Read Online Grantville Gazette, Volume 59 by Paula Goodlett - Free Book Online Page A

Deborah
    For all that the cookshop was named with a German word from another era, it was no idle boast. Delicate eating, indeed. But— "We could have brought our lunches from home, Leon. In your circumstances, thrift would not be an unwise practice." Yakov could have phrased the admonition a good deal more strongly, but he exercised restraint in the interest of a harmonious relationship. The eminent rabbi from Venice wasn't in Venice at the moment, and his spectacular absence of thrift had a great deal to do with his sojourn among the Deborah community. Yakov looked on in amusement as Leon turned his head, scanning all around the front room. Table linens to the left of the door edged in blue for dairy meals, those on the right edged in red, for meat. Two separate kitchens behind the counter. They sat waiting for their take-out order at a bare table in the middle, where only wrapped goods would ever be set down.
    "We can afford it this once, to go visit your goyim who take no offense at food brought from outside. Very respectful, I should think. But will we really be there the whole day? Documents inscribed when the temple still stood, in the hands of this Protestant? Really? How would he have come by such unlikely things?"
    That was not amusing. "Take care with Doctor Green. He is polite, and a man of peace, and he will always look for a position everyone can live with. But do not mistake it for softness. If someone should back him into a corner on a principle he considers essential, he will not yield. I have seen it. And never underestimate his knowledge. If he chose to convert, he could join our congregation with no further study. And one other thing. He says the Baptists are not Protestants, they pre-date the Catholics."
    Leon's body language and expression spoke volumes. Well, he'd spoken enough earlier of the glories of scholarship into the Law and the Word as practiced in Venice, and his disdain for the necessity of taking refuge from his gambling debts in remote, outlandish Grantville—never mind that the Sephardim in town had grown numerous enough to support a famous rabbi—and never mind that he wasn't the Venetian rabbi they'd really rather have attracted. Nevertheless, when he spoke aloud, it was, "All right, Yakov, I will keep my eyes open and my mouth closed. We Jews know how to do that. And we shall see." He was clearly looking forward to that. So was Yakov.
    The counter man caught Yakov's eye, only a second or two after he saw John Stewart waving from the seminary's station wagon. He rose. "Will you collect our lunches, Leon? I must return to the shop and direct the loading."
    ****
    Albert came out to the front porch to meet them. As soon as Yakov reached the top of the steps, he went into the formal introduction. "Doctor Albert Green, this is Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Mi-modena from Venice, also called Leon of Modena by those outside our community." Meanwhile, John Stewart took the station wagon around the far side of the barn so he and William Button could unload the stereotype apparatus and all the bits and pieces that went with it.
    Albert extended his hand. "Welcome, Rabbi Yehudah. I've been looking forward to meeting you. Which should I call you?" After a barely noticeable hesitation, Leon shook it and answered, "Leon will do." Grantvillers could be surprising, and Albert was in a class by himself. He was already opening the screen door. "Let me show you what we've got. Yakov explained it, right?"
    "Yes, he did." The noncommittal tone of voice was certainly to his credit.
    The changes to the room struck Yakov as he came in. Though there were still pictures on the walls and a coat rack in the corner, it was now a place of work and no longer a place of comfort. He noticed the electric wires running across the floor to two lamps on the tables. "Leon, look out for those!"
    Albert pointed. "All right, the Greek material is in the folders at this end of the table, and most of the rest is Hebrew. There's some