Something New Under the Sun

Rivka glanced at her watch. Yep, 12 p.m., lunch time in her playgroup. She walked into the kitchen. Gitty’s bag was in the top cubby that day, a Kipling pink-and-gold zippered lunchbox. Opening it, she rolled her eyes. “Well, Gitty, what’s it gonna be today?” she muttered. Perfectly cubed mango, grapes (quartered, of course), and blueberries were stacked to perfection in clear plastic containers, a bag of whole wheat Bissli (the same package Yaacov had wanted yesterday, and Rivka had told him no, because they were five dollars a bag. Who in their right mind spends that much on a school snack?!). Sighing, Rivka reached for Shragi’s lunchbox next.

At pickup time, Rivka heard the telltale shriek of brakes in her driveway. Peeking through the window, she saw the gleaming white Tesla. “Gitty’s Tatty is here,” she called. She quickly reached for the package of wipes she always kept by the door. Once, back in October, she’d forgotten to wipe Gitty’s face. When Raizy Gold opened her arms to her darling Gitty, she was horrified.

“Oh my! Gitty! Boobah!” she’d cried out, “What happened to your face, sheifeleh? Did Morah forget to clean it today?” Turning to Rivka, she reached into her Marc Jacobs purse and handed her a package of baby wipes. “Here, keep these, I have tons more in my car. It’s a shame the kinderlach should be dirty when their parents pick them up.”

Rivka had been mortified. She was the kind of morah who felt that kids needed to be loved and cared for, but that smudges on the face were no big deal. Wasn’t a warm, stable environment more important than the small details? But the Golds were clearly cut from a different cloth.