by Philip Roth
mother might be aware that she doesn’t like people for being Jewish but she
doesn’t realize that there are people who might not like her for being Catholic.
One thing I didn’t like, I remember, was that on Hillside Road one of my friends
* * *
was Jewish, and I remember that I didn’t like that I was going to go to heaven
and she wasn’t.
393
WHY WASN’T SHE GOING TO HEAVEN?
If you weren’t Christian, you weren’t going to heaven. It seemed very sad to me
that Charlotte Waxman wasn’t going to be up in heaven with me.
WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS, MARY DAWN?
Could you just call me Dawn, please?
WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS, DAWN?
Well, it isn’t that Jews are Jews. It’s that you’re non-Catholics. To my parents
you’re just lumped with the Protestants.
WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS? ANSWER ME.
Well, the usual things you hear.
i don’t hear them, dawn, you’re going to have to
TELL ME.
Well, mostly about being pushy. (Pause.) And materialistic. (Pause.) The term
“Jewish lightning” would be used.
JEWISH LIGHT?
Jewish lightning.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
You don’t know what Jewish lightning is?
NOT YET.
When a fire is set for insurance purposes. There’s lightning. You never heard
that?
no, that’s a new one on me. You’re shocked. I didn’t mean to.
YES, I AM SHOCKED ALL RIGHT. BUT WE MIGHT AS WELL GET THIS OUT IN THE OPEN,
DAWN. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR.
It wouldn’t be all Jews. It would be New York Jews.
WHAT ABOUT NEW JERSEY JEWS?
(Pause.) Well, yes, I think they’re probably a variant of New York Jews.
I SEE. TO JEWS IN UTAH IT DOESN’T APPLY, JEWISH LIGHTNING. JEWS IN MONTANA. IS
THAT RIGHT? IT DOESN’T APPLY TO JEWS IN MONTANA.
394
I don’t know.
* * *
AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR FATHER AND JEWS? LET’S GET IT OUT IN THE OPEN AND SPARE
EVERYBODY A LOT OF SUFFERING LATER ON.
Mr. Levov, even though those things are said, most of the time nothing is said.
My family doesn’t say very much about anything. Two or three times a year we go
out to a restaurant, my father and my mother, my younger brother and me, and I’m
always surprised when I look around and see all the other families talking away
amongst themselves. We just sit there and eat.
YOU ARE CHANGING THE SUBJECT.
I’m sorry. I don’t mean this as a way to excuse it, because I don’t like it, but
I’m only trying to say that it isn’t even something they strongly feel. There’s
no real anger or hatred behind it. What I’m pointing out is that on rare
occasions he uses the word “Jew” in a derogatory fashion. It isn’t really an
issue one way or another, but every once in a while something will come up. That
is true.
AND HOW WOULD THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU MARRYING A JEW?
They feel about the same way you feel about your son marrying a Catholic. One of
my cousins married a Jew. They might tease about it but it wasn’t a big scandal.
She was a little older, so everybody was glad, in a way, she found somebody.
SHE WAS SO OLD EVEN A JEW WOULD DO. HOW OLD WAS SHE, A HUNDRED?
She was thirty. But nobody was brought to tears. It’s not a big deal until
somebody wants to insult somebody.
AND THEN?
Well, then you might want to get in a snide remark if you were angry at the
person. I don’t think the issue of marrying a Jew is a huge deal necessarily.
UNTIL THE ISSUE OF WHAT TO RAISE THE KIDS AS.
Well, yes.
SO HOW WOULD YOU RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITH YOUR PARENTS?
I’d have to resolve the issue with myself.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
395
I would like my child baptized.
YOU WOULD LIKE THAT.
You can be as liberal as you want, Mr. Levov, but not when it comes to baptism.
WHAT IS BAPTISM? WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THAT?
Well, it’s technically washing away original sin. But what it does, it gets the
child into heaven if they die. Otherwise, if they die before they’re baptized,
they just go into limbo.
WELL, WE WOULDN’T WANT THAT. LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING ELSE. SUPPOSE I SAY OKAY,
YOU CAN BAPTIZE THE CHILD. WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU WANT?
* * *
I guess when the time came, I’d want my children to make their first communion.
There are the sacraments, you see—
SO ALL YOU WANT IS THE BAPTISM, SO IF THE KID DIES IT GETS INTO HEAVEN AS FAR AS
YOU’RE CONCERNED, AND THE FIRST COMMUNION. EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THAT IS.
It’s the first time we take the Eucharist.
AND WHAT IS THAT?
This is my body, this is my blood—
THIS IS ABOUT JESUS?
Yes. You don’t know that? You know, when everybody kneels. “This is my body, eat
of it. This is my blood, drink of it.” And then you say “My Lord and my God” and
eat the body of Christ.
I CAN’T GO THAT FAR. l’M SORRY, I CANNOT GO THAT FAR.
Well, as long as there’s baptism, we’ll worry about the rest later. Why don’t we
leave it up to the child when the time comes?
i’d rather not leave it up to a child, dawn, i’d rather make the decision
myself. i don’t want to leave it up to a child to decide to eat jesus. i have
the highest respect for whatever you do, but my grandchild is not going to eat
jesus. l’m sorry. that is out of the quesTION, here’s what i’ll do for you.
i’ll give you the
BAPTISM. THAT’S ALL I CAN DO FOR YOU.
