Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 26 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

On the day Sari Schreibman began working in the office, a letter arrived that threw Yael into a frenzy. The new secretary placed it on the principal’s desk, and Yael, who saw it there, asked for permission to open it.

“What do they want from us now?” she wondered aloud. “Can these be the results of the state tests already? I doubt it. It should be a much bigger envelope.”

Yaffa looked at the official envelope with the unfamiliar letterhead and shrugged. Yael pulled out a single sheet of paper and perused it closely.

“I don’t believe it!” she cried in a tone that even brought Chana running from the outer office. “Are they normal? Tell me, what was wrong? Chana!” she called. “Please get Naomi Bergsas, the history coordinator, this minute.”

Chana quickly checked the class schedules and then replied, “She’s in class.”

“So pull her out! Give this year’s class a retest?! They’ve gone too far!”

The issue must have been very urgent, because Chana suddenly sprang into action. Within a few seconds, Mrs. Bergsas was standing in the office; only now did Yaffa see who she was.

The teacher’s jaw dropped when she read the letter that Yael handed her. “That is so, so unfair,” she whispered in shock. “Total chutzpah, what they are doing there. They told us it would be fine!” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 25 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Malky?”

Malka sat up, alert. Ima was calling her; of that there was no doubt.

“Yes, Ima,” she said brightly, as though it was five o’clock in the afternoon and not in middle of the night. Ima had spoken several times yesterday, just a little and very weakly, but she was talking, baruch Hashem. Real words. “How do you feel?”

“Baruch Hashem, okay.” Every word rolled heavily off Adina Kotzker’s tongue. “And how…are you?”

“When I hear you speaking, I’m wonderful. Should I straighten your pillow, Ima?”

Her mother waved her hand. “No…” she said with difficulty. “How are the children? You…are here a lot.”

“They’re managing. Mimi helps Michoel at home, and in the end they’re going to discover that they manage much better without me.”

“Mimi’s a good girl,” Adina said slowly. “And she’ll continue to be good, if…you give her the right guidance. How…is school, Malky?”

“Baruch Hashem.” Malka swallowed. “It looks like Yaffa Levinsky is doing fine, and things are running pretty smoothly.”

“Yes, she’s…” Adina paused, groping for a word. “Wonderful,” she finally completed her sentence. “And you and Yael?”

A flush rose quickly up Malka’s neck and settled in her cheeks. “Okay. Normal. Yael does more of the hands-on work than I do, but recently I’ve also started to get back into things.”

“What time is it…Malky?”

Malka glanced at her watch. “Four in the morning,” she replied. “Four-oh-six, to be exact.”

“So sleep, sleep,” Adina said, closing her eyes again. “You need energy.”

*** Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 24 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“I’m sorry, Dvir,” Elchanan said. “I have to leave a few minutes early today.”

The employer frowned. “Again?” he asked tersely.

“Again.”

“Nu, what should I tell you? Go. Is everyone okay?”

“Baruch Hashem.” Except for the restlessness that had suddenly overtaken him and was giving him no rest. His sister Ruth was right. He could be a lot more than a bookstore employee. And if he could, then he had to try.

The interview, the sixth one since he’d begun looking for a new job two weeks earlier, was on the other side of Yerushalayim. Elchanan, who was using the buses to get around the city, had decided that the time had come for him to get a car. Why had his parents sent him for driving lessons? So he could observe the bus driver traveling so slowly and struggling to traverse the congested streets?

This time, he was interviewed by three people. The one on the right had glasses and a balding pate, and he seemed to be the boss; to his left were two others who stared Elchanan up and down but didn’t say a word.

“Resume, please.”

“What’s your family status?”

“Where have you worked in the last year?”

“What was your salary?”

“Do you know how to drive?”

“What is the maximum number of hours you are able to work?”

Elchanan answered the questions calmly, surveying the sleek, elegant office. The interviewers looked at each other.

“Look,” the boss said. “Our company has garnered a very reliable reputation as an antiques dealer in the religious and Chareidi sectors, and we’re trying to break in even more. In order to work here, you’ll need to develop a range of abilities and invest a lot of effort and time. Do you think that is possible for you?”

“Certainly,” Elchanan said confidently.

The interviewers exchanged looks again, and after a moment, the man on the right said, “Thank you. We will examine your candidacy, and if we find you suitable, you’ll receive notice in the next few days.”

“I see,” Elchanan said, suppressing his disappointment. “Thank you,” he added as he left. It looked like he was destined to remain at the bookstore for the time being. In that case, he’d better stop with the frequent absences and early departures that were making Dvir wonder; his normally congenial employer was liable to lose his patience, and then Elchanan would be left out in the cold. It was not a risk worth taking. Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 23 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Quietly and nonchalantly, Elchanan circled the ad in the paper. Before leaving for work, he decided to call.

“Good morning,” he said politely. “You put in a help wanted ad that you’re looking for a sales manager?”

“Yes, indeed,” the voice replied. “Are you interested in the position?”

“I’m interested in hearing more details,” Elchanan clarified.

