The Rabbi and The Rebbetzin (15 page)

Rabbi
Weiss was very skilled and experienced in arranging public affairs. He chose to
conduct the affair in one of the larger downtown Pittsburgh hotels rather than
a catering hall. He felt that a hotel would be more appropriate for a religious
ceremony than a catering hall. He was pleased to find that one five-star hotel
had a large auditorium available for the date of the festival. He placed an ad
in the local Jewish paper and the Pittsburgh dailies. He also prepared a letter
to send out to all members of the Jewish community.

Between
the ordination candidates and their families, the student body of the yeshiva,
the rabbis of the community, the public officials and other interested parties,
he was sure that he would not have any empty seats in the auditorium.

Aaron
notified his parents and then placed a call to Abe Levine telling him about the
celebration. As a patron of the yeshiva, Levine was automatically a member of
the board of directors of the school. He would undoubtedly be called upon to
deliver some form of address to the audience. Aaron told Levine that Rabbi
Weiss would be speaking to him on this matter. The next morning he called
Shulamit and gave her the dates of his college graduation and the ordination
celebration. He expressed a hope that she could come to the Duquense graduation
and join with her family, for whom seats would be available, at both ceremonies.

Shulamit
told him that she would certainly be present at the ordination to hear him
speak and to hear her father deliver his address. As for the college graduation,
she would make every effort to be present. She remembered that her graduation
earned her a sports car but she couldn’t promise Aaron the same.

“What
else is happening with you, Shulamit?” Aaron asked. “Well,” she answered, “I
was accepted in six law schools, one is still pending and one rejected me
completely.”

“How
could they do something like that?” Aaron wanted to know. “Didn’t they see your
transcripts and interview you? What more could they hope for?”

“Did
you ever hear of job candidates who were rejected because they were overly
qualified? That’s what happened at the University of Pittsburgh. The dean of
admissions said to me, ‘Are you an idiot, Ms. Levine?’ ‘Why would you say that?’
I answered. He explained to me any prospective law student who was admitted to
Harvard, Yale, NYU and the University of Pennsylvania and would then go to the
University of Pittsburgh could only be an idiot. ‘I know what happens because
of my experience. Students apply to Pittsburgh as an insurance school. If they are
not admitted elsewhere, they enter our school. After all, we do have an
excellent school and are ranked somewhere around 50
^th
in the
country. Some very famous lawyers and judges have studied in our classrooms.
Nevertheless, when applicants are accepted at a higher ranking school, they
drop us like a hot potato. This is after we have gone through the trouble of
preparing admission material and a bed in the dormitory. We also have to find
different students to fill the vacancies created by their departures.’”

“I
guess he has a reasonable point of view,” Aaron said. “Can you tell me which
school you have chosen to attend?”

“I
haven’t told anyone else yet but I can tell you. I plan to attend the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t want to live in New York,
and Boston is not much better.”

Aaron
then advised her of his plans. “For the coming year I will be able to teach in
the Pittsburgh day school filling the vacancy created by Ilan Solomon’s
choosing to remain in Israel. When I applied, they told me it’s a one-year
appointment, and when Ilan returns he will be given his position back because
of his long seniority. I am not happy about teaching in a day school but at
least I will be teaching Talmud in the higher grades. I will have to find an
apartment in Dunberg and travel to the day school. It’s the best I can do.”

As
far as secular education, I will be going full-time for a master’s degree in
elementary or junior high education. To qualify for public school teaching, I
need at least 15 credits in education and 15 additional credits in English. Since
I majored in English during my undergraduate studies, I could manage all that in
a year and a summer.”

Shulamit
was very pleased with Aaron’s aspirations and wished him luck. “After your
ordination, I will straighten out the relationship between us. I am sure that
you will remind me.”

To
attend the ordination ceremony, Abe Levine took the larger car for his family,
and Larry drove Aaron to the hotel. The Levine family sat in reserved seats
behind the faculty. Since no prayers were involved and since the majority of
families in attendance were not religious, the dean permitted mixed seating after
the tenth row. He did so at the insistence of Rabbi Weiss.

To
open the ordination program, the candidates marched down both aisles behind
members of the faculty. Rabbi Rosenberg led one group and Rabbi Kurland led the
other. The men marched to the traditional melody of
Baruch Eloheinu
(“Blessed
is our God who created us for His glory”) from the daily prayer book. When the
rabbis were seated on the stage, Rabbi Weiss called upon the patron of the
yeshiva, Abe Levine, to offer introductory remarks.

Levine
traced the hard efforts of the dean to build a yeshiva in Pittsburgh as a
center of higher Jewish learning. “Today’s ceremony,” he said, “is a milestone
for the institution.” He called upon the members of the community to follow his
example and support the school.

Rabbi
Weiss then introduced Rabbi Rosenberg to make his remarks to the audience. The dean
spoke in Hebrew which he had learned in the Israeli yeshivos. After the dean
completed his brief remarks, Rabbi Weiss called upon Rabbi Aaron Adler, who was
already a well-known figure in the community, to speak on behalf of the
graduates. Aaron thanked the yeshiva for showing him the Torah way of life and
for preparing him to serve some of the needs of the Jewish community. Intermixed
with a cantorial and entertainment program, there were several other speeches.

Some
community leaders and political figures also had an opportunity to speak to the
audience. As a closing ceremony, the graduates were called by name and each one
was given his ordination certificate and a special
sefer
(book).

