Categories: Features
Persuaded – Chapter LII (Conclusion)
Epilogue - Five Years Later
Chani and Effi went to Lakewood to tell Rikki what they knew about Yerucham Elman’s bad character, and leave her somewhat mollified. Five years go by… Just when they all thought it would never happen, it happened. The indefatigable Mrs. Lowy went to the wedding of a couple she had set up, and happened to find herself sitting next to the mother of a 42-year-old lawyer whose wife had passed away, nebach. The man’s description sounded perfect for Zahava Elman, and with her trademark efficiency she redt the shidduch on the spot. Yeshuas Hashem k’cheref ayin—salvation comes in the blink of an eye! Ben, the lawyer, was instantly impressed by the tall, willowy blonde with the pitch-perfect fashion sense and a smile that broadened from politeness to warmth the moment she saw he was also tall, nice-looking (even if slightly balding), and had a kindly air. Ben was desperate for a wife and Zahava, now 35, was desperate for a husband, but it was more than need that drew them together. Under Ben’s warm attention, Zahava slowly learned to trust him and her good luck. The entire Elman clan was ecstatic when they declared an engagement. Ben lived in Lawrence and had two children from his first marriage, a girl who was away in seminary and a boy in beis medrash. Hence, as Mrs. Lowy had assured her, Zahava didn’t have to do the work of raising someone else’s children – what a relief! He was wealthy enough to spring for most of the costs of their small but elegant wedding, and sold his house and bought them a new one to give them a fresh start. To Zahava’s vast relief and delight, she found herself expecting a baby of her own in due time, and gave birth to a daughter she named Dena for her mother. It goes without saying that the child was the best-dressed little princess in the Five Towns. Naturally warm and gregarious, Ben managed to thaw Zahava’s icy reserve and broaden her social circle. She became, if not the most effusive and pals-y sister, at least less brittle and bitter, and more pleasant to be with. Once her daughter was born, she finally found common ground with Chani and Mindy over the joys and tribulations of ear infections and first teeth. Zahava and Rikki now didn’t live so far from each other in Lawrence, but they never spoke. Rikki was now finding out for herself that Yerucham wasn’t the prize she’d thought him. He was rarely home in the evenings, supposedly out on business, but Rikki suspected he was spending time with shadier acquaintances, maybe gambling, or indulging in other activities she didn’t even want to think about. But the prospect of divorcing again, after uprooting her children once, was way too humiliating to countenance, let alone having to assume the expenses of her high-end lifestyle on her own. She soldiered on, keeping herself busy with her gym, posting on Insta, accepting the occasional makeup gig, and keeping up a good front. In the meantime, she opened a secret bank account and began squirreling away as much of his money as she could hide (just in case). A shidduch even happened for Leah Stein! After finishing her degree in health care administration, she began working in a nursing home. There she met a divorced nursing home administrator whose wife had decided shortly after marriage that she wasn’t interested in having children or, to be honest, remaining within the fold of religious Jewry. Before long, Leah married him and moved out of Westgate into his attractive house in Jackson, and within a few years had two sweet children with him. She and Chani stayed in touch and tried to visit when their schedules permitted. Velvel lived in Toms River for a year, until the Krausses were ready to move on and his finances stabilized through a combination of rent from his Brooklyn house and an extremely generous loan from his son-in-law Effi. This allowed him to return to his home in Brooklyn, at long last! His success planning the fundraiser for Rebbetzin Dinnerstein put the idea into his mind that perhaps he had a gift for such things, and he soon surprised everyone by taking a job as a fundraiser for a charity, which he pulled off unexpectedly well due to his many connections and gregarious personality. Nothing pleased him more than to take a prospective donor to lunch at an expensive restaurant and walk away with both a free lunch and a substantial check for the organization. But despite the many social contacts engendered by his new job, once Zahava had married and moved out of the house, he began to feel lonely. His daughters visited frequently, but the big house felt terribly empty when he was alone. Hence, just a year after Zahava’s wedding, he surprised them all yet again by announcing his intention to marry! Pearl Farbstein was a wealthy widow and benefactor he’d met through work, a lively, voluble woman with an ash-blond wig and a propensity for large pearls and tailored dresses. After a few years the couple retired, dividing their time between the Avenue K house and Pearl’s penthouse in Miami, where he received visits from his daughters and their families as well as Pearl’s daughter and three sons. Mindy and Chezky had a third boy after Chani and Effi’s wedding, to Chezky’s delight and Mindy’s private dismay. Mindy finally got her girl almost three years after that and swore she was finished, but Chezky laughed it off and told everyone to give her time to recover. Hennie became the rebbetzin of her husband’s shul and continued as a beloved second grade morah. While Mindy continued to privately bewail her simple tastes in clothing and tiny house, Hennie and Chaim were as poor and happy as synagogue mice. As for Lieba and Ezra Beyda, Lieba threw herself into her husband’s community, learning to say “Shabbat” instead of “Shabbos,” and producing respectable versions of samboosak and kibbeh. She regained her health and good spirits, fortunately without her former recklessness, yet enough to lighten her husband’s serious, cerebral approach to life. As for our hero and heroine, Chani finished her Psy.D. in between children #1 and #2, a boy and a girl, and in time found herself with a third one on the way. Little Eli looked like her but was like his father in so many ways, dismantling toys to see how they worked and talking like a grownup at age three; two-year-old Dini looked like a Weinberg but had her mother’s sweet nature and a fanciful imagination. The Krausses returned to their home in Palo Alto, and Chani and Effi stayed in Brooklyn, where she continued working at the agency three days a week and was promoted to a supervisory position. Effi and Avraham’s company became a household name, and they went public and made a killing on the stock market. Both of them could have immediately retired with enough money to support three generations, but neither was the type to sit still. They created two more popular apps and devoted a lot of time to shrewd philanthropic investments proven to produce self-sustaining, long-term benefits. When Velvel was ready to move back to Brooklyn, Effi and Chani bought a house that was considerably smaller than the Avenue K house, and not so far away. They also acquired some real estate investments in the Lakewood area they could eventually use as summer homes. Effi hadn’t grown up with wealth and didn’t want his children to become spoiled or entitled, and Chani had grown up with wealth but never felt comfortable having more than other people. Now, even if she had much more than she’d grown up with, like Effi, she didn’t want her children to be aware of it. She continued working as if they needed the money, and because the community needed her services. She spent the rest of her time devoted to her family, who needed her services even more, and whom she loved beyond anything she could ever put into words.The End
(But stay tuned for an afterword, in next week’s Jewish Press)
