by Naomi Ragen
“We are looking forward to seeing your whole family next month.”
She heard the tires of the car crunching up the gravel path. “Wait, I think they’re here!”
The family ran out the front door and down the porch steps of the lovely wraparound veranda.
Fruma Esther got out first, carrying a large picnic basket. She had a new, gaily coiffed wig and a stylish dress. Even her orthopedic shoes looked more fashionable than the kind she’d worn for decades.
“I baked in Jerusalem for the bris,” she told them. “Oy, it’s heavy.”
“I’ll get it, Bubbee, not to worry,” Yaakov said.
He stepped out of the car and walked around, holding the door open for his former teacher and mentor, picking up the bags, then helping Fruma Esther up the steps.
Rav Alter had aged, but not deteriorated, Leah saw with relief. Even after the brutal flight from Tel Aviv, there was still a spring in his step as he looked over the children.
Hearing the commotion, Cheryl had joined them with the baby, and Chasya and Mordechai Shalom went running to greet their grandparents.
“Oy, the kinderlach, so beautiful!” Fruma Esther exulted, her hand over her heart, whispering a silent prayer to the Aibishter, who was always nearby in her heart and her mind. “Look at that baby! What, red? Really, red curls? A broocha on his kepelah!”
“Like King David,” Yaakov said, laughing, as he caught his wife around her waist and kissed her, something else they would never have done in Boro Park.
He, too, had grown older, his short payos, neatly tucked behind his ears, a light but definite gray. But the lines around his mouth that had once turned down had now deepened into laugh lines, and the look of shock and despair that had once settled in his calm blue eyes had disappeared, replaced by a merry sparkle of happiness.
“And my Shaindele, my kallah-moide, come here to your bubbee,” Fruma Esther urged, taking in the young woman from her shining eyes to her lovely, slim figure. “Just like your beautiful mameh, may her memory be a blessing! She would have been so proud, so proud,” Fruma Esther whispered to the girl, hugging her. Then both of them wiped away a tear as they all headed inside the house to prepare for yet another family simcha.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have never before had any desire to compose a sequel, leaving my characters behind in various situations to muck through to the future by themselves in each reader’s imagination. But with An Unorthodox Match, the future of Yaakov and Leah came to me in a rush. By then, however, I had already written over four hundred pages, and so decided their future deserved a book of its own. This is that book.
I am imparting all this to make it clear that this book, too, is indebted to all those I acknowledged in my last book: those baalos teshuva who shared their life stories with me, my friends in Boro Park who took me in and guided me, and the teachers of the Hebrew Institute of Long Island, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Far Rockaway, who guided me to the life-altering decision to take my faith seriously. All the things Leah has experienced in turning from a secular to an Orthodox lifestyle, I, too, have experienced (with perhaps the exception of being run over by an incensed Hasid on a bicycle, although I, too, have often felt the wrath of the religious community in pointing out the lead feet of many a cherished community idol).
I am grateful to author Varda Polak-Sahm, whose book The House of Secrets: The Hidden World of the Mikveh, published by Beacon Press, helped me discover fascinating details about the intimate rituals of Orthodox married couples. I found similar information online at heb.KabaLove.org in the published pages of the pamphlet “The Perfect Behavior of the Groom on His Wedding Night.”
* * *
I thank and acknowledge as well all the many authors who have written and published online, in magazines, and in books about the growing transition of yeshiva and kollel students leaving full-time studies to join the workforce, helping me to understand the complex emotional, religious, and psychological aspects arising from this situation.
Thanks go to my excellent editor, Anna deVries at St. Martin’s Press, for her meticulous reading and excellent suggestions, as well as to my agent, Mel Berger at William Morris Endeavor, for always being there to help, encourage, and guide.
As always, my partnership with my husband, Alex, grows stronger and more profound with every year and every book. Thank you, my love. Our fiftieth anniversary has come and gone. Looking forward to celebrating our sixtieth! Thanks also go to the four lovely children we have raised, and their wonderful spouses; and the nachas-creating machines that are my precious grandchildren (all thirteen of them—so far!), thank you for the love, laughs, pride, joy. You are, and will remain, my strongest sources of inspiration.
GLOSSARY
a broch. A curse, a plague.
a dank. Thank you.
a mentsh tracht und Gott lacht. A person plans and God laughs.
