Tough Pill to Swallow

My French was as bad as the next guy’s, but Rabbi Dadon had spent several years in Gateshead and worked hard to teach his children English.

Even so, aliyah had certainly been tough for Rabbi Dadon’s oldest son Eliyahu, who had been struggling mightily in yeshivah ketanah since the family moved from Paris to Netanya.

“He’s a fine, responsible bochur, Dr. Freedman,” Rabbi Dadon explained. “He loves tefillah and is an absolute tzaddik helping out at our beit knesset. At home he always looks out for his younger siblings.”

I looked out into the waiting room to see a pleasant-looking adolescent boy just over bar mitzvah age. He was sitting engrossed in his Gemara, reading line after line and translating them into his native French.