“It’s a position managing furniture sales, at Brunner Furniture, if you’ve heard of us. If you decide you are interested, we can set up an interview, where you can hear the rest.”

“I am interested,” Elchanan said hurriedly.

The interview was set for that evening. Elchanan told Yaffa he’d be home a bit late, without specifying why. He didn’t know exactly why, but he had no patience to tell her he was sick of working at Dvir’s.

The furniture factory was large and impressive, albeit rather quiet at this hour of the evening. The two Brunners, father and son, sat in the office. They asked the questions as though they had divided them up ahead of time. Elchanan wondered if there had been so many candidates interviewed already that they had the routine down pat. After the older man said, “Alright, we will decide if this is suitable for us and let you know,” Elchanan asked about the terms. He received half answers, as though they had decided that every minute spent with him was a waste of time. He was not wrong. Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 22 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

“Mimi, I’m…” Malka sniffed the air. Three pots stood on the stove, which was gleaming like it never had, even before her mother’s stroke. The counters, sinks, floor and tiles looked like they had just been cleaned for Pesach.

“Mimi, I…have no words. No words!” She took off her jacket and walked over to the refrigerator, where her daughter stood smiling shyly. The house was quiet. Well, that was to be expected: it was after eleven p.m. “Did you cook for Yom Tov? Yourself? How did you leave the kitchen like this? You know how my kitchen normally looks on an Erev Yom Tov. I don’t have to tell you.”

“I knew you’d come home tired and wouldn’t have too much time tomorrow,” Mimi said as she untied the apron she was wearing over a faded robe. “Do you want to taste something?”

“No, I’m just enjoying the smells,” Malka chuckled, and Mimi proudly uncovered each pot. Two roasts were simmering in the large pot, potato and sweet potato strips were sautéing in the skillet, and a large pot of soup bubbled on the back flame.

“This is wonderful, Mimi,” Malka gushed.

“Well, Abba did the soup. I did the rest.”

“And the kitchen just looks fantastic.”

“My friend helped me with that,” Mimi said. “She just left a short while ago. She’s great at this stuff.”

“Cooking and cleaning?”

“Both. She’s the one who cooks supper for her brothers three days a week and scrubs her house almost every day. She’s a real balabusta, Ima; I wish could get done half as much as she does. She’s really quick.”

“Who is it, Devorah?”

“No, Shuli Emmanuel.”

Malka raised a tired eyebrow. “I never heard that name.” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 21 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

She really despised going to the Well-Baby Clinic, but it wasn’t like she had a choice; Bentzy needed to get his vaccinations. Yaffa felt wound up as tight as a spring as she walked into the clinic and surveyed the line.

“You’re here for Sophie, right?” the secretary asked affably. “You can go in. The woman ahead of you is finished already.”

There were two people in the room; Sophie, poking around as usual on the computer keyboard, and another strange woman who gazed expectantly at the doorway.

“Sophie, the next in line is here,” she said, smiling at Yaffa.

Sophie raised her eyes. “Oh, Yaffa, come in. This is Edna from the Health Ministry,” she introduced the stranger. “She does inspections at the clinics every so often. Is it okay with you if she’s here now?”

Yaffa nodded and took Bentzy out of the carriage. He squirmed restlessly, like he’d been doing for much of the past few days. The babysitter had told Yaffa she thought he was teething.

“Your sister’s not here with you today, I see,” Sophie remarked, her eyes on the screen.

“No.” Yaffa felt the spring wind even tighter, if that was possible. She was on the verge of snapping. Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 20 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

The last time they’d visited Elchanan’s parents, his mother had asked Yaffa to “keep an eye on him because he’s gaining an awful lot of weight.” Yaffa didn’t know how exactly she was supposed to watch her husband’s eating. She rarely joined his monthly shopping expedition to the supermarket. On the odd occasion that she did, if she saw him toss four bags of potato chips into the cart, was she supposed to take them out and declare unequivocally that they were fattening and that his mother didn’t allow him to eat it? Or when he smeared his eighth slice of bread with butter, was she supposed to grab the knife out of his hand and say, “That’s enough now”?

In any case, Chaya had once told her, incidentally or not, that she and her husband went out each evening for a brisk walk. Yaffa had liked the idea. Elchanan, except for the times that he was tired after an exhausting day at work, didn’t object, and their thrice-weekly evening walk became almost routine—if the two weeks they’d been doing it for could be called “routine.”

“You’re thoughtful tonight,” Elchanan said, as he kicked away a small stone that had gotten stuck between the wheels of Bentzy’s carriage.

“Right,” Yaffa answered, looking at the stone that rolled to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk. She bent over and moved it near the fence running along the sidewalk.

“Is something bothering you?” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 19 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Dovi Brim looked around the small room. The principal pulled back the curtain that shaded the window and pointed to a chair facing the desk.

“Please, have a seat,” she said quietly. “One moment; there’s only one chair here.” She began walking towards the door, but Mr. Brim turned to his son before she got there.