Aibishter. “The One on High,” meaning God.
assur. Forbidden.
avadeh. For sure, certainly.
aveira. A sin, transgression, offense.
ayniklach. Grandchildren.
baal teshuva. Literally, “possessor of repentance.” Refers to one who leaves a secular lifestyle to become religiously observant. baalas teshuva (feminine). baalos teshuva (feminine plural) baale teshuva (plural). Refers to penitents of both sexes. teshuva. Penitence. To repent is to “do teshuva.”
Bais Hamigdash. Temple in Jerusalem.
balabus. Literally, “house owner,” but often used in a derogatory way to indicate status: bourgeois, prosperous merchant or working class as opposed to scholar.
balabusta. Laudatory term for efficient, hardworking housewife.
bashert. One’s perfect match as ordained by God.
beheimeis. Derogatory, “Beasts!”
bekesha. Black frock coat worn by Hasidic men.
besser. Better.
bli neder. A formula that accompanies a vow used to prevent a person from swearing in vain.
broocha, also bracha. A blessing.
bulvan. A boorish, rude, coarse person.
chas v’chalilah. God forbid. Also chas v’shalom.
chasanah. A wedding.
chazzar. Pig.
cherpeh. A disgrace.
chilul HaShem. A desecration of God’s name.
chizuk. Strengthen. To give chizuk is to help strengthen someone.
cholov Yisroel. Kashrut stringency that demands a cow be milked by Jews to ensure nonkosher milk is not added.
chorbyn. Complete disaster and destruction.
choshuva. Important, highly respected.
dafka. Specifically and emphatically.
din Torah. A trial and judgment given by a rabbinical court.
emes. Truth.
eppis. Somewhat.
Eretz Hakodesh. Literally “the Holy Land,” i.e., the land of Israel.
far zikher. For sure.
farshtey, farshteist. Understand.
farshtunkene. Stinking.
frum. Devout or pious, committed to the observance of Jewish religious law, often exceeding the bare requirements of halacha, the collective body of Jewish religious laws.
gadol hador. The greatest and most revered Torah scholar of the generation.
Gehinnom. Purgatory.
Geshmacked. Delicious, yummy.
gevaldig. Tremendous, huge.
gmach. Free loan fund that distributes a wide variety of goods and services as a good deed. gmachim. (plural).
gornisht. Nothing, zilch, zero.
gribbenes. Crisp chicken or goose skin with onions fried in schmaltz.
grosse tzaddik. Derogatory, “a great saint.”
grubber yung. Coarse, uncouth, crude youth.
HaShem. Literally “the name,” a periphrastic way of referring to God in contexts other than prayer or scriptural reading because the name itself is considered too holy for such use. HaShem Yaazor. God should help. HaShem Yisborach. God be blessed, interchangeable with Bar
uch Hashem and Yisborach HaShem. HaShem Yishmor. God watch over us.
hechsher. Rabbinical stamp of approval, mostly referring to kosher status of food.
hishtadlus. Personal effort toward a goal.
ich farshtey. I understand.
k’vod harav. Honorific. “Most respected teacher.”
kepelah. Literally “little head,” a term of affection.
kinderlach. Diminutive, affectionate term for children.
Litvish. Of or pertaining to Jews from Lithuania.
loshon hara. Gossip.
mamash. Really, truly, actually.
mechilah. Formal forgiveness for sin.
mechitza. Divider separating men’s from women’s sections in synagogue.
menuvel. A person who is always causing grief, can get nothing right, and is always in the way.
middos. Character traits.
mirtzashem. God willing.
mishagas. Craziness. meshuganah, meshuga. A crazy person.
misnagdim. Rabbinical opponents to the rise of the Hasidic movement, centered in Lithuania.
moissar. Squealer who turns over fellow Jew to secular authorities.
musaf. Afternoon prayers.
mussar. Ethical behavior in the spirit of the Torah.
nebbech. Sad, unfortunate.
negiah. Literally “touch,” the concept in Jewish law that forbids or restricts physical contact with a member of the opposite sex (except close family).
neshama. Soul.
nesoyon. Spiritual test, usually something difficult or tragic. nesyonos. (plural).
nishtikeit. A nobody.
nishtgutnik. No-good person.
