The Rabbi and The Rebbetzin (34 page)

When
Albert got word that Shulamit was returning, he took care of a problem that was
bothering him. He sent out an email to all partners and associates who were
guilty of griping about the Rebbetzin’s undue publicity to come to a special
meeting on the matter in his office on the next afternoon. Attendance at the
meeting was compulsory. Others who felt the same way were also invited.

Nash
opened the meeting with the news that the Rebbetzin was returning the next
Monday and he wanted her to be cordially welcomed. He explained that all of
those who were griping had benefitted substantially from her work and her
publicity. “There is no place here at Finkel Nash for jealousy and ingratitude.
We work as a united group and everyone counts. Think of it as a football team;
there is a quarterback on the team who initiates actions and calls the signals.
Naturally, he gets the most attention. But the best quarterback in the world will
get nowhere unless each of the other players on the squad does his share. The
Rebbetzin is a rainmaker and all of you have to support her efforts to the
fullest extent. Anyone here who feels that he is not subject to this
instruction is free to leave Finkel Nash as early as possible.”

The
assembled lawyers had never seen such determination on the part of Albert Nash
and quickly realized that he truly meant business. He wanted no repetition of
any incidents that would cause the firm to lose money and reputation. He also
suggested that they should make sure to attend the reception at 4:00 PM on the
following Monday to welcome the Rebbetzin back and should act cordially. Since
Albert Nash was on the throne of Finkel Nash, the lawyers heeded his advice.

Meanwhile,
Andrea was building up an affair beyond anything ever seen at the firm. She
ordered refreshments from a caterer and she hired a band to play at the affair.
This was the same band that played at the law school graduation.

For
his part, Abe Levine scheduled a business meeting with Albert Nash at 3:00 PM. It
turned out that the Philadelphia franchise of Telacomp had sold about $200,000
worth of equipment to the firm during the last twelve months. The firm had
excellent computer services and it purchased both legal and office software.
Levine felt that he should explain to Nash why he wasn’t able to order
additional legal services from the firm because of a previous commitment to
Haber Green. Shulamit had tried to develop a business relationship between Telacomp
and Finkel Nash but had not been overly successful.

 Abe
Levine’s meeting lasted a little more than half an hour and satisfied both
parties. Levine thanked Nash for the fine treatment that they had given his
daughter and he was proud that she was being welcomed back in style. From a
business point of view, he told Albert that the Philadelphia franchise of Telacomp
would grant a 10% discount to Finkel Nash on all electronic equipment ordered
by the firm. He hoped that cost for electronic equipment would reach the half
million mark by the end of the year, and assured Albert that he would get the
best and quickest service from Telacomp. He left a private number where Albert
could call if there were any problems with the service.

As
far as legal business was concerned, there wasn’t much that Levine could do in
assigning his legal work to Finkel Nash. Haber Green had been serving the
company steadily for a number of years and was deeply involved in cases of
patent infringements. In other cases of long duration, he was at a loss to
switch his legal business to Finkel Nash because he was in negotiations to sell
his company within the next few months. The consortium of computer companies
that were intent on buying Telacomp had big legal staffs and he couldn’t commit
himself on behalf of the new owners.

Finkel
Nash had an auditorium on the third floor that could seat 400 people. The auditorium
was used only to greet visiting dignitaries, heads of state and major political
figures. On sad occasions when a major attorney of the firm passed away, a
memorial meeting was also held in the auditorium.

Albert
greeted the audience that filled every seat in the auditorium and explained how
happy he was to welcome Shulamit Adler, the Rebbetzin, back to her work. He
announced that she now had the rank of partner and was in general charge of
three of the twelve associates in the Family Law department. The affair was
being covered by many reporters and Albert was happy that the reporters were
snapping his picture with great frequency.

When
he finished his welcoming remarks, he received a burst of applause from the
attorneys. He then turned over the program to Andrea Cohen in her capacity of
director of public relations for the firm. Before she took over, Albert praised
her for her excellent work and attributed part of the recent growth of the firm
to her dedicated efforts. He also introduced Abe Levine as the owner and CEO of
Telacomp, whose company provided the electronic equipment for Finkel Nash. He
added for those unaware of the relationship between Abe Levine and today’s
program, Mr. Levine is the lucky father of Shulamit Adler and grandfather of Judah
Nathan Adler.