“Dovi, go bring yourself a chair.”

A mournful silence rang in Dovi’s ears as he walked out to the secretary’s office. He walked over to a chair standing near the wall and picked it up. “There’s only one inside,” he said by way of explanation, tilting his head towards the inner office. “May I take it?”

“Sure,” Chana replied, and went back to what she was doing.

“Good morning,” Mr. Brim began. “Or rather, it’s just about good afternoon. Pleased to meet you. We are the Brims, from Manhattan. We came here because we are aware of the strong connections Rabbi Weinstock has with your school.”

The principal nodded silently, her face somber. She seemed to be apprised of the situation, Dovi mused to himself, and from her expression, he came to the conclusion that the subject was closed as far as she was concerned.

But his father had no intentions of giving in so quickly. “I don’t know if the principal is aware of things as they were until now,” he continued, “but Dovi is an excellent talmid. Last year, in shiur beis, they were very pleased with him in the yeshivah. He learns well, is very respectful, and is well liked by his friends. True, he also knows how to play the flute beautifully, and he even played for the yeshivah on Purim night. What happened over summer vacation was really a very big mistake on our part that simply…got out of hand at one point. Dovi, perhaps you should describe how Mr. Aberfort called you and how it all began.”

Dovi complied, and the principal listened attentively as he spoke, her eyes fixed on the pen in her hand. Dovi stopped short at describing the concert itself. He wanted to add something, but at the last minute decided not to. Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 18 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Yaffa was gratified to find the hallways empty. What if they would have been teeming with students just then? What would she have been expected to say, do, respond? She walked with smaller steps than she had taken on her first day at the school, but at least now she knew where the office was.

Three pairs of eyes turned to her as she appeared in the doorway: Yael, Chana, the head secretary, and Faigy, her assistant.

“Good morning, Mrs. Levinsky,” Yael said naturally, lifting her head from a large sheet of paper spread out before her on the table. She took the page and stepped into the inner office, switching on the light as she did.

Yaffa hesitated for a moment. “Good morning,” she finally replied, forcing herself to smile at the secretaries, who were clearly sizing her up. She followed Yael into the other room.

Yael was already sitting on the black chair, the same kind that the teachers’ room had to offer, and was continuing to peruse the paper she was holding. She raised her eyes after a few seconds. “Why aren’t you sitting down?” she asked Yaffa, pointing to the brown leather chair on the other side of the desk. “These are the class lists for the ninth grade, and I want you to look them over to see if they’re okay.” She pushed the page toward the empty brown chair and then turned to the door, where Yaffa was standing.

“Nu?” she said with a smile.

“This is very hard for me, Yael,” Yaffa said, a blush rising in her cheeks. “If I have to look at that paper, you can give it to me here.”

“Absolutely not,” Yael said, sounding like she was trying to suppress a smile. “That’s your chair for now, and there’s no reason for you to stand.”

The situation was so comical that even Yaffa’s lips curved upward in a smile. “Is that how you usually talk to the principal?” she asked.

Yael chuckled. “Now you sound like a real principal,” she declared. “Good for you, Yaf—em, Mrs. Levinsky. You’ll go far, b’ezras Hashem.”

By now Yaffa was standing directly behind the brown chair. “But it’s still delusional,” she said quietly, not realizing that she was quoting her sister Chaya’s exact words. “It’s unbelievable to think that I’ll be sitting in this chair, at this desk, and will tell you if the class divisions look alright. I don’t understand anything about these things, and I…” Keep Reading…

Israel Book Shop presents Chapter 17 of a new online serial novel, Dance of the Puppet, by Esther Rapaport. Check back for a new chapter every week. Click here for previous chapters. 

Copyright © Israel Bookshop Publications. 

Faigy Krauss, the assistant secretary of the high school, listened in silence to the tirade coming through the phone.

“It’s totally crazy, I’m telling you,” Chana raged repeatedly on the other end of the line. “And then he kept explaining to me how I have to give her all the backing and authority to make sure the job is done effectively and that there is continuity, blah blah blah.” She paused for a second. “Isn’t it ridiculous, Faigy? I’m asking you, is this normal? Principal! If Malka or Yael didn’t want to take on the job for whatever reason, couldn’t they have given it to one of us?”

“Why?” Faigy asked.

“Why? Because you and I at least have a vague idea of how the school runs, which this little girl does not!”

“That’s exactly what they wanted, Chana.” Faigy was calm. “They would never have given you the job of running the school, precisely because you know how to do it too well.”

“And you?”

“I would never take such a thing on myself.”

“So what do they want? Someone to run the place without knowing how?”

“No.” Only as Faigy said the words did she grasp how true they were. “They want someone to sign all their forms and to be presentable enough, but they will manage everything through her.”

“Presentable?” Chana huffed into the phone; it sounded almost like a snort. “Come on, Faigy.”

“Presentable from a legal standpoint, I meant, not that she’s going to speak at parents’ evenings or anything.”

“But why—” Chana wasn’t ready to give up so fast. Keep Reading…