The Rabbi and The Rebbetzin (36 page)

Aaron
explained that since he was appointed rabbi of Ahavat
Achim, the shul
had been renovated and regenerated. He told him that the synagogue had bought
the building next door and that he had secured a donor who would support the
construction of a very modern mikveh in the new building. He said, “My wife observes
taharat ha’mishpacha
and she is not too happy with the conditions of the
existing mikva’ot in the city. Some of them are old, some not as sanitary as
they should be, and some without dressing rooms for the women.” The rabbis went
into a discussion of the laws of mikva’ot and the assigned rabbi was pleased
with the depth of Aaron’s knowledge of the principles of the mikveh.

Aaron
explained that the new mikveh would be of the rainwater style, and that no
pipes would be used to bring the water to the
bor
(cistern) adjacent to
the immersion wall. Even the city water would enter the pool through a concrete
aqueduct, a process called
hamshacha
(conveying). The rabbi listened to
Aaron carefully and indicated that he would grant his endorsement to the mikveh
if all of the stated conditions could be met.

Aaron
told him that the builder was Jewish and at least knew something about the
subject of mikveh. When Aaron had first brought up the subject with the builder,
he asked the man whether he understood what a mikveh was. The man related that
when he was young, he frequently heard his mother mention that she was going to
the mikveh. Once when he asked her what a mikveh was, she answered, “That’s a
pool where we wash away our sins.” He then asked her could whether he go to the
mikveh to wash away his own sins. “Right now,” she answered, “if you have any
sins they don’t count until you are bar
mitzvah. After you become a man,
your father might take you to the mikveh, when he goes there before Yom Kippur.”

The
builder confessed that he had never seen the inside of a mikveh. He knew that
it was now called a ritualarium and building it was quite complex. While he
could complete the remodeling of the new building before the High Holidays, it
would take till Chanukah to get a mikveh ready. “It might take longer” he added,
“if you’re not lucky with the rain water.”

The
assigned rabbi rejoiced in the fact that the builder was a knowledgeable Jew. That
would free him from explaining the mikveh laws to a gentile.

Rabbi
Adler knew that additional time would be lost securing plans and permits for
the construction of the mikveh, but he was confident that such delays could be
overcome. There were about a dozen mikva’ot in the Philadelphia area, and the
building department was familiar with their construction.

Since
the new building was still registered in Shulamit’s name, he did not worry
about opposition from some of the more liberal university faculty members who
might consider the idea old-fashioned.

Aaron
asked the builder not to use very heavy equipment on Sansom Street and the
street parallel to Sansom which faced the back of the new building. He knew
that the mikveh would require working with bricks, tiles and concrete, and he
asked the builder to select skilled European artisans for this sort of work.

Levine
was grateful that his daughter would continue the practice of
Taharat Ha’mishpacha
in a modern mikveh that bore her name. When the legal obstacles were cleared
and the plans were ready, construction began before the High Holidays. The
total cost of the building exceeded $100,000, but Abe Levine was not
complaining. The dedication was scheduled for Chanukah.

By
all standards, the High Holiday services at Ahavat Achim were extremely
successful. The synagogue was full and the worshippers were pleased with the
appearance of the renovated synagogue. The Kol Nidrei and Yizkor appeals as
well as the income from the sale of seats greatly exceeded the totals of the
previous year.

Aaron
appealed to the members to worship more frequently during the rest of the year
and told the congregation of his efforts to increase attendance on Shabbos and
the middle of the week. He announced that the Shulamit Center and Mikveh would
be dedicated during the forthcoming holiday of Chanukah. He added an invitation
to all the worshippers to attend the cultural programs of the synagogue and the
special classes that were held during the week.  

Converting
the adjacent building to a center was not exactly routine, and Aaron
encountered some problems with the mikveh reservoir. Forty
seah
(200 gallons)
of pure rain water had to be accumulated in the primary reservoir before the mikveh
could be considered kosher. Mikva’ot in arid countries are often started with
ice, but the supervising rabbi insisted on pure rain water. Shulamit and Andrea
offered to do a rain dance to help gather the rain. The horrified rabbinic
supervisor told them to stay far away from the holy structure. As luck would
have it, Philadelphia was hit by the tail end of a seasonal hurricane and
sufficient water was accumulated.

Good
progress was also made on building the home for the rabbi and the rebbetzin,
and the dedication was scheduled for the Sunday evening of Chanukah, following
the earlier dedication at noon of the same day of the center and the mikveh.
The congregational Chanukah dinner was scheduled for Tuesday night.

Andrea
Cohen-Mazer started to work on the Chanukah journal the day after Succot. She
was determined to raise $10,000 to cover the second half of the rabbi’s salary,
and $20,000 for the operation of the synagogue and its facilities. She had come
to the conclusion that the shul needed a secretary to work with the rabbi and
develop a full mailing list for the synagogue worshippers and contributors. She
found a retired member who had worked as a secretary and who was willing to
undertake the work on a voluntary basis. Andrea then undertook to design the
mailings and send them to anyone who had any interest or connection to the
shul.