After
a few words of thanks to the members of the PR department for their efforts in
arranging the affair, Andrea announced that refreshments would be served to the
participants in the anteroom. “And now,” she said, “let us all rise to welcome the
Rebbetzin and queen of Finkel Nash
upon
her return to work.”

The
band played a song of welcome and Shulamit was escorted into the auditorium by six
female attorneys who were recruited by Andrea for the honor. They formed an
honor guard around Shulamit as she took her seat on the stage. Andrea then
asked the guests to take some song sheets that she had prepared for the
program.

Shulamit
began to cry at the sound of hundreds of lawyers singing a tribute to her. She
recovered in time to respond to the tribute and made a short speech. She
thanked members of the audience, the managing directors and the security and
medical staffs for the help they gave her during the incident. She then said a
few inspirational words about the firm itself. She claimed that Finkel Nash
could become the leading law firm in Philadelphia if every employee of the firm
would work with dedication and devotion to that goal.

She
closed her address by saying, “Now I want you all to see what I accomplished
during my leave of absence.” She gave a signal, and Shira Bartel wheeled Judah
in his stroller to the front of the auditorium, where she passed the baby to
Shulamit to display Judah Nathan Adler to the cheering audience.

When
the band finished a few more selections, Albert Nash returned to the podium and
called the audience to attention. He remarked, “The firm would be remiss if we
failed to acknowledge the courageous work of our security and medical
departments during the tragic incident that occurred here last October. I call
upon Captain Casey, Lieutenant Toni Wolfson and Sergeant Jerome Warner to come
forward and receive certificates for the members of the security department and
cash awards for their heroic efforts. They reached the scene within sixty
seconds of the alarm and entered the Rebbetzin’s office armed and determined to
prevent any harm to the employees and the civilians. Captain Casey took charge
of the scene and ordered his officers and patrolmen to their required tasks
necessary to control order in the office and the surrounding area.

Albert
next called upon the medical staff, Dr. Sarah Greenberg, Nurses Shelly Jones,
Evelyn Klein and Florence Moore, to come to the stage. He claimed that the
medical staff arrived together with the security staff. Captain Casey assigned
the doctor and a student aid to take care of the Rebbetzin who was in a state
of shock. Nurse Shelly Jones, to take care of the wife of the client who was
seriously injured and bleeding, nurses Evelyn Klein and Florence Moore were
assigned to help with the criminal client himself who was still unconscious.

Captain
Casey called for ambulances and police reinforcements for crowd control. The
nurses prepared the client and his wife for the hospitalization at Philadelphia
General. I can report that John Pearson is feeling well and will be enjoying
the hospitality of the State Penitentiary for the next three years. Mrs.
Pearson is still undergoing plastic surgery operations and we wish her well. The
Rebbetzin is looking as beautiful as ever and Dr. Greenberg assures me that she
has suffered no physical after-effects of the incident.”

When
Albert finished his speech, the band played hail to the chief and the audience
began to disperse. Shulamit wheeled Judah to the exit of the auditorium and
allowed people to take a look at him as they left. Before she left for the auditorium,
she had nursed Judah and warned him to be on his best behavior for his
appearance. Judah smiled at her. He didn’t quite understand what his mother was
driving at but he created no problems. The next day, Shulamit went into work and
met with her associates and reviewed the cases that had come to the department
during her absence.

Another
matter that concerned Shulamit was next to being resolved. It was not directly
related to her work but it concerned her co-worker Andrea and her boyfriend,
Bill Mazer. During her leave of absence, Bill had presented Andrea with a ring
and publicly announced their engagement. In fact, an item appeared in the in-house
paper of Finkel Nash.