OTD. Abbreviation for “Off the Derech,” meaning those leaving the true path of Orthodoxy.
pirchei. Literally “blossoms,” name given to choirs of young haredi boys singing religiously themed songs.
plotzing. To burst with strong emotion, frustration, or annoyance.
potur. Exempt.
prutza. An immoral woman, a whore. Also pritzus. Immorality.
rachmones. Piteous.
rosha. Hebrew word for villain. Also rishus. Evil.
shaine. Beautiful.
shalom bayis. Domestic harmony.
shandah. Shame or disgrace.
sheva brachos. Seven blessings, parties held seven nights postwedding to honor the bride and groom.
shluchim. Emissaries (plural). Usually sent to promote a religious or ideological cause, or to collect funding. Also shaliach (singular).
shma. A fundamental prayer affirming one’s faith, recited morning and evening.
shpilkes. Pins and needles. on shpilkes. On pins and needles.
taharas hamishpacha. Family purity, a code word for abstention from sex during menstruation, counting seven clean days, and immersion into a ritual bath before resuming marital relations.
taka. Really, actually.
tisch. Literally “table,” but refers to joyous Hasidic gathering of wine and song around rebbe.
treife. Foods forbidden by Jewish law, especially meat from nonkosher animals, or animals not slaughtered according to Jewish law.
tummel. Confusion, uproar, noise.
tzaddik. A saintly man. tzaddikim (plural). tzadakis. A saintly woman.
tznius, tzniusdik. Referring to modest behavior in dress, deportment, and relations between the sexes.
umglick. A born loser, unlucky.
“Vus is dus?” “What is the meaning of this?”
yenne-velt. Literally, “other world,” used to indicate the afterlife or the world to come. Also used in the context of a place that is really far away or in the “middle of nowhere.”
yichus. Good pedigree, important lineage.
yungerman. A married male learning in kollel, as opposed to working for a living. A term of respect.
Also by Naomi Ragen
FICTION
Jephte’s Daughter
Sotah
The Sacrifice of Tamar
The Ghost of Hannah Mendes
Chains Around the Grass
The Covenant
The Saturday Wife
The Tenth Song
The Sisters Weiss
The Devil in Jerusalem
An Unorthodox Match
PLAY
Women’s Minyan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Naomi Ragen is an award-winning novelist, journalist, and playwright. Her first book, Jephte’s Daughter, was listed among the one hundred most important Jewish books of all time. Her bestselling novels include Sotah, The Covenant, The Sisters Weiss, and Devil in Jerusalem. An outspoken advocate for women’s rights, and an active combatant against anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda through her website, http://www.naomiragen.com, she has lived in Jerusalem since 1971. An Observant Wife is her thirteenth novel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
CHAPTER 1 Daughter of the Groom
CHAPTER 2 The Wedding Dance
CHAPTER 3 A Virgin Wedding Night
CHAPTER 4 Shaindele’s New Beginning
CHAPTER 5 Joy
CHAPTER 6 Yaakov Leaves Kollel
CHAPTER 7 Leah’s Shame
CHAPTER 8 The Boy from the Pizza Parlor
CHAPTER 9 A Difficult Conversation
CHAPTER 10 The Elephant in the Room
CHAPTER 11 An Elderly Romance
CHAPTER 12 Duvie
CHAPTER 13 Leah Talks to HaShem
CHAPTER 14 Where Is Shaindele?
CHAPTER 15 Consequences
CHAPTER 16 It Is Not Good to Be Alone
CHAPTER 17 Yaakov Struggles
CHAPTER 18 A Family in Turmoil
CHAPTER 19 The Rabbi-Psychologist
CHAPTER 20 Some Enchanted Evening
CHAPTER 21 First Meeting
CHAPTER 22 Love Among the Rugelach
CHAPTER 23 Breakthrough with Grub
CHAPTER 24 Leah Takes Stock
CHAPTER 25 A Ray of Hope
CHAPTER 26 Leah, Yaakov, Shaindele
CHAPTER 27 Will They Believe Her?
CHAPTER 28 The Reckoning
CHAPTER 29 Showdown
CHAPTER 30 The Chorbyn
CHAPTER 31 More Than a Friend
CHAPTER 32 God’s Messenger
CHAPTER 33 A Dangerous Mission
CHAPTER 34 A Different World
CHAPTER 35 The Proposal
CHAPTER 36 The Corrections
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GLOSSARY
ALSO BY NAOMI RAGEN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
AN OBSERVANT WIFE. Copyright © 2021 by Naomi Ragen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s P
ublishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover art: busy sidewalk © Eldad Carin/Alamy; woman, skirt, and clouds © Laura Kate Ranftler/Arcangel; texture © Tonstock/Shutterstock.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ragen, Naomi, 1949- author.
Title: An observant wife / Naomi Ragen.
Description: First Edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2021.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021016346 | ISBN 9781250260079 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250260086 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3568.A4118 O27 2021 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016346
eISBN 9781250260086
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021
