and says, âIâm new at being a fadder, but I have to try my best. You used my credit card without my permission. You signed me up for a dating service without my permission. That six-month membership is costing me over three hundred dollars.â
That about sums it up. âI said I was sorry.â
âThis time, Amy, sorry isnât good enough.â
Now Iâm starting to panic. Does he want me to leave and go live with my mom and her hyper-allergic husband? Thereâs no way theyâll let me keep Mutt in their pristine suburban house with the new baby coming. And will I have to start a new school with kids I donât know? High school is tough enough without being the new kid, and Iâm not going to think about Nathan right now because he doesnât deserve my sympathy.
âIâll do anything, Aba . Please donât send me away.â
My dad stands. I can tell heâs going to break the bad news right now and I wince. âIâm not going to send you away, sweetheart.â
âYouâre not?â
âNo. I got you a job.â
7
Moses had incredible negotiation skills. He made God, The
#1 Top Guy, change his mind about destroying all of the
Jewish people (Exodus 32:13). If that doesnât prove anyone
can change the course of their life, nothing will. I wish I
had Mosesâs negotiation skills when dealing with my dad.
âAmy, what are you doing here so early? Conversion class doesnât start for another ten minutes.â
Iâm standing in the doorway of Rabbi Glassmanâs office at Temple Beit Chaverim. The rabbi is reading over papers while he rubs his gray and black beard.
âI need to talk to someone,â I tell him.
Putting his papers aside, Rabbi Glassman motions for me to sit at the chair opposite his desk. âIâm always here to listen if someone needs an ear. Thatâs my job.â
âListening to people complain?â
âAmong other things,â he says with a smile, then leans back in his large cushioned chair. âWhatâs on your mind?â
Lots of stuff, but Iâm going to pick out the top one bugging me. âI got in trouble.â
âWith the law?â he prompts.
âWith my dad. I took his credit card without his permission and now he wants me to pay him back the money I charged.â I look to the rabbi, to make sure heâs not keeling over in shock or shame.
âWhat did you charge, if I may ask?â
I put my hands up. âI know this is gonna sound weird, but it was for a good reason. I signed up for PJSN ⦠you know, the Professional Jewish Singles Network. Itâs a dating service. And I did it for my dad.â
The rabbiâs eyebrows raise up. âYou signed your father up for a dating service without his permission?â
I nod. âHe needs a wife.â
Rabbi Glassman sighs, then says in a quiet voice, âAmy, sometimes you have to let people choose their own paths in life.â
âYeah, but what if theyâre taking the wrong one?â
âEveryone makes mistakes. Even rabbis. Weâre all human.â
I seem to be making more than my share of human mistakes lately. âSo youâre saying I should let my dad live his life alone and lonely?â
âNonsense. He has you, doesnât he? Some things arenât measured by their size, but by their importance.â
âThatâs very philosophical, Rabbi,â I say, smiling.
âYou caught me on a good day.â
I bite the inside of my cheek. âI havenât had a lot of those lately.â
âAh, but you canât appreciate a great day unless youâve experienced bad ones.â
âLike Jonah had when God made the whale eat him?â
âI see youâve been studying for class.â
I lean forward and whisper, âYeah, although I donât really buy it all, Rabbi. Itâs a little far-fetched for me, if you know what I mean.
Ellen Kottler, Jeffrey A. Kottler, Cary J. Kottler