In
planning the journal, Andrea sketched a layout for the publication. She divided
the journal into the following sections:

Andrea
was hoping for a gross income of $41,000, allowing $6,000 for printing and
mailing costs. She realized that the net income would be about $36,000. She
knew that it never hurt to set a high goal, but realistically she thought she
could break 30,000. The covering page, ad blanks and envelopes were designed
professionally by some of Andrea’s contacts. Each recipient on the synagogue
mailing list received a batch of three ad blanks, one for himself and two for
solicitation among friends and neighbors.

For
the gold pages, she lined up Abe and Mrs. Levine, Rabbi Adler and Shula, and
the builder of the various projects. She anticipated greetings in the form of
silver pages from the charity funds of Finkel Nash and Haber Green. The list of
other possibilities for full-page ads was drawn up, and the solicitation calls
were divided between Andrea and Shulamit. A committee was formed to solicit
adds from the various merchants in the university area. Some of the workers in
Andrea’s office were asked to work on a paid-basis to lay out the ads by page
and work with the printer. The editorial section consisted of a message from
the rabbi, one from the Gabbai, and one from the sisterhood president. The
remainder of the editorial section included greetings from public officials:
the mayor, congressmen, assembly men and state senators. The University of
Pennsylvania and the Hillel organization also reserved space. As Chanukah
approached, it was obvious that the number of ads exceeded the space available,
and an extra section of sixteen pages had to be added. The sisterhood was
responsible for preparing the dinner with the help of a well-known caterer.

Meanwhile,
Aaron was planning the dedication services. He would be able to put an audience
of a hundred people into the center by combining meeting rooms. For larger
meetings, he intended to use the shul and charge the sponsoring organizations
for a rental fee. He made a list of honors for the facilities that were to be
dedicated. Every room in the center had a mezuzah, and Aaron was able to grant
the honor of attaching the mezuzah to the doorpost. Mezuzahs were not provided
for the individual rooms in the mikveh because the nature of the usage of a mikveh
made it exempt from mezuzahs. The only exception was the main entrance door to
the building, which led directly to the Beth Din room on the first floor.

Abe
Levine and his wife Chana flew in to Philadelphia on Sunday morning. They took
their children with them and arrived in time for the midday ceremonies. Aaron
honored his father-in-law with attaching the mezuzah on the entrance door of
the center. For the mikveh door, the mezuzah honor was given to the supervising
rabbi. To honor his father-in-law at the mikveh, Aaron covered the entrance
door with a drape and let Abe withdraw the drape to expose a beautiful and
artistic door with painted wood panels.

As
far as the fee for use of the mikveh, Aaron felt that it would not be right to
offer usage of the mikveh for free and thus undermine the existence of the
other mikva’ot in the city. What he decided was to announce that those women
who were using the mikveh for the first time would not be charged for the
immersion and any beauty services. Among others, Clara Hopkins was able to work
nights as a beautician and hair dresser. The first month’s deficit was picked
up by the Levine family.

On
Tuesday night, the congregation held its Chanukah dinner. Shulamit sang the
anthems. Bill Mazer served as the master of ceremonies. He praised the efforts
of his dynamic wife for the dinner journal which was oversubscribed. A copy of
the journal was given to all those present. Andrea spoke of the progress that
the synagogue had made with its renovation and new facilities. She thanked all
those who helped her and advised them that they would be called upon for next
year’s Chanukah dinner as well.

After
Shulamit cut back on the nursing of Yehudah Nathan, the expected happened. At
the end of January in the new year, Shulamit became pregnant with her second
child but continued to work. She had committed herself to work at Finkel Nash
for a full year after she returned from her first maternity leave and kept her
word.

Shulamit’s
efforts were successful and she continued to produce new clients for herself and
encouraged the other lawyers to make similar efforts. Unfortunately, the spirit
at Finkel Nash had undergone a change for the worse during the year. A number
of senior lawyers were disillusioned and were considering moving elsewhere.

The
cause of the change in mood was the situation with Albert Nash, the managing
director. Nash was considering retirement from his managerial duties because
they were becoming too strenuous for him. He was getting older and competition
among the law firms in the city was getting more intense. He was finding it
difficult to groom a successor who could bear managerial responsibilities and
yet be acceptable to the partners.

Bill
and Andrea came to visit the Adlers a month before Passover. Aaron was
attending to synagogue business and had left Bill Mazer to talk with the two
women about conditions at Finkel Nash. He asked them if the rumors that Finkel
Nash was undergoing a change in mood and spirit were true. Andrea answered that
it was indeed true, but she had refrained from discussing the matter with her
husband for fear that word would leak back to Haber Green.

Bill
shocked the two women by revealing an idea that he had been thinking about for
a few months. He said to them, “Haber Green is in no danger because it is still
the largest firm in the city, but the management of Haber Green is also growing
stodgy and the initiative of the lawyers is declining. I think that the time
has come for a change, something that will upset the current balance of the
Philadelphia law firms.

“I’m
thinking that there’s a need for a new law firm in Philadelphia run by young
and energetic lawyers.”

Andrea,
who was very sharp, caught the drift of her husband’s words and answered him
lovingly, “Bill, you’re crazy. If you were thinking of starting a one man
practice and chase ambulances, I wouldn’t think that you were crazy, but just
dumb. You would be lucky to clear what you are making at Haber Green while
working ten times as hard. Law is by nature a tedious profession and requires
patience. If you are looking for excitement, try writing a book or teach law
after work, but a law firm requires millions of dollars to get started and
succeed. The idea is nice but not quite realistic.”