Recap: Daniel and Yisroel Meir are putting flyers in the campus library for a Rosh HaShanah program. Ahmed starts grabbing them and throwing them away. They notice he’s talking to Tasir. They run away, head home, and decide to read more of the historical book.
Galla strode away before I could find out if she had overheard. Of all people to overhear, Galla was the worst. She loved to gossip, and she didn’t care if it hurt anyone.
Should I go and plead with her? On the other hand, maybe she didn’t hear, and I’d be cornering myself into telling her something she didn’t even know.
They wouldn’t understand a bris milah, and they would consider it desecrating the body, which was a big problem for our people. They worshiped the body, and few would understand why Mihran was doing this for a religion that was foreign to them. Of course, there was a Jewish section – a small one – in our kingdom, but they were the others, the ones who were different.
If only Aunt Annabelle and Mihran wouldn’t do this. If only things could go back to how they always were.
If Galla overheard about the bris milah, then she would tell her parents, and then...we could be in grave danger. I shivered, though the evening air was quite warm.
What should I do? If only Saman and Jenna were here already. They were both so kind and wise, and they would tell me what to do.
I didn’t want to worry Aunt Annabelle. She had so much on her shoulders now, and Mihran was busy preparing for his bris.
Perhaps Galla hadn’t heard. I had to hold on to that hope.
Later, after Galla and her family left for the marketplace, my aunt called me to her chamber.
From the window, I glimpsed a fiery sunset. The rays spread like a lion’s mane. Aunt Annabelle sat at her wooden desk, reciting Psalms. Her chamber was one of the largest rooms in the house, with high vaulted ceilings. Roses in glass vases on the windowsill perfumed the air.
“Ava, I called you because Saman and his lovely wife Jenna will be here tomorrow, Erev Shabbos. I don’t know what he’ll say about our new religion. You see how our guests are talking. It was thoughtless, but it shows us how this is not an easy choice. Many will ridicule and not accept it – or worse.”
“It’s definite? You will convert to Judaism?”
Aunt Annabelle nodded slowly. “This decision – and Mihran’s – weigh heavily on me, dear niece. I cannot sleep, but I am praying for peace of mind. I know it’s the right thing to do, and your uncle agrees.”
Should I tell her I feared the secret had slipped? Should I inform her that Galla might have overheard about the bris? I studied my aunt’s normally serene face. It was creased with worry. No, perhaps Galla hadn’t overheard. There was no reason to burden her with more worry.
“Ava, you have a choice whether to convert to Judaism or not. You know I told you that. It is a big decision, and it must come from you – not from a wish to please me.”
I bowed my head. There was no one in the world I wished to please more than Aunt Annabelle. Still, was I ready to take on this foreign religion? Could I miss the annual pageant? I knew the answer.
“I’m sorry, I just haven’t made up my mind yet. It’s hard to give up the pageant.”
She looked at me with care in her dark eyes.
“We live to serve our Creator, Ava, not ourselves. You’re young. You will have to make your own discovery and find your own path. I cannot impose my path on you.”
I felt I was disappointing her, but somehow, I still couldn’t give up the spring pageant.
“I don’t want to do anything against your wishes.”
“I know that, child. You are a good girl. I will not pressure you to observe the Jewish religion. You must make your own way.”
I thought of the scene I had witnessed. “Mihran is definitely going to do the bris milah?”
She nodded slowly.
“What about Omer’s proclamation? It makes things worse for us.”
“It is very troublesome. I must speak to Saman when he comes. He is wise, and he will help me decide how to handle this.”
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of a newly released historical fiction novel, Captured (Menucha Publishers, 2025), as well as historical fiction novels Please Be Patient (Menucha, 2024), Flight of the Doves (Menucha, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials, and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021–2022) and Alaskan Gold (2023–2024).