Since
the engagement, nothing at all moved forward, and although Bill visited their
house with Andrea many times, there was no conversation about a forthcoming
wedding. While Shulamit and Andrea chatted, Bill played with Judah and held him
on his lap. He had no one else to talk to because Aaron was usually not at home
and they had nothing in common between them.

Shulamit
brought up the subject with Andrea during one of their discussions. “Say Andrea,
when is Bill going to say ‘I do’?”

Andrea
answered sadly, “I don’t know and I am not sure if he ever will. He has no
motivation to enter a permanent marriage.”

“Why
is that?” Shulamit asked innocently.

“Because
everything that marriage offers people he already enjoys without obligation. If
he gets married, he will frequently have to carry out the garbage.”

“I
have no
rachmanut
(pity) on a man who enjoys pleasure without
responsibility. Look, I see that he likes babies and is friendly with Yehudah.
I hope you’re not going to provide him with a baby out of wedlock.”

Bill Mazer and Andrea Cohen get engaged. Aaron becomes
a full-time rabbi.

Bill Mazer suggests that he and Shulamit start
their own law firm.

 “Of
course not,” Andrea answered. “Even I know that much.”

Shulamit
then said, “What else can we find that might drag him to the altar? Wait a
minute, he likes money a lot. If he marries you he can claim you as a deduction
on his income tax. That should save him at least $20,000 if you file a joint
tax report.”

Andrea
demurred. “A lawyer cannot be so innocent. If he marries me he has to feed me
and dress me and occasionally buy me some jewelry. My beauty salon and my
dazzling clothing cost me more than what he would save in taxes. What else can
I do?”

“Does
Bill really love you?” Shulamit asked. “Does he see any other women since he
became engaged?”

“I’m
pretty sure he loves me, and since he announced his engagement, it has been harder
for him to find other females.”

“Well
then, you have to take some drastic action. You’re the last women in the world
that I would suspect of being hesitant about laying down the law to one Bill
Mazer.”

“You
mean telling him that if he doesn’t put a wedding ring on my finger, he doesn’t
take off any of my clothes?”

“No,”
Shulamit said. “Mazer is smart enough to know that you don’t have the nerve to
follow through on such a threat. What you can get from depriving him of sex,
you might get from him by jealousy. What you have to do is tell him that since
you are not sure whether his intentions are honorable, you might start talking
to other men. Fidelity before marriage is not as binding as it is after
marriage.”

Andrea
was moved by Shulamit’s wisdom. “I once thought you were an idiot, but I take
it back now.”

A
week later, Andrea came back to visit and greeted Shulamit with a cheerful smile.
“You’re idea worked, Shulamit. I told him that I was planning to take in a
night club next week since my social life was declining, and he was shocked out
of his wits. He said to me, ‘How can I convince you not to do something as
stupid as that? The gossip columns will pick it up and we will be scandalized.
What can I do to keep you home?’

“I
sat down and taught him a Bible lesson that he had never learned because they
had skipped those parts in Hebrew school. There was a woman by the name of
Tamar and a man by the name of Yehudah. Tamar was due to marry Yehudah’s son
Shelah according to the levirate laws of the Torah. Yehudah, however, withheld
the marriage. Tired of sitting in her widow’s garments, Tamar got dressed up
and took a position at the crossroads where men and woman congregate. She
covered her face with a veil so as not to be recognized. Instead of getting
Shelah, she snared Yehudah himself who was far more desirable.”

“What
did he say to that?” Shulamit wanted to know.

Bill
Mazer is a brilliant man and he understood the message. He asked Andrea, “Ok,”
he said. “When and where are we getting married?”

“We
are getting married in the first week of August in New York City. Immediately afterwards
we head for Aruba for our honeymoon. Schedule your vacation for the same two
weeks at the beginning of August. If you are worried about your buddies at
Haber Green, we will schedule a reception upon our return. I am an old hand in
the printing industry so I will take care of the invitations.”

Shulamit
was ecstatic. She kissed her and wished Andrea Mazel Tov and good luck.

