"What I was counting on didn’t mamash work out. Money is tight. So we need to find a backup plan for the yeshivah"

Avi Korman knew that he had no choice, but he also knew that the chances of the Rosh Yeshivah considering the suggestion were less than slim, so he spoke like a man who didn’t believe his own words.

“Basically, this friend of mine was giving me ideas to help the yeshivah.” He paused and started again. “Not really a current friend, more like an old friend who I stay in touch with, but he has some interesting ideas, he’s done good things for all kinds of tzedakos. I mean, he’s the one who had the idea of Shomrei Shemittah, I’m sure you remember that campaign, and he was the guy who came up with the kiruv-dollars….” Aware that he was blabbering now, Avi Korman paused again.

Rabbi Wasser kindly pretended that everything was normal and made small talk while Avi collected himself. “I stopped drinking so much coffee,” the Rosh Yeshivah said, lifting the blue mug he was cradling in his hands. “I switched to herbal tea. I miss the coffee, but I was giving the bochurim a shmuess about smoking and the vort was that well beyond the health risks and unpleasant smell and expense — which are all emes’eh problems — there’s the etzem issue, which is being meshubad to a taavah. Its like willingly becoming a hostage. It’s a stirah with being a tzelem Elokim, I think. HaKadosh Baruch Hu made adam to be higher than anything else, so how can a person let himself be owned by a desire?

“Then,” Rabbi Wasser said, taking a pause to sip from the mug, “I started thinking about the fact that it wasn’t so honest of me, because I also have zachen, you know? So I started with coffee. At least this way I can be honest when I’m tovei’a for the bochurim, I’m trying to cut back too. And you know what Reb Avi? It’s hard. Harder than I thought. Sometimes I feel like it’s a taanis.”

He smiled then, so earnestly that Avi felt a little stab of sorrow. There was no way this man was not the most sincere rosh yeshivah on the planet, he thought.

He was determined to talk it out, explain the reason he’d driven down, and he started one more time.

“That’s incredible, Reb Sholom. I’m sure the fact that the bochurim are hearing shmuessen from someone who’s working on the same things as they are makes a difference. It’s rough with coffee. I also tried a few times. My wife switched to decaf without telling me, and it took me about ten seconds to chap the trick….

“Anyhow,” he leaned forward and started to shuckel, “anyhow. We started this yeshivah together, I told you that you should say shiur and teach Torah and yiras Shamayim and I would take care of everything else. You did yours, and you’re doing yours, all the way, but I’m in some trouble. I was counting on certain deals working out, I expected cash from a refinancing arrangement, whatever — irrelevant right now — but what I was counting on didn’t mamash work out. Money is tight. So we need to find a backup plan for the yeshivah, that’s my concern.”