The Ladies Auxiliary by Tova Mirvis

Author:Tova Mirvis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 1999-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

10

AFTER THESE FEW MONTHS, we could barely remember what our community had been like without Batsheva. She had become so woven in that she seemed inseparable. She had even begun to talk like us, her words elongating into a southern accent. No one could pinpoint an exact moment when this happened; every day her words had changed the smallest bit. But after a few months, there was no mistaking it. She sounded as if she had lived in Memphis all her life.

Ayala too had become part of the community. It was a common sight to see her running down the street with our children. She was always playing over at our houses, she made herself at home in our kitchens and living rooms. We helped Batsheva with Ayala whenever she needed—picking her up from school if Batsheva was going to be late, inviting her to stay for dinner, making sure she had a sweater on when it was chilly. Because of this, we felt more attached to Ayala than we did to any of each other’s kids; we felt a motherly sense of pride that we were taking part in raising her.

Of course there were times when we were reminded that Batsheva wasn’t one of us. She still dressed more provocatively than we did, sang too loudly in shul, held herself too freely and said things with an openness we never would. But we reminded ourselves that these differences only showed how far she had come. The Rabbi told us that Jews who had been raised Orthodox could never reach the same heights as those who had come to it on their own; they would always see farther, as if they were standing on our shoulders. Even though we had always kept kosher, even though we had observed every Shabbos, we hadn’t chosen it on our own.

It was to Batsheva that Rena Reinhard turned when the situation with her husband got worse, no reconciliation in sight and the possibility of divorce looming larger. She went over to Batsheva’s house and poured her heart out. She never felt like she was complaining too much, never worried that Batsheva would grow irritated at always hearing about her unhappiness. Batsheva listened, her face sympathetic and unjudging. She reminded Rena that she had choices, she could decide on her own if she wanted to leave this marriage and the community would support her.

When Leanna Zuckerman was having problems with her in-laws, when she felt that she had no identity separate from them, she would call Batsheva for advice. She told Batsheva how she didn’t know who she was, and Batsheva talked about the importance of finding a center within yourself, some space where you existed just for yourself. She encouraged Leanna to branch out, to sign up for a class at Memphis State, to maybe finish her degree in accounting and get a job she would find fulfilling—not because anyone else wanted her to, but because she, all on her own, wanted it.

On Shabbos afternoons, we all ended up at Batsheva’s house, bored with our usual conversations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.