A Way Through the Sea by Robert Elmer

Author:Robert Elmer [Elmer, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Robert Elmer
Published: 2011-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Rosh Hashanah

9

“One thing for sure,” Henrik announced as he and Peter were washing up for dinner at the Melchiors’ apartment later that week. He had a little trouble doing it one handed, his left arm still in a cast. But he managed all right. It was Thursday night, a school night, and somehow Peter’s mom and dad had allowed him to eat over at Henrik’s home. Maybe because it was a special Jewish holiday for the Melchiors, and Peter had been invited as the guest of honor. Peter was even going to be able to stay the night, which he didn’t understand at all because it wasn’t even a weekend. But both their moms had agreed over the phone, so he wasn’t going to argue. It was kind of like the way Peter’s grandfather had arranged for him to go out on the fishing boat. Strange, but okay.

“One thing for sure,” Henrik repeated as they sat down at the small dinner table in one corner of the apartment. “We can’t let the dumb old war stop the Great Danish Pigeon Race.”

“Oh?” Henrik’s dad had just sat down. His mother was bringing steaming dishes of food to the table, and the four of them were ready. “You had better explain that to me after we say the blessing.”

Mr. and Mrs. Melchior looked more like brother and sister than husband and wife. They were both short and a little dark, at least darker than most other Danes. Mr. Melchior had a crop of thin black hair, cut short around his ears. Luckily, Mrs. Melchior had a lot more hair than that, though it was the same color. Henrik said once that his great grandparents had come to Denmark from Portugal, which was why his family looked the way they did.

Mr. Melchior began the blessing. This wasn’t an ordinary night for Henrik and his parents, and it wasn’t an ordinary meal. It was, for Jewish families, the first day of the New Year celebration, called Rosh Hashanah. Henrik had said that this dinner was the first celebration in a ten day period that went all the way to something called Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. Peter was surprised they had invited him. He had never been to anything like this in the years since the Melchiors had moved to town.

The guest of honor didn’t know exactly what was going on, so he just watched. Mr. Melchior looked at Peter, and Peter felt like a tourist visiting the Kronborg Castle for the first time. Henrik’s dad was going to show him a place he had never been before, full of history and stories of people he had never met.

“This is the Kaddish, or blessing, that we say before having the wine,” explained Mr. Melchior. He held up a sparkling glass with a long, thick stem, and the ruby red wine sloshed around in it. “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.”

After he had said that, Mrs.

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