Left unsaid was that he, Heshy Brucker, would be the one to provide everyone that they needed The conversation went worse than Chaim had expected. Gitty had always been a challenge for Shaindy, and the language was the least of it. When Heshy had called to tell them that he wanted to live
Chaim held back, unwilling to do anything to make it look like he wanted to be their rav
“I don’t need a chavrusa, and I for sure don’t need a big talmid chacham like him, I’m happy to go to a shiur”
How, Shaindy wondered, had this woman from Queens already marched into conversations and made friends
“So is that why you moved to Lakewood?” Mrs. Brucker asked, and Mrs. Putterman looked at her husband, as if for permission to answer
She loved her kids, but no one had ever nominated her as the mother of the year Shaindy and Chaim make the move from Brooklyn to a new Lakewood development “with a very youthful vibe.” New neighbors. Even the words made Nechama Stagler queasy, as if there were expectations she would go flying out