That’s all?
AND I’LL GIVE YOU CHRISTMAS.
396
Easter?
EASTER. SHE WANTS EASTER, SEYMOUR. TO ME YOU KNOW WHAT EASTER IS, DAWN DEAR?
EASTER IS A HUGE TARGET FOR DELIVERIES. HUGE, HUGE PRESSURES TO GET GLOVES IN
STOCK FOR PEOPLE TO BUY THEIR EASTER OUTFITS. l’LL TELL YOU A STORY. EVERY
NEW YEAr’s EVE, IN THE AFTERNOON,
we’d clean up all the orders for the year, send everybody HOME, AND WITH MY
FORELADY AND MY FOREMAN l’D POP A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE, AND BEFORE We’d FINISHED
TAKING THE FIRST SIP WE WOULD GET A CALL FROM A STORE DOWN IN WILMINGTON, IN
DELAWARE, A CALL FROM THE BUYER THERE FOR A HUNDRED DOZEN LITTLE WHITE SHORT
LEATHER GLOVES. FOR TWENTY YEARS OR MORE WE KNEW THAT CALL WAS GOING TO COME FOR
THE HUNDRED DOZEN AS WE WERE TOASTING IN THE NEW YEAR, AND THOSE WERE GLOVES
THAT WERE FOR EASTER.
That was your tradition.
IT WAS, YOUNG LADY. NOW TELL ME, WHAT IS EASTER ANYWAY?
He rises.
WHO?
Jesus. Jesus rises.
* * *
miss, you make it awfully hard for me. i thought that’s when you have the
parade. We do have the parade.
WELL, ALL RIGHT, fLL GIVE YOU THE PARADE. HOw’s THAT?
We have ham on Easter.
YOU WANT A HAM ON EASTER, YOU CAN HAVE A HAM ON EASTER. WHAT ELSE?
We go to church in an Easter bonnet.
AND IN A PAIR OF GOOD WHITE GLOVES, I HOPE.
Yes.
YOU WANT TO GO TO CHURCH ON EASTER AND TAKE MY GRANDCHILD WITH YOU?
Y
es. We’ll be what my mother calls once-a-year Catholics.
397
is that it? once a year? (Claps his hands together.) let’s
SHAKE ON THAT. ONCE A YEAR. YOU’VE GOT A DEAL!
Well, it would be twice a year. Easter and Christmas.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO CHRISTMAS?
When the child’s small we can just go to the Mass where they sing all the
Christmas carols. You have to be there when they sing all the Christmas carols.
Otherwise it’s not worth it. You hear the Christmas carols on the radio, but in
church they won’t give you the Christmas carols until Jesus is born.
i don’t care about that, those carols don’t interest
ME ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. HOW MANY DAYS IS THIS GOING TO GO ON AT CHRISTMAS?
Well, there’s Christmas Eve. There’s Midnight Mass. Midnight Mass is a High
Mass—
i don’t know what that means, i don’t want to. i’ll
GIVE YOU CHRISTMAS EVE AND l’LL GIVE YOU CHRISTMAS DAY AND l’LL GIVE YOU EASTER.
BUT l’M NOT GIVING YOU THE STUFF WHERE THEY EAT HIM.
Catechism. What about catechism?
i can’t give you that.
Do you know what it is?
i don’t have to know what it is. that’s as far as i go.
I THINK THIS IS A GENEROUS OFFER. MY SON WILL TELL YOU,
HE KNOWS ME–-1 AM MEETING YOU MORE THAN HALFWAY.
WHAT IS CATECHISM?
* * *
Where you go to school and learn about Jesus.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. ALL RIGHT? IS IT CLEAR? SHOULD WE SHAKE? SHOULD WE WRITE THIS
DOWN? CAN I TRUST YOU OR SHOULD WE WRITE THIS DOWN?
This is scaring me, Mr. Levov.
YOU’RE SCARED?
Yes. (Near tears.) I don’t think I can fight this fight.
I ADMIRE YOU FIGHTING THIS FIGHT.
Mr. Levov, we’ll work it out later.
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LATER NEVER WORKS. WE WORK IT OUT NOW OR NEVER. WE STILL WANT TO TALK ABOUT BAR
MITZVAH LESSONS.
If it’s a boy and he’s going to be bar mitzvahed, then he has to be baptized.
And then he can decide.
DECIDE WHAT?
After he grows up, he can decide which he likes better.
NO, HE’S NOT GOING TO DECIDE ANYTHING. YOU AND I ARE GOING TO DECIDE RIGHT HERE.
But why don’t we just wait and we’ll see?
WE WILL NOT SEE.
(To the Swede.) I can’t have this conversation anymore with your father. He’s
too tough. I can only lose. We can’t negotiate like this, Seymour. I don’t want
a bar mitzvah.
you don’t want a bar mitzvah?
With the Torah and all that?
that’s right.
No.
