Read Online The Sisters Weiss by Naomi Ragen - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Naomi Ragen
Tags: veronica 2/28/14
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besides, I don’t think they were so bad.”
Her grandmother sighed, handing her another rugelach. “A lie stays put, but da trut has feet, sometimes it runs avay.… De rugelach, dey’re good?”
“Delicious, Bubbee.”
The old woman suddenly winked. “Gut tings come vidout varning. Now go to bed.”
“Thank you, Bubbee.”
The old woman followed her into the bedroom, pulling the covers over her, then closing the door softly behind her.
With the sweet taste of sugar in her mouth, she closed her eyes and slept, dreaming of escape.
7
She went into a kind of shock those first few days in Bais Ruchel. Classrooms were in an ancient public school building leased from the city meant to hold half the number of students. Badly and cheaply renovated to hold the overflow, the building even had some bathrooms that had been turned into classrooms, the toilets, basins, and fixtures removed, leaving behind unsightly bumps and bulges beneath the badly cemented walls.
But the biggest shock was the language, the morning’s religious studies conducted completely in Yiddish. Yiddish! The secret language of her parents and other old people; the language of tragic old countries long abandoned across the sea for a better home. Even when learning the Bible, they were given no access at all to the actual Hebrew text. Instead, a teacher “explained” the story of the Torah portion of the week to them in Yiddish, thus removing the possibility that they might read the commentaries or question the interpretation of the text in any way. It was like being read a children’s fairy story, she thought.
This week it was the story of the plagues of Egypt: “And God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that He might increase His signs and wonders…” the teacher said in singsong Yiddish.
She couldn’t stand it. “But Rashi says God only hardened Pharaoh’s heart after the first five plagues. Before that, Pharaoh hardened his own heart, because he was wicked,” she blurted out, not even waiting to raise her hand and be called upon.
“Vus?” the teacher asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion and disapproval, her voice incredulous. “And you are saying there is something the Eibeisha, May His Holy Name Be Blessed, does not do? That His will was not on Pharaoh from the first moment?”
“But we were taught we have freedom of will to choose between good and evil, no? Only after Pharaoh kept choosing evil again and again did God take away his power to choose good. As Rashi explains: ‘In the first five plagues, it is not stated that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh.’ If you give me a Chumash, I’ll show it to you…”
“Silence! Step outside immediately!”
Rose, not exactly surprised, got up with a calmness bordering on insolence, walking slowly out the door, a secret smile playing around her lips as she turned her back on her classmates. She knew the rumors about her had been circulating. Hardly anyone spoke to her anyway. And that was fine with her, she told herself. With each other, they were like puppies: soft, cheerful, full of playful good humor. She wondered if a single one even realized they were all caged pets, whereas to her, the bars became more visible, blatant, and intolerable with every passing day. How could she befriend such girls?
She waited in the ugly hallway, filled with contempt. What could they do to her? Hang her? Cut off her tongue? Send her back to Poland? How much worse could it be, after all?
Rebbitzin Brindel, her teacher, soon followed. Clutching her gray wig at both temples, she yanked it down lower on her forehead, looking sternly into Rose’s sullen eyes. “I understand you have been sent here in order to purify yourself so that you might be worthy of a blessed match,” she said in Yiddish. “Here, you will be taught only what is important for a woman to know. Do not taint this classroom with impure knowledge you’ve acquired before coming here. Do you understand?”
Rose stared at her. Is that
Her grandmother sighed, handing her another rugelach. “A lie stays put, but da trut has feet, sometimes it runs avay.… De rugelach, dey’re good?”
“Delicious, Bubbee.”
The old woman suddenly winked. “Gut tings come vidout varning. Now go to bed.”
“Thank you, Bubbee.”
The old woman followed her into the bedroom, pulling the covers over her, then closing the door softly behind her.
With the sweet taste of sugar in her mouth, she closed her eyes and slept, dreaming of escape.
7
She went into a kind of shock those first few days in Bais Ruchel. Classrooms were in an ancient public school building leased from the city meant to hold half the number of students. Badly and cheaply renovated to hold the overflow, the building even had some bathrooms that had been turned into classrooms, the toilets, basins, and fixtures removed, leaving behind unsightly bumps and bulges beneath the badly cemented walls.
But the biggest shock was the language, the morning’s religious studies conducted completely in Yiddish. Yiddish! The secret language of her parents and other old people; the language of tragic old countries long abandoned across the sea for a better home. Even when learning the Bible, they were given no access at all to the actual Hebrew text. Instead, a teacher “explained” the story of the Torah portion of the week to them in Yiddish, thus removing the possibility that they might read the commentaries or question the interpretation of the text in any way. It was like being read a children’s fairy story, she thought.
This week it was the story of the plagues of Egypt: “And God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that He might increase His signs and wonders…” the teacher said in singsong Yiddish.
She couldn’t stand it. “But Rashi says God only hardened Pharaoh’s heart after the first five plagues. Before that, Pharaoh hardened his own heart, because he was wicked,” she blurted out, not even waiting to raise her hand and be called upon.
“Vus?” the teacher asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion and disapproval, her voice incredulous. “And you are saying there is something the Eibeisha, May His Holy Name Be Blessed, does not do? That His will was not on Pharaoh from the first moment?”
“But we were taught we have freedom of will to choose between good and evil, no? Only after Pharaoh kept choosing evil again and again did God take away his power to choose good. As Rashi explains: ‘In the first five plagues, it is not stated that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh.’ If you give me a Chumash, I’ll show it to you…”
“Silence! Step outside immediately!”
Rose, not exactly surprised, got up with a calmness bordering on insolence, walking slowly out the door, a secret smile playing around her lips as she turned her back on her classmates. She knew the rumors about her had been circulating. Hardly anyone spoke to her anyway. And that was fine with her, she told herself. With each other, they were like puppies: soft, cheerful, full of playful good humor. She wondered if a single one even realized they were all caged pets, whereas to her, the bars became more visible, blatant, and intolerable with every passing day. How could she befriend such girls?
She waited in the ugly hallway, filled with contempt. What could they do to her? Hang her? Cut off her tongue? Send her back to Poland? How much worse could it be, after all?
Rebbitzin Brindel, her teacher, soon followed. Clutching her gray wig at both temples, she yanked it down lower on her forehead, looking sternly into Rose’s sullen eyes. “I understand you have been sent here in order to purify yourself so that you might be worthy of a blessed match,” she said in Yiddish. “Here, you will be taught only what is important for a woman to know. Do not taint this classroom with impure knowledge you’ve acquired before coming here. Do you understand?”
Rose stared at her. Is that
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