Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 27 of a new online serial novel, Beneath the Surface, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every Thursday or Friday. Click here for previous chapters.

“What happened to Diana?” Julian asked when he popped in to his parents for a visit. “Haven’t you gotten regards?” he repeated when met by his mother’s stony silence.

“Mother won’t answer you; she doesn’t like to talk about it,” his father interjected with forced apathy. “Diana isn’t at Joyce’s anymore. She left London.”

“Where to?”

Roy looked at his wife. She shrugged. “You can tell him. I don’t care and it doesn’t interest me any longer.”

He turned back to Julian. “She flew to Israel. She’s volunteering on a kibbutz there.”

“What?”

Now his mother turned to face him. “And if I was already so happy that her connection to Judaism had been broken off, it’s back, big time.Israel! I mean, really! What is she looking for over there?”

“Something, apparently,”Roy said dryly.

“What do you mean?” She put the enamel bowl she was holding down with a bang onto the table.

“Nothing. But Diana is smart. She knows what she’s doing.”

“Hmph!” Mrs. Molis sniffed and took a big spoon. “You’re too big of a believer in her sense of discretion. She’s not even twenty-five yet, you might recall!”

He didn’t react.

“If she doesn’t come back within two weeks, I will simply go and bring her back!”

Her son raised his eyebrows. “Really? To Israel?”

“Yes! A mother is allowed to know what her daughter’s up to, isn’t she?” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 26 of a new online serial novel, Beneath the Surface, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every Thursday or Friday. Click here for previous chapters.

“Yehudis and Tzippy! Sit down nicely! Baruch! I’m closing the window; you’re sticking your hand out!” The boy looked at Adina with interest. He asked her something, but she didn’t understand.

“What?” she asked.

“Say ‘yeladim’!” he said in an almost clear voice. She laughed.

“Yeladim! Everyone sit down nicely!” She glanced out the window. The gray day was cold and windy; pieces of paper and dry leaves blew every which way.

“Children, look out the windows. There’s a big, big tree. It’s so big!” She stretched her arm towards the ceiling of the van. “And it’s so, so sad! So very sad! Why? Because all the leaves went so far away. The leaves are its sweater.  And now it’s cold because it doesn’t have a sweater. What should we say to make it happy?” She pretended to act chilly and shivered.

The children didn’t respond. They were riveted to her little performance and didn’t even consider looking out the window.

Adina continued in her pidgin Hebrew. “Let’s tell the tree: Don’t be sad, tree. Don’t be crying!” She covered her face with her eyes and pretended to weep. A few children tittered. The rest gaped at her in fascination.

The driver stopped the van. “What happened?” Adina panicked for a minute. “Everyone’s sitting so nicely!”

“They are sitting very nicely,” the driver said, leaning back in his seat. He took a crumpled newspaper out of his gray satchel and opened it up. “We’re at the Shlomowitzes’ house.” At that moment, Adina noticed a young boy running down the path.

“Sorry I’m late,” Baruch Shlomowitz’s brother apologized. “Is Baruch here?”

Adina nodded. She understood his question. “Bye, Baruch, have a good day!”

Baruch stopped at the van’s open door but didn’t get off.

“Do you need help?” Adina offered. Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 25 of a new online serial novel, Beneath the Surface, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every Thursday or Friday. Click here for previous chapters.

A young woman entered quietly. “Shoshana, are our cards ready?” she asked.

Shoshana shook her head in the negative and motioned for her to wait as she continued conversing with the technician on the phone.

“They’re urgent for Naomi. She asked for them right now,” the woman said, walking over to the lamination machine on a side table, near Adina’s chair.

“Hello,” she said pleasantly as she caught Adina’s eye. Adina smiled in response, trying to understand the Hebrew words flying over her head.

Shoshana finished her phone conversation and turned to the young woman. “It’s not such a big deal to take care of,” she said. “But yesterday, when I was peeling potatoes, I cut my finger and it’s hard for me to work the machine. So I guess you can do it yourself, if you know how and you have a few minutes, or Naomi will have to use the cards the way they are…”

“I…can do it…the lamination,” Adina said quickly, and even before the young woman had a chance to react, she switched on the machine.

“That would be a great help! Who are you?” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 24 of a new online serial novel, Beneath the Surface, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every Thursday or Friday. Click here for previous chapters.

Copyright © 2011 by Israel Bookshop Publication

Menuchi’s perspective, continued:

The Sculpey clay was finished to the last crumb. We spent the first half of the lesson learning Orchos Tzaddikim, and then sculpted our figures during the second part. The girls had fantastic ideas and there were some really cute figures, but at the end we had a problem. We had to bake the figures and there was no place to do it. Did the Sculpey create a kashrus problem? In case it did, we didn’t want to use the dorm’s oven. We decided that we’d take care of it the next week. (Shragi would have to come up with a solution) and then we’d be able to play the game. I had to leave by then, in any case.

“Just a minute, Menuchi!”Sandycried. “Don’t go yet! We have to take pictures!” She was busy setting up her camera on the shelf.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Automatic photo setting!” the girls answered almost in unison. They were already posing in front of the camera, each holding her clay doll. “Sandy’s camera takes the best pictures like this.”

“But you don’t need it now. I’ll take the picture,” I suggested, walking over to the shelf. Keep Reading…