NO? THEN I DON’T THINK WE CAN REACH AN AGREEMENT.
Then we won’t have any children. I love your son. We just won’t have children.
AND I’LL NEVER BE A GRANDFATHER. IS THAT THE DEAL?
You have another son.
NO, NO, THAT WOn’t DO. NO HARD FEELINGS BUT I THINK MAYBE EVERYBODY SHOULD JUST
GO THEIR OWN WAY.
Can’t we wait and see what happens? Mr. Levov, it’s all a lot of years away. Why
can’t we just let him or her decide what they want?
ABSOLUTELY NOT. l’M NOT LETTING SOME CHILD MAKE THESE KIND OF DECISIONS. HOW THE
HELL CAN HE DECIDE? WHAT DOES HE KNOW? WE’RE ADULTS. THE CHILD IS NOT AN
* * *
adult. (Stands at his desk.) miss dwyer, you are pretty as a
PICTURE. I CONGRATULATE YOU ON HOW FAR YOU’VE COME. NOT EVERY GIRL REACHES YOUR
HEIGHTS. YOUR PARENTS MUST BE VERY PROUD. I THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY OFFICE.
THANK YOU AND GOOD-BYE.
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No. I’m not leaving. I’m not going to go. I’m not a picture, Mr. Levov. I’m
myself. I’m Mary Dawn Dwyer of Elizabeth, New Jersey. I’m twenty-two years old.
I love your son. That is why I’m here. I love Seymour. I love him. Let’s go on,
please.
So the deal was cut, the youngsters were married, Merry was born and secretly
baptized, and until Dawn’s father died of the second heart attack in 1959, both
families got together every year for Thanksgiving dinner up in Old Rimrock, and
to everyone’s surprise—except maybe Dawn’s—Lou Levov and Jim Dwyer would wind up
spending the whole time swapping stories about what life had been like when they
were boys. Two great memories meet, and it is futile to try to contain them.
They are on to something even more serious than Judaism and Catholicism—they are
on to Newark and Elizabeth—and all day long nobody can tear them apart. “All
immigrants down at the port.” Jim Dwyer always began with the port. “Worked at
Singer’s. That was the big one down there. There was the shipbuilding industry
down there too, of course. But everyone in Elizabeth worked at Singer’s at one
time or another. Some maybe out on Newark Avenue, at the Burry Biscuit Cookie
Company. People either making sewing machines or making cookies. But mostly it
was at Singer’s, see, right at the port, down at the end, right by the river.
Biggest hirer in the community,” Dwyer said. “Sure, all the immigrants, when
they come over, could get a job at Singer’s. That was the biggest thing around.
That and Standard Oil. Standard Oil out in Linden. The Bayway section. Right at
the edge of what they called then Greater Elizabeth… . The mayor? Joe
Brophy. Sure. He owned the coal company and he was also the mayor of the city.
Then Jim Kirk took over… . Oh, sure, Mayor Hague. Quite a character. Ned, my
brother-in-law, can tell you all about Frank Hague. He’s the Jersey City expert.
If you voted the right way in that town, you had a job. All I know is the
ballpark. Jersey City had a great ballpark. Roosevelt Stadium. Beautiful. And
they never got Hague, as you know, never put him away. Winds up with a place at
the shore, right next to Asbury Park. A beauti-
400
ful place he has… . The thing is, see, Elizabeth is a great sports town, but
without having the great sports facilities. A baseball park where you could
charge fifty cents or something to get in, never had that. We had open fields,
we had Brophy Field, Mattano Park, Warananco Park, all public facilities, and
still we had great teams and great players. Mickey McDermott pitched for St.
Patrick’s Elizabeth. Newcombe, the colored fella, an Elizabeth boy. Lives in
Colonia now but an Elizabeth boy, pitched for Jefferson… . Swimming in the
Arthur Kill, that was it. Sure. Close as I ever got to a vacation. Went twice a
year to Asbury Park on the excursion. That was the vacation. Did my swimming in
the Arthur Kill, underneath the Goethals Bridge. Bareback, you know. I’d come
home with grease in my hair and my mother would say, ‘You are swimming in the
Arthur Kill again.’ And I’d say, ‘Elizabeth River? You think I’m crazy?’ And all
the while my hair is sticking up greasy, you know… .”
It was not quite so easy as this for the two mothers-in-law to find common
ground and hit it off, for though Dorothy Dwyer could be a bit loquacious
herself at Thanksgiving—just about as loquacious as she was nervous—her subject
* * *
always was church. “St. Patrick’s, that was the original one down there, at the
port, and that was Jim’s parish. The Germans started St. Michael’s parish and
&nb
sp; the Polish had St. Adalbert’s, at Third Street and East Jersey Street, and St.
Patrick’s is right behind Jackson Park, around the corner. St. Mary’s is up in
south Elizabeth, in the West End section, and that’s where my parents started.
They had the milk business there on Murray Street. St. Patrick’s, Sacred Heart
in north Elizabeth, Blessed Sacrament, Immaculate Conception Church, all Irish.
And St. Catherine’s. That’s up in Westminster. Well, it’s on the city line.
