Once Penina Wasser made up her mind about something, she didn’t do much second-guessing. She moved forward
Months ago, right after Yom Kippur, Rabbi Wasser had delivered a parting bein hazmanim schmuess.
It had been pretty good, he thought, more or less what he had heard from his own rebbeim: the importance of helping out at home and behaving like a ben Torah. At the end, he’d smiled and said, “And don’t forget to have a good time too, rabboisai, you worked hard this zeman and deserve it. Have fun, relax, enjoy.” He’d considered saying the word “chill,” but decided it against it — it wasn’t a word a rosh yeshivah should use in public.
He’d planned a similar shmuess now, as the bochurim prepared to go home for Shabbos Chanukah, but as he stood at the head of the beis medrash sharing the ideas that had worked last time, he felt like he wasn’t connecting. The bochurim were distracted, as if there was a bad smell or strange noise in the beis medrash, and he ended the schmuess earlier than he’d meant to. The “have a good time, boys,” line also fell flat and he closed the open gemara in front of him feeling cheated, somehow.
He hadn’t planned on telling Penina about it, but as they sat there, watching the large van pull out of the front gates, it came out on its own.
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