T
zvika Lubin may have been only 18 years old, but he already knew what he wanted in life: to get out of yeshivah as fast as possible and start working. He knew his parents would never allow a son of theirs to leave the yeshivah of his own free will. There was only one option: to get expelled. Not that his parents would be happy with that option either, but for his freedom, he was willing to pay the price.
Or so he thought.
Once each week, at a randomly chosen time during morning seder, Reb Shaye Langerman would do an inspection of the dormitory, searching the rooms for contraband. The day of the search changed from week to week, to further confuse the enemy.
Two years ago, a bochur had been thrown out of yeshivah after Rav Langerman found forbidden books in his closet. The boy had been clever enough to conceal them in the folds of towels and sheets, but not clever enough to fool the menahel. He left that very day and never returned — not to the yeshivah and not to the frum community.
Now, Tzvika dredged up his memories of the long-ago scandal and decided to make his move. In an ad leaflet, he found a small notice from somebody with a used MP3 player for sale. He called the number, arranged to meet the seller, and became the owner of one of the clunky little devices that were the height of technology at the time.
