“So secretive,” she said. “Is this what you’ve been doing while I was away?”
“This is our country. Or it would be ours if we could just get rid of the dumb…
You’re just living there because you have to, a voice inside me pressed again. Was it true?
I wondered what had happened to them. Were they in jail? Out and about and just hadn’t made…
Yitzchok just stared at me, his hand on the doorknob. “Are you crazy?” he whispered
“No, really, Dovid,” Zalman continued, dropping into the seat beside me. “I care about you. Something’s bothering you.…
“Is that all everyone knows me as? The granddaughter whose father was killed? The orphan?”
I ran as fast and hard as I could, twisting through alleyways only a Yerushalmi would know, hoping…
It was only Mama’s voice in my head whispering: Slow down. Think about what you’re saying
Three stops and then I was supposed to get off. And then Bubbe would be waiting for me.…
It was a crazy plan but I didn’t say anything. Nothing would happen with this plan either
“And about Elka,” Bubbe's letter continued, “maybe she would enjoy coming to Riga for a visit in the…
I took a deep breath. We found hand-me-downs for Leiba, Miriam, and Yisroel, but there was nothing of…
I knew Mama was right. A Seder without Papa? What would that even look like?
Here and there, a face from Chevron popped out from the crowd. But I tried not to think…
Mama didn’t bring Bubbe’s letter up again, so I knew we weren’t moving to Europe. There was nothing…
What was Elka doing outside at this time of night? How could she have found me?
“Yeah, well,” Dovid said. I waited, but he didn’t continue speaking. He just took his yarmulke off his…
I thought that now that Yisroel was back, everything would be back to normal
“Okay.” Miriam shrugged. But I could tell that she disagreed. Did she really think it was totally fine…
“You heard what Bubbe wrote in the letter. It’s obvious that Mama’s nervous. What do you think is…
“What does it say about me?” I demanded. What did Bubbe know about me anyway?
Miriam didn’t say anything more, but I could tell that she was confused. It might have been cold,…
“Oh, come on Dovid.” Yitzchok made a face. “You’re the one who keeps telling me we need action!…
Faiga looked at me, a glint in her eye. “You need to pay attention. I can’t always be…
A normal seudah. A seudah where Mama’s cousin made Kiddush and passed out the wine
There are boys missing. Men missing. The very yeshivah is in a different place, and we all feel…
One day soon, I would miss a lot of learning time and there was no way I’d be…
How I wished we could be back in Chevron. Or even in Kovno. I couldn’t start again. I…
“We wouldn’t need to heal had those Arab maniacs not tried to kill us”
I myself being lifted off the floor and ever so gently carried through the building
“There’s nothing more we can do for him,” Mama whispered through her pain
Suddenly, we could hear the sound of glass breaking.
The sounds on the streets that came wafting through the windows didn’t feel okay at all
“There’s something going on,” Elka said to me the minute Miriam had closed the door behind her. “I…
Donkeys and goats, Jews and Arabs mingled in the streets, but I was no longer fazed
I was comforted to know that our cousins, at least, were all okay
All I wanted was to know the special news that Mama had. “No, Mama,” I burst out, “tell…
Papa always said that. Whatever we were making was always going to be the best in Chevron
“Oh, come on, Miriam,” I said, exasperatedly. “The Arabs are not dangerous here. They’re just… neighbors"
I decided to give voice to the question. “But why did the yeshivah have to move here?”
“Miriam,” I said, turning to her the moment I came out of the bathroom, “how could you sleep…
I’d never seen the inside of a carpenter’s shop before — and this wasn’t just a carpenter’s shop.…
We may have finally made it from Kovno, but the way things looked, I’d never get to see…
