His heart pinched with worry for his cousin, but there was no time to focus on that. Not when there were ten children age ten and under in the house

Menachem’s first cognizant thought was that if he heard those songs one more time, he’d turn into a matzah. It was barely eight o’clock in the morning, and already, Uncle Moishy’s Pesach CD was blasting through the house. He jammed his feet into his slippers and padded to the sink to wash.

“Good morning!” Efrayim greeted Menachem with a big smile. “Rise and shine! It’s Erev Pesach!”

Menachem started. Right! Tonight was the Seder! Feeling better, he quickly got ready and ran out for Shacharis, calling to his mother as he did so. His body tingled in anticipation. Bi’ur chometz and all the last-minute preparations…. Erev Pesach was a busy day in every home, but even more so at his house. After all, in most families, both parents were around to get ready for the big day. But Rabbi Schiff and his brother-in-law Rabbi Leibowitz were in charge of the local kimcha d’Pischa tzedakah distribution. Other than dashing in to do bi’ur chometz before the zeman, they both were out of the house until shortly before Yom Tov began.

After davening, Menachem rushed home and into the kitchen. Every counter gleamed with heavy-duty foil . His mother was sitting at the table with a Pesachdig coffee mug, flipping through a cookbook. She smiled at Menachem when he entered. “Hi, Menachem,” she said. “Good morning!”

“Hi, Ma,” he replied. “What’s for breakfast?”

“You can have bagels until sof zeman achilas chometz,” Mrs. Schiff said. “They’re outside on the porch. When everyone’s done eating, can you make sure everything is swept up into the chometz baggie?”

“Sure,” Menachem said. “No problem.” As he was turning to go, the phone rang. He paused to hear who was calling.

“Hi, Chana,” his mother said, sounding surprised. “What’s up? Holding down the fort?” As Menachem was about to leave again, he noticed his mother’s forehead crease. What could be wrong at the Leibowitzes? he wondered.