In
an adjacent room of the hotel, a reception was then held in honor of the
graduates and their families. Aaron was able to introduce his parents to the
yeshiva faculty and to Abe Levine and his family. Since he had already told his
family about Shulamit, Aaron felt free to introduce her with the words, “… and
this is the beautiful daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Levine.”

After
the hotel ceremonies were concluded, Abe Levine took his family with Aaron and his
parents to dinner at the kosher restaurant in order to celebrate Aaron’s
ordination. During the dinner, Levine presented Aaron with a gold Talit clip.
Even though Aaron did not have to wear a Talit while he was unmarried, he
always wore one when he functioned as the synagogue rabbi.

Sitting
next to Shulamit, Aaron requested to meet her at noon on the next day in the Dunberg
City Park. Shulamit consented and promised to bring a picnic lunch.

In
a close personal tone, Aaron started the conversation in the park. “Shulamit,”
he said, “now that I am a rabbi, the Torah says you have to obey me.”

Sensing
his light mood, Shulamit went along and said, “Yes, master. What is it that you
wish, sire? Shall I kiss your hand?”

“Not
yet, Shulamit,” Aaron answered. “But I do wish to resolve certain questions
about our future. You know that I love you and I wish to put our relationship
on a somewhat higher status.”

“Are
you making an awkward marriage proposal to me?” she asked.

“That’s
the first possibility,” he answered.

“Thanks,
master,” she answered. “What’s the next possibility?”

“I
think engagement is next.”

“Is
there anything less than that?” Shulamit asked.

Aaron
thought a while and said, “Perhaps just going steady with me and excluding all
other men. Beyond that, there is only your friendship, and that I already have.”

Shulamit
took a deep breath and said to him, “I would be honored by all of the above possibilities
but I cannot accept any of them at this time. I have given the matter much
thought and I have a plan for us. It will need much time and patience on your
part, but it is the only way that there will be any future for us.

 “It
has been my ambition since I went to college to have a career in law. I worked
very hard in college and achieved very impressive grades in class and on my
LSAT. As a result I was admitted to many leading law schools, one of which was
the University of Pennsylvania.

“I
will no longer be with average college students as I was at Buffalo. Only one
very bright guy out of thousands of nonentities beat me out at the State University.
At Penn, I will be competing with the smartest men on the East Coast. Some of
them had higher LSAT scores than me, and some have grade point averages equal
to mine. Being married in such a situation is out of the question, because it
would conflict with my career goals.

“I
do not wish to attend my first-year courses having to wheel a baby carriage to
class. I know that parenthood can be postponed by certain people, but not when
you are married to a very strict rabbi. Rabbi Kurland would have your head if
you tried something like that. So I can’t delay parenthood, but I can delay
marriage. That delays one of your best possibilities for at least a year.

“What
happens at the end of the year has also to be considered. Although I have known
you for a year, we have not had an intimate relationship. I sit in the audience
listening to your speeches and religious rhetoric, but I do not know your
personal qualities and feelings. Because of your religious inhibitions, you
cannot develop an intimate relationship with me before marriage, at least not
in the conventional sense.

“If
I get through the first year in law school, I stand ready to devote the entire
following summer to getting to know you better. We will go out daily and have
as much fun as possible. We will visit places together, see nice things and
meet interesting people. I will even take you to see the Liberty Bell. That is
my concept of courtship.”

“Before
we go to the next phase, let me ask you to define what you mean by getting
through the first year of law school.”

“I
am not overly ambitious,” she said. “Let’s say I would be satisfied with a
place on the Dean’s List. The list includes as many as ten members of the class,
so it is not too restrictive.”

Aaron
breathed a sigh of relief. “You could probably make the list even if you had
five children to take care of.”

Shulamit
ignored the flattery. “If things go that well during our intensive courtship, I
would be ready to enter the next stage at the end of the summer. I will let it
be known that I have a steady boyfriend and all the men who now bother me will
have to go elsewhere.”

“What
happens after that?” Aaron inquired anxiously.

“We
advance to the final two stages. Cynthia Farber announces our engagement at the
Chanukah dinner and we get another standing ovation.”

“I
hope you are not a believer in long engagements,” Aaron replied.

“These
things are hard to specify in advance. I cannot plan to marry during my second
year in school. As you know, my father is a very well-known figure in
Pittsburgh and in the rest of the country. The wedding will have to be the main
social event of the year. I can’t see preparing for such a wedding in less than
three months. You are looking at a date in late August - early September.”

“In
effect, your brilliant planning will delay our marriage for two years and give
you no need to wheel a baby carriage before you finish your law school studies,”
Aaron said

“You
are a quick study, Aaron. You have grasped my master plan quite well. Give or
take a few clarifications and details, you have realized what I intend to
accomplish.”

“If
I were sure how the plan would end I would have no problem waiting for you.
Since I’ve met you, I have not had anything to do with any other women, despite
the fact that some anxious mothers suggested that I meet with their leftover
daughters. In my eyes, there is only one Shulamit Levine, and no one else
compares. My problem is that during the first year of your studies you are
reserving the right to go out with other men while I stay home daydreaming.”

“Given
my academic work and my very high standards, nothing is likely to happen
romantically for me during the first year. In the whole law school there may
not be more than five Sabbath observers, and not more than ten men who keep kosher.
To find someone my father would be happy to accept, I would have to move to New
York, something I choose not to do. Chances are very good that my schedule will
be met much as I have planned it. If someone happens to sweep me off my feet,
you have only lost one year of your life, not too much to worry about against the
blissful possibilities that may await you. Anyway, considering the schedule
that you have formulated for yourself for the coming year, you will not have too
much time for lonely daydreams.”