Aaron
was now quite busy at shul. He had to supervise the renovation of the synagogue
and the building of his home. He also spent much time building up the daily minyan
and recruiting new members. His main focus now was to establish evening classes
for members of the community. Two nights a week he taught groups in Jewish
history and Jewish laws. He also arranged for a public lecture once a week on
various subjects which would draw mostly Jewish visitors. With teaching at the
public school, private lessons with students after school hours, teaching two
night classes, and presiding at public meetings occupying all of his time, when
members of the community needed counseling he also had to take time on his one
free night.

Aaron’s
schedule was very costly to him in two separate areas. He virtually ceased all
his Talmudic studies, and had to stop paying attention to Shulamit and his son.
Between his mother and his nanny and the occasional contact with his father,
Judah did not feel neglected. Shulamit, however, was not pleased. In the years
that she had been with Aaron, he had been an ardent lover and companion. In the
weeks following her visit to the mikveh, he ceaselessly focused his attention on
her physical needs. Now with the High Holidays approaching, he left her
frustrated and angry.

Shulamit
had no one to consult on such a sensitive and personal problem except Andrea. She
didn’t have to explain much to Andrea because she understood the situation long
before Shulamit broached the subject. When she asked Andrea to discuss the
matter with her, Andrea said, “Don’t bother, Shulamit, I know exactly what’s
troubling you and I will do my best to help. Incidentally, your tzaddik, Aaron,
doesn’t even notice me when I visit the house. I thought it was pure piety on
his part not to look at other women, but it is something else. Your husband is
overworked and totally exhausted. He gets up early for the minyan and then
works all day until eleven at night. He is not getting enough sleep or any rest
during the day. Even if you were another Marylyn Monroe, he would ignore you. I
assure you that he has not fallen for any other woman so you don’t have to
worry about that.”

“What
can I do about it?” Shulamit wanted to know. “He is dedicated to building the
shul and spreading knowledge of Torah. He can’t get people to come to daven if
he doesn’t daven at the minyan himself. If I tell him to ease off on his
religious work, he will become angry with me. Now that I am back at work there
is even less that I can do to help him.”

Andrea
answered Shulamit sharply. “Shulamit, you may have been the smartest girl in
law school, but I suspect that you are not the brightest woman when it comes to
managing your own love life. If I were counseling another woman, I would tell
her to start looking at other men and make her husband jealous. You happen to
be too religious to play games like that.

“I
have two suggestions for you. One, set me up a meeting with Mr. Stern tomorrow.
I want to talk to the man and set him straight. Second, I want you to relieve
Aaron from all public school teaching at once. This is the end of the semester
and he simply has to give notice that he will not be returning in September. Believe
me: the public school system where Aaron teaches cannot get any worse, even
without him. I leave it to you to talk to Aaron and I’ll take care of Stern.”

“I’m
somewhat afraid to talk to Aaron directly on this matter. Aaron doesn’t like to
be considered a kept man, who lives off his wife’s money. He is a very proud
man and in the
Ketubah
(marriage contract) he promised to support me.”

“Look,
Shulamit, you went to day school. You remember learning that Moses met with the
Israelite people from early morning until late at night. His father-in-law,
Jethro, had to tell him, ‘What you are doing is terribly wrong. You will
destroy yourself as well as the people you are trying to help.’ Jethro’s advice
to Moses was to get help and delegate trivial matters to men who could assist
him. The Torah says that Jethro’s solution worked.

“I
know that the shul won’t hire an assistant rabbi for a man who is just a beginner
himself, but you can find other ways to solve the problem.”

That
night Shulamit went to bed early and had a heart to heart talk with Aaron. She
said to him, “Aaron you’re a very nice man and a total idealist, but tomorrow
morning the situation is coming to an end. You are going to have to make a
choice between me and the work you are doing. I know the Torah requires a man to
have periodic relations with his wife and that is called
onah
. For a
Talmid Chacham it is sufficient for him to visit with his wife once a week.
Since you are not learning Talmud anymore, you are not in the category of an
active Talmid Chacham. In fact, you have to pay attention to me whenever I feel
the need.”

Aaron
was shocked with his wife’s words and he realized that he had to mend some
fences. “What would you like me to do, Shulamit?”

