Avi Korman believed in clean breaks, and he knew what he had to do

Avi Korman pulled up and parked in front of the long, low hotel building just like he had six months earlier. He slid into his usual space, feeling a sense of clarity and calm he hadn’t felt in a while.

This time he was more determined than he had ever been before, even more than when he’d first come to set up the yeshivah.

Then, he’d been filled with dreams about what the future would bring. Now, he knew what he wanted.

What he wanted was to be done with this whole parshah. It was his mess, and he would clean it up. The yeshivah was a nice try, and Rabbi Wasser had shown his abilities. Dovi was learning well and he was clearly very happy, and that was a nice thing. But the commitment was too much.

“What is it, Avi,” Faigy had asked him last night, “you can’t handle that it’s not a winner? You need the yeshivah to be like Riverdale within six months or you’re out?”

He didn’t love the question, so instead of answering, he said, “Riverdale? Pshhhh… Faigy, name-dropping yeshivos like a boss.”

She smiled and looked away, which is what she did when she felt like she was right. Avi didn’t think she was. It wasn’t about success and failure, but about being able to gauge the future and having good instincts.

Early on, when he had been at QManage, he had been the first partner to see that the new RentRoll Software would make their service obsolete, and when he had told the others it was time to cut their losses and move on, they had all called him an alarmist and suggested that he relax. But he had been right, of course, and until today, Blindman called him a navi and thanked him every time they met.

Faigy didn’t get instincts. He could have explained to her that just like she didn’t have to use a measuring spoon every time she cooked because she already had a feel for what was needed, he had that same kind of feel for communal stuff. But she would have made a face and told him he was such a man.

But that’s what it was. Good instincts.

The yeshivah had been a nice concept, but he’d been hasty and hadn’t thought it through at the time. There would never be a kollel here. It wasn’t sustainable for rebbeim to live in Modena alone, and it was too far for a daily commute. The yeshivah had a nice vibe, and the boys were learning okay, but Avi Korman didn’t see a justification for it anymore.

He had wanted Rabbi Wasser to have a job, and that had worked out nicely. Portman was adequate, though he was no superstar — just the type of guy who would bounce around from one low-level job to another for years. Dovi was having a good zeman, and maybe now they could put him in a real yeshivah, one that people had heard of — shidduchim came at you fast these days.

Avi Korman believed in clean breaks, and he knew what he had to do.