9781645382287_epub by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-24T17:31:53+00:00

8

It was the Ides of March, Friday the 15th, two days from Passover. Mitchell’s parents had become his houseguests, having arrived that morning to avoid travelling on the Sabbath. The forty-eight hours of their visit prior to the Seder proceeded at a crawl, and the upper apartment had been rearranged by Mitchell to accommodate the approaching meal. He busied himself by being a consummate host, but avoided mentioning the specifics of his “business trip” which demanded his departure on Tuesday. Each occurrence where Mitchell concocted a way to explain his dark situation, he instead chose inaction. He would be obligated to explain everything following the recitation of the Exodus at the Seder meal.

Mitchell also had an introduction to make; he had invited Yumei for that evening. There were general prohibitions to inviting a non-Jewish person for the meal itself and to partake in the food and drink, so Yumei would arrive after the ceremonial recitations had been made. It was still somewhat tenuous to share company with such guests on major festivals, but Miriam in particular implored Mitchell to invite whosoever he wished. He suspected that his parents would see such courtship and exposure to Jewish custom and tradition as an excellent opportunity for conversion, and for their son to, at last, remarry.

The antiquarian had come back from the dead, engaged in a deadly melee with living corpses, and had peeled back the veil of the mundane world to expose a cavernous oblivion of spirits and unseen powers. Despite this, there were few individuals who could wither Mitchell’s resolve like his own father. He loved his father and tried to do right by him, but for a very long time, Elazar was never only his father, but also the rabbi. And however tender his father could be, the rabbi would come to pass judgment. Yet ever since he arrived, Elazar had been content to talk diluted politics, graze on appetizers, or read the newspaper or the Torah as the day turned over to the Sabbath. “The greatest struggle of keeping the Sabbath holy . . . ‘two letters shall not be written, nor erased,’” Elazar reminded Mitchell the previous afternoon. “Almighty God tends to bless me with all of the best insights on Saturdays, and it’s my burden to remember them for commentaries or sermons for the following day!”

Mitchell’s mother had a more ambitious agenda that first day and had successfully isolated him to discuss his relationships just after their light supper. “I have heard that you’ve been seeing Wanda Silverman,” she said to her son, planting a hand on his wrist. “That wouldn’t be a bad match. I’ve heard good things about her. Leave your father to me, I will make sure he’s amiable. Miss Silverman will be your guest tomorrow?” Mitchell did not answer right away, so she continued speaking. “You shouldn’t consider the door closed on yourself, Mitchell, but you shouldn’t let it be closed on you either! Your father would love nothing more than for grandchildren

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