israeli and he mixes mostly with Israelis.
That is unusual. I will make more inquiries about him."
A day later he called them. "I find that he doesn't mix much
with anyone. He davens neitz outside the yeshiva in
the morning. He learns with his chavrusa at set times.
He attends the set shiurim. The rest of the time he
learns by himself in the beis medrash. He doesn't
appear to have any close friends that I can talk to. Maybe he
is friendly with some American boys, but if he is, I can't
find them."
The picture was of a solitary man, a loner. But this
contrasted with the picture that Yehudit had given, so they
managed to contact Daniel's chavrusa that motzei
Shabbos, when he was home. "My chavrusa? A fine
person, good to learn with, very thorough in his approach to
learning. He is a patient guy, nice and friendly when we
learn. He has a good sense of humor . . . No, he has never
been here for Shabbos. I don't know why. We do invite him but
he has never accepted. Why? I don't know."
Inquiries about his family background drew a complete blank.
No one knew where he came from or anything about his family.
However it emerged that often for Shabbos he would go to Bnei
Brak, to stay with the renowned moreh, Rav Bernstein.
A call to the Rov and his wife elicited rave reviews. This
was totally at odds with the previous reports about his lack
of friends, the picture of a man who could not sustain social
relationships.
Esther's mother listened as her husband told of the
conversation. Then she said, "That sounds good, but you
called to ask about his family and not one word did Rav
Bernstein say about them."
"No, that's correct. Though that was the first question I
asked. His reply was to contact Rav Dov at the Mir
yeshiva."
Rav Dov: "The boy is a very good boy who has great potential
in Torah. Specifically, I do not know his family, but the boy
is a baal middos."
Esther's parents went to their rabbi for advice. After some
days he called them to go ahead. However, they were to
instruct their daughter that she was to ask the boy,
tactfully, about his family.
So Esther's parents had agreed and now Esther was dressing,
readying herself to meet yet another young man.
*
Daniel walked from Mir Yeshiva, in Beis Yisrael, through Meah
Shearim to Geulah. He wished he was sitting in the beis
medrash, learning. Only because he felt so great a
respect for Rav Dov had he agreed to this action, this
shidduch. He once again went through the recent
conversation with the Rav.
"How can I meet someone when I can't even answer the simplest
questions about myself honestly. What can I say? My parents
have disappeared in Brazil. I ran away from America because I
overheard men saying they want to kill me. Each night, before
I fall asleep, I wonder why those men wanted to kill me. I
wonder if they are still searching for me. Only when I am
learning is my mind distracted and I am calm. How would a
young girl react to such things?"
"As long as we hear nothing to the contrary, we must assume
that they will return and there will be a logical explanation
for everything. Whatever the reasons for your having to flee
from New York, I don't believe anyone could find you now.
When we arranged your Israeli ID I used all my influence to
see that nothing of your old life appeared on your file. No
one could possibly connect the American citizen, Dean Barton,
with Daniel Bar-On who lives in Jerusalem.
"It is time to move forward. I know it is difficult, but I am
not giving this advice without much thought. I have been to a
godol beTorah to discuss the matter and this is what
he advised."
Daniel looked at the street name and then walked a bit
further before entering an apartment block. As he knocked and
entered, a feeling of apprehension assailed him. What was he
doing to good simple honest people by bringing all the
complications of his life to intertwine with them and their
daughter?
Esther came into the salon after her father called to her.
She sat down at the table opposite the young man. She looked
down at her lap and then up to him. They stared at each
other, each wanting to talk and neither of them succeeding in
getting a word out.
Esther suddenly forgot her personal feelings and thought of
him — how difficult it must be, to be so far from home,
not to have parents nearby to discuss whether a shidduch
went well or not.
She said, "They tell me you come from in America."
She realized that she was speaking English, though she had
been told the bochur was happy to speak Hebrew, as he
now spoke in that language most of the day.
Daniel replied, "Yes. I have been here for some time now."
He realized that he didn't even feel relaxed in telling the
exact date he had come to Israel. Esther recognized his
accent. It was slightly different from the Jews who lived in
New York. It was much more similar to the big donor from
Boston whom she had spoken to just before leaving work that
day.
She said, "I spoke to a lady from Boston today. She said that
this year, fall is early and the leaves are already turning
all the shades of the rainbow, red and orange and even deep
pink."
As she spoke she wanted to pull her words back. He would
think her so silly — discussing the colors of leaves,
of all things!
Daniel was surprised that Esther talked of Boston. Did she
know that he had spent many years at school there? He had
forgotten many things about his time in Boston, but the wonder
of the those leaves as they took on different hues before
turning brown and dropping from the trees, leaving them bare
as the snowy season approached — this he remembered.
He wanted to change the subject, not to talk of Boston or
anything about America. He searched for a subject and the
first thing that came into his head was the tranquility of
his early morning walks in Jerusalem, so different from the
tension he now felt. He spoke of his walks in the early
morning and the little shul where he went to the
neitz minyan.
Esther said, "Usually I am awake at that time. Its amazing
how the colors on the stones seem to change as the sun
rises."
"Why do you wake so early?" Daniel asked.
"I like to draw. I'm free then, with nothing else I have to
do," Esther said.
Once again she wished could pull back her words. He would
consider this a silly occupation, just as everyone else did.
Now she had spoiled everything. She had noticed how tension
had followed her mention of Boston. She had noticed how it
went away when he spoke of the early mornings. Now she had
stupidly spoken of her drawings; he would be sure to think
she was odd.
To her surprise, Daniel wanted to know more: what she drew,
what she used, pencil, or ink, watercolors or pastels. His
education had included art classes. His school had prided
itself not only for having a high acceptance rate at top
colleges such as Harvard but also for producing well-rounded
personalities. So art was not something pushed to one side
and ignored.
More than one hour later, they were still talking animatedly.
The subject had imperceptibly changed and Daniel had shared
with her a difficult learning problem he had encountered that
morning. To his surprise Esther had not only listened with
interest, she even had suggested a posuk that could
help solve the problem. He was amazed that a girl should be
so knowledgeable.
Daniel suddenly looked at his watch. "Oh dear. They told me I
should spend an hour here and it has been longer. We will
talk more next time. Oh no! They told me I wasn't to say such
a thing. It all has to go through Yehudit. I haven't done
this before. . . I . . . "
Esther replied with a laugh. "Don't worry. I won't repeat it.
You speak to Yehudit and I will too."
Daniel walked home, thinking all the time about Esther. He
had been surprised to find a girl so artistic. He had been
surprised that a girl who had grown up in Geulah, and worked
in Meah Shearim, spoke such perfect English. He was surprised
at her knowledge of Torah. He was surprised at how articulate
she was.
Would she truly want to meet again? Would she say something
quite different to Yehudit? Was it fair to bring such a sweet
girl into the complexities of his life?
Esther realized as Daniel left that she had forgotten that
she was shy and tongue-tied. After the initial stumbling
beginning, conversation had flowed as easily as if she was
with her classmates or her own family.
It was after Daniel had left that she realized that she
hadn't asked a single word about his family. All that she
could tell her mother when asked was, "I think he comes from
a place called Boston, not New York. Maybe that is why you
couldn't find out anything."