She
responded at once. “You are to notify the Board of Education that you will not
resume teaching at the public school this coming September. Also, I want you to
plan at least a two-week vacation from the shul during the summer. All rabbis
take vacation. I want to have another child, and your neglect may be causing me
not to get pregnant. If you had a little more energy you might solve that
problem.”

Aaron
responded, “You forget that the public school system pays me $20,000 a year.
That is my main income, and otherwise I do not earn more than a few dollars. I
don’t want to live off your money, even though the Talmud says that the money a
woman earns belongs to the man.”

“First
of all,” Shulamit answered, “my friend Andrea is going to speak to the Gabbai
to change your financial arrangements with the shul. She knows that your work
has increased the income of the shul and it’s time to stop working for only mitzvos.”

Shulamit
embraced Aaron warmly and Aaron didn’t have the strength to argue anymore.
Early the next morning, Shulamit called Mr. Stern and told him that her friend would
like to talk to him after the davening. Shulamit knew that Andrea was often out
on assignment in the morning and had enough status in the company to make her
own hours. After Shulamit set up the meeting, Andrea called her main assistant
and told her that she would be in at 10:30 and she should work on the project
that was due today.

Andrea
dressed conservatively for the meeting and made sure to cover her head. After
the services, she told Stern to sit down on a bench and she was able to pull up
a chair for herself on the opposite side of the table. She wanted to look the
Gabbai in the eye and intimidate him.

“Mr.
Stern,” she said, “I am speaking to you on behalf of Rabbi and Rebbetzin Adler.
The rabbi and rebbetzin are embarrassed to talk to you about the rabbi’s
financial and health problems, but somebody has to do it. Mrs. Adler has been
very generous in her help to Ahavat Achim and she is not lacking for money. The
rabbi, however, feels that it is wrong for him to be supported by his wife and
not be able to work for a living. The financial arrangements that he has with
the shul have to be changed.

“I
am the director of public relations at Finkel Nash and I know the financial
status of many non-profit organizations. When the rabbi agreed to work without
salary, the shul was in a pretty bad state. He knew it could not afford to pay
a rabbi and he was willing to invest his time and effort in increasing the
income of the shul. You most of all know of his contributions, and I know that
his work resulted in increased membership, in affairs held at the synagogue,
and in donations from the children of the older members who are happy that the parents
have a rabbi who preaches and teaches to the membership. All this has brought
new money into the synagogue and I know there is enough money now to pay the rabbi
a living wage.”

Andrea
continued her case by explaining that the rabbi works so hard that his health
was endangered and he was neglecting his family and his child. The only
solution that she and the rebbetzin could find was for the rabbi to give up the
public school position which paid him about $20,000 a year. Stern was moved by
her words and admitted that the rabbi’s appearance had declined.

“Still,”
he said, “with all the income the rabbi has brought in, there is no way that
the shul can undertake a salary of $20,000 a year. He is a good man who works
very hard and is worth that type of salary. However, I manage the books of the
shul and I know what the shul has in the bank.”

Andrea
replied to Stern, “I have not asked that you pay him $20,000 a year at this
time. If you listen to the rest of my requests and my offer to help the shul,
your financial problem will be solved.

“First
of all, I want the shul to start paying Rabbi Adler $10,000 a year starting
from July 1
^st
. Next, I want the shul to allow him a two-week
vacation in July in some place like Florida. For the holidays, the shul has to
make a greater effort to sell seats. I will help you with the ads and the
articles that will let the community know that you may be hiring a new holiday Chazzan.

“But
the important thing is that in December I will use my fundraising knowledge and
experience to stage a big Chanukah dinner and a printed journal which will
raise at least $20,000. If I succeed, half of the profit should be added to
Rabbi Adler’s salary and the balance put in the shul reserve funds. My last
request is that Rabbi Adler be installed publicly as the rabbi of Ahavat Achim
during the Chanukah season. I know enough important political and religious
figures to fill the auditorium. You might even have to consider having the
dinner at a hotel.”