Recap: Hope leaves work early because of the three men who she suspects are from the KKK, and she heard them say that they were chasing a white Cadillac. She takes Bonnie to the park and meets this girl named Rivkah, who is wearing a long skirt and who has a sister D’vori that Bonnie is playing with. Rivkah invites Hope and Bonnie to come to her house.
Rivkah’s house was similar to the one where I was staying. It had a sunken living room, but in her house the living room was the dining room with a long table and bookshelves laden with books that looked like they had Hebrew titles. Four girls who looked a little older than me were seated at the table peeling potatoes. “Hi, welcome,” the girl with a pale blonde ponytail said. “Rivkah, introduce us to your friends.”
“This is Hope Henner and her cousin Bonnie,” Rivkah said.
“Nice to meet you.” The girl reached out to shake my hand. “I’m Elisheva, the third oldest Jacobson daughter. This is Rivkah, and Sarah, and Shani.”
“I’m the same age as Elisheva. We’re twins,” Rivkah said. “She’s just one minute older.”
“Wow, you have a lot of sisters,” I said.
Rivkah laughed. “Thank G-d. I have brothers, too, but they are away in yeshivah. These are just my four oldest sisters. I have three more younger ones. They’re upstairs playing.”
Rivkah’s mother greeted me with a warm smile. “Thursday nights we bake challah,” Rivka explained.
“What’s that?”
“We’re Jewish so we make this special bread for Shabbos.”
“I’m Jewish, too, but I never heard of challah before.”
“Come, you and Bonnie can help us bake.”
I watched, fascinated, as Mrs. Jacobson slowly added ingredients for the challah dough. With each ingredient, she shared what it symbolized. Water is the Torah. I didn’t know what she meant. We can’t live without Torah. The yeast represents that we should rise up. The oil has anointed each of our children. She named each of her children. It was quite a long list.
The sugar we add is for a sweetness in our week, and the salt is symbolic of having discipline. The eggs represent being creative.
She handed Bonnie and me each a ball of dough. “You’ll form this into your own challah,” she said. “Watch how the girls do it.”
It was fun to watch them braiding their challahs. Even little D’vori made a small, braided challah. I tried to imitate. First, I made four snakes out of the dough and then I braided them together. Bonnie mushed hers into a flat pancake. I helped her make the snakes and then she twisted them together.
Mrs. Jacobson popped the cookie sheets with unbaked challah into the oven. We went into the dining room and Rivka took out a yearbook to show me photos of her school and her class. The room filled with the delicious scent of baking bread.
When it was time to leave, Rivkah handed Bonnie and me our fresh-baked challahs wrapped in foil.
“Thank you so much,” I said.
Rivkah and her mother walked us to the door.
I felt a light, happy feeling inside knowing I had just made a new friend.
…
My life fell into a routine, with taking care of Bonnie in the morning and in the late afternoon. During the day, I worked at the Five and Dime store.
One day, Mrs. Bowers handed me a letter. “I hope that is news that your parents are coming to get you,” she said.
I took the letter downstairs and opened the envelope. My mother’s neat, strong handwriting greeted me.
Dear Hope:
We miss you so terribly, I can’t begin to say. I hope you are doing well and that the cousin is kind. Tell her we will send her money soon. We started a business in Maine and things are going okay. When you write back, send your letter to Sarah and Steve’s address below. We will get it from them.
We hope and pray the trouble will be over soon.
I can’t write more now but soon we hope to be able to come for you.
With love,
Mother and Father
I reread the letter over and over and put it under my pillow.
I tried writing back. What would I say about my conditions here? I didn’t want to worry them. I just wrote that I was well and everything was okay. I met a friend named Rivkah. Her family is very nice, and we baked challah together.
I sealed the envelope. I would buy a stamp at the store and mail it.
…
The next day, I met Rivkah at the park. Bonnie and Rivkah’s sister D’vori played together again. They were so cute going up and down the slide.
“It’s so amazing you have so many sisters,” I said.
“I have a lot of sisters and brothers,” she said. We’re 12.”
“Whoah! I can’t imagine so many siblings.”
“It’s always lively in my house. My two oldest brothers are married and they live nearby. My next two oldest brothers are away learning in yeshivah, and two of my sisters are married and they live too far. Estie is in California and Chana Mushka lives in Toronto.”
“I wish I had such a big family.”
“Do you have sisters and brothers?”
I shook my head. “I’m an only.“
Just then, Bonnie bumped heads with D‘vori and both girls were crying.
We had to run to comfort them.
“I better take her home now,” Rivkah said. “We’re getting ready for Shabbos. We have a lot of guests coming.”
She told me about Shabbos, as we strolled back towards home.
“It sounds amazing.”
“Maybe you would like to come to our house for a Shabbos meal?”
“I would. I’ll ask Mrs. Bowers if I could come.” I knew she probably expected me to work the Friday night shift at the Five and Dime Store, so I doubted she would let me, but I decided I would ask.
“Bye,” Rivkah and D’vori both waved as they headed into their house, and I kept going towards Bonnie’s home. I couldn’t call it my home. It would never feel like my home.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of the newly released historical fiction novel, Flight of the Doves (Menucha Publishers, 2023), Please Be Polite (Menucha Publishers, 2022), A Bridge in Time (Menucha Publishers, 2021), Secrets in Disguise (Menucha Publishers, 2020), Denver Dreams, a novel (Jerusalem Publications, 2009), Memorable Characters…Magnificent Stories (Scholastic, 2002), Befriend (Menucha Publishers, 2013), The Road Less Traveled (Feldheim, 2015), fiction serials and features in Binah Magazine and Binyan Magazine, and “Moon Song” in Binyan (2021-2022).
