“If I wanted to say something, I literally had to interrupt her. And the instant I finished talking she took off again"
Shani Leiman with Zivia Reischer
Betzalel, or Tzali as he was called by his friends, was a good dater. He knew how to talk to a girl — how to make her feel comfortable, how to start the conversation, how to maintain the rhythm of give and take for an extended amount of time. This came with the territory; at 28, he’d dated well over 70 girls.
He called me, as he usually did, about an hour after his first date with Avigail.
“How did it go?” I asked.
There was a moment’s pause. “It was a little weird,” he admitted.
Avigail was a pretty typical girl — second-to-oldest of five, did well in school, went to a good seminary, finishing her degree as an OT. I didn’t know her so well, but I wouldn’t have expected anything “weird.”
This one’s in print. Some of our best stories live in the magazine — subscribe to get Mishpacha every week.
