Yonah held his breath. He knew very well that Rabbi Feldman had planned on reaching out to Pinny, mainly because Yonah had called him yesterday and asked the rav what he should do with Pinny’s revelations about his marriage struggles.

Rabbi Feldman had promised he’d reach out to Pinny.

“Yeah? What’d rebbi want?” He flipped the steaks lazily, coaching his limbs not to betray his anxiety.

“Wanted to know how shanah rishonah was going,” Pinny said acidly. “He’ll probably come ask you next.”

Yonah raised his eyebrows. “Cute.” He slid a steak onto a plate and handed it to Pinny.

Pinny gave a harsh laugh. “Imagine if I had actually told him how it’s going. It’s going greaaat, rebbi, so fantastic. Incidentally, my wife thinks I’m a loser and makes my life miserable. Now about that Rav Akiva Eiger in the last chaburah…”

“You could’ve said something. He’s your rebbi.”

Pinny shrugged and bit into the steak. “Maybe. But why would I?”

“Eitzah? Advice? Counseling?”

Pinny raised his eyebrows “Thank you, Dr. Rosen.”

Yonah sensed he needed to back-peddle and quickly. “Hey, don’t knock the degree. I attended every single class… in elementary school.”

Pinny sniggered. “No, you didn’t.”

***

“Yeah, he wasn’t biting.”

Estee watched Yonah while he banged his fist into the palm of his hand. She loved how much he cared about other people. He had such a big heart.

“Hmmm?”

“Pinny didn’t open up to Rebbi. Rabbi Feldman literally went over and asked him what’s going on and he shut him down. I think he’s embarrassed.”

Estee made a sad face. “That’s so hard.”

She tried to ignore the fact that Yonah smelled of grilled meat and concentrate on the conversation.

“So, I was thinking…” Yonah’s voice trailed off.

“Yeah?”

“You need to speak to Ayala.”

“Excuse me??”

Yonah held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot. I just can’t get through to Pinny, and we need to try to help from a different angle.”

“Yonah, Pinny is your best friend. I’ve known Ayala for like a week. No. Nope. Nisht. Nada.”

“Nyet,” Yonah added helpfully.

She gave a reluctant giggle. “Thank you. But really, Yonah, you’re asking a lot. Also, I can’t exactly go out for coffee right now.”

Now he made a sad face. “Oy. But also, there are these amazing inventions called phones.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yonah, I really don’t know. I’ll think about it. I’m trying to edit this very overdue gallery right now though.”

****

The walk from yeshivah to their little apartment had turned into the perfect time for him to call his mother. Seven minutes was enough time to check in, catch up, and then still get off the phone before he started to feel trapped in a blow-by-blow of every family member and their kids.

“Hi, Ma,” he said cheerfully into his headset. “How are you? How’s the packing?”

Golda sounded tired. “It’s going fine, just a whole lot to get through. Baruch Hashem, now that Gita’s decided to move in, there’s less of a pressure to empty every nook and cranny, but still.”

Gita had shocked the Rosen family last week when she’d announced she’d be moving into the big house in Boston and running the bikur cholim house. Yonah wouldn’t admit it, but he’d felt a pang of jealousy at her announcement. He’d allowed himself one short minute of wallowing before agreeing it was the best solution for everyone involved.

“That’s true,” he said, fist bumping Berkowitz as he walked briskly by and waving at Loewenstein. “But still, packing is a huge deal. Did you find my kindergarten projects?”

Golda laughed. “Wellllll, you’re the youngest, so I do have some of your projects. But if Gita asks, tell her I didn’t save anyone’s, not just hers. She’s very upset that I threw her things away — even though she didn’t want it when I offered it to her. Then again, I found a little ziplock with her baby teeth. I’m pretty sure by the time you were born, I was throwing those away.”

Yonah gagged at the idea of a little bag of teeth. “Wow. Moving on from that visual. Wait, did you find Freddie Teddy?”

“Sure did,” Golda said. “At what point do I tell Estee that her big strong husband slept with an elephant named Freddie the Teddy until he was seven…?”

“Never!” Yonah yelped and they laughed.

“Anyway, Ma, question for you: Did Daddy apply to work for a chesed organization here in Lakewood?”

His mother made an unintelligible noise. “Um, not exactly. I just… it seems that Daddy is not as excited as I’d hoped, and I thought, maybe, if he had somewhere to work, someone to give to…”

Her voice trailed off.

Yonah had reached his apartment but he didn’t go inside. “Ah. Okay, Ma, got it. Leave it to me, okay?”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1032)