Who Shall Live: A Jewish Fantasy by Carolyn Geduld

Author:Carolyn Geduld [Geduld, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2021-10-13T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

WHO SHALL BE SERENE

In May 2020, the lockdown was still in effect. Rabbi Isaac had been furloughed after Rabbi Samuelson returned to his position. The pandemic and the subsequent lapse in membership dues necessitated cutting expenses. He gazed out the window at the gray, barren street. The bleak sky shed a dull light.

Loneliness and cabin fever set in. He counted the cracks in the plaster walls and watched ants crawl over the linoleum floor. There was nothing else to do. The pile of books on his nightstand had been whittled down. He watched the dregs on Netflix, the only movies left. No services or Torah studies needed preparing. Idleness made him antsy. He paced the living room, ten steps to one wall and ten steps back.

If only he had a girlfriend. But synagogue policy didn’t permit clergy to date congregants. And what other opportunities were there to meet Jewish women in the small Indiana town? But now that was moot. Being unemployed meant he could date whoever he wanted.

The membership of the congregation included several attractive single women. He sifted through the possibilities. Martha. Rita. Hannah. He would have to choose. If one rejected him, he would try the other two. They were all equally attractive. He had no preference. He decided to ask them in alphabetical order. The first was Hannah. He sent her a text.

“Hi, Hannah. It’s Isaac. You may already know they laid me off. That’s bad news and good news. The good news is that I can ask you out. Would you like to have a virtual dinner with me?”

Too nervous to sit around waiting for her reply, he grabbed his keys. Even though drizzle had started and he only wore a T-shirt and shorts, he jogged around the block. How good it was to be outside. A few neighbors on the sidewalks, pushing strollers or walking dogs, wore masks, others didn’t. No one carried an umbrella. He forgot to mask, but he kept the required social distance by running in the road. A few times he had to veer to the curb to allow a vehicle to pass.

The sight of other people heartened him. He tried not to stare at the women, at their bare legs pedaling bicycles or striding along the sidewalk. He looked at his phone. Nothing from Hannah, yet.

When he reached the front of his building again, his legs tingled with a pleasant tiredness. He knew he should obey the lockdown regulations by going back inside. But facing confinement in his apartment again after a few minutes of freedom was more distasteful this time than during his previous jogs.

He could violate regulations and go for a drive. No one enforced them, anyway. The only acceptable reasons for leaving one’s residence were for essentials, like food and medicine. Now that he was no longer an employed rabbi, he didn’t have to set an example. It didn’t matter if a whisper campaign about him started.

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