June 21, 2026 Categories: Features
Persuaded – Chapter XXXV
Chani
Recap: Looking out her window, Mindy spies Ezra Beyda picking up Lieba for a date. Chani played with a few stray hairs that had escaped from her ponytail as she tried to concentrate on a textbook about psychopathology. Usually she found these readings compelling, but tonight she was restless. Maybe she should take a shower to be ready early for work tomorrow? She was planning to wake up at dawn and drive to the agency. She had sessions with two clients, followed by supervision, and a lot of progress notes to catch up on. She picked up her phone to see if anyone had messaged her. Her friend Rachel in Houston had sent a few pictures of her admittedly adorable child, so she messaged back an appropriate expression of admiration and some heart emojis. Her high school class chat announced that one of their former teachers, Mrs. Taub, has passed away after an illness. Chani had to stop a minute to remember who she was, but she must not have been the only one, because someone else asked for a picture, and before long another ping produced a photo of a compact lady in a short sheitel. Now it clicked: Mrs. Taub had been the gym teacher. No wonder she had no recollection of her. Back in high school, Chani viewed gym rather like visits to the dentist: necessary, perhaps, but nothing to look forward to and frequently uncomfortable. Now her phone was actually ringing, which was an even better excuse to ignore her reading. It was Mindy. She must be bored and in need of a chat, Chani thought. Except it turned out that Mindy was far from bored. “Chani, guess what I just saw?” she chortled. “Um, Mindy, what did you just see?” “Ezra Beyda just drove up to my in-laws house and picked up LIEBA for a date!” Chani almost dropped her phone. “Ezra and…Lieba?” she said, stunned. “Yes! I was looking out the window and I saw him drive up, go into their house, and walk her to the car all dolled up!” “Oh boy!” Chani said. “I guess they met each other at the hospital.” “Yes, and probably at the Harari house too. Guess he liked her!” Mindy stopped short for a moment. Was it possible that Chani was disappointed? She and Ezra had seemed to get along really well, to the point where Chezky suggested it might make a good shidduch (which she’d pooh-poohed immediately). She should probably ask, just to be sure. “Were you interested in him at all for yourself?” Mindy ventured. “Because he sure seemed to like you! He kept telling me how smart and deep you are. Chezky was sure he was going to try for a shidduch with you.” Chani was quick to assure her she hadn’t been, despite a certain meeting of minds. Beyda was on the short side and slight, and there had been a complete absence of chemistry there. “He’s a sweet, sensitive guy who thinks about things a lot,” she told Mindy. “But he just isn’t my type.” What she didn’t share with Mindy was that he could never hold a candle to Effi in her mind, and that the mutual experience of having lost a loved one was simply not enough basis for a shidduch. “Just as well,” Mindy sniffed. “He’s not much to look at, and he’s Sephardi.” “I dated one or two Sephardi guys,” Chani said. “That wouldn’t bother me if the guy was right for me otherwise. So what—so you start eating rice on Pesach? Ezra Beyda is a very nice person. I imagine he’ll make a good husband.” “Chezky likes him,” Mindy had to admit. “He said he can actually play a decent game of basketball despite being so into his books, and he can be interesting on account of all that reading he does. I mean, Chezky’s not much of a reader, but he likes to hear about the interesting ideas other people read about.” “You think he’s really over his kallah, the girl who passed away?” Chani said. “My impression was that he was camping out by the Hararis because he was so grief-stricken and wanted to be with her family.” “No idea,” Mindy replied. “If he’s dating a new girl, then I guess he’s ready to move on.” She chuckled. “Maybe all those books on grief you gave him helped him get over it. Anyway, don’t people say the best cure for an old love is a new love?” “Maybe,” was all Chani could find to say. What would she know? She’d never found a new love to cure her first one. “And what about Hennie? Wasn’t she supposed to start dating Chaim Haber?” “Ohhh yeah! That shidduch is red-hot-ready-to-roll! They went out five times already and Hennie is already mooning over him.” “Imagine they both get engaged at the same time!” “Oy vey—I hope no! But we don’t even know if Lieba will go for Beyda, or vice versa, even if Hennie and Chaim are a slam-dunk. But if it by any chance works out, my poor father-in-law would be paying for two weddings almost at once! Chaim’s family can’t contribute very much, and from what I hear, Beyda’s parents are nice people, and comfortable, but not from the super-rich part of the Syrian community.” “Just as well,” Chani said. “Lieba’s not especially high-maintenance, and she’s a hard worker. I hope it works out!” “Maybe,” Mindy said doubtfully. It was nevertheless still a bit of a stretch for Chani to imagine Lieba and Beyda falling for each other. She finally chalked it up to a combination of circumstance and nature. Beyda had lost the woman he loved, and he was the type who just needed someone to love. He was a sensitive, giving sort who probably loved helping minister to Lieba while she was sick and felt flattered by her appreciation. Lieba, in her weakened, shell-shocked state, would have been touched by his attentions and open to a guy who was gentle and understanding. Had she been her usual effervescent, lively self, she might have been too much for him. He would’ve shied away from her giggles and antics. But the accident had wiped the old silly smiles off her face. The shock of one moment being in perfectly good health and the next practically at death’s door had accelerated her maturity in a matter of weeks. The experience would have given anyone great food for thought, and while Lieba had never been a particularly reflective person, she wasn’t stupid. Under the right circumstances, she was fully capable of discussions of a more philosophical nature. By all accounts, Lieba post-accident was no longer the same Lieba pre-accident. She was more frail, although that would likely continue to improve, and more subdued. Beyda could easily step into the role of knight in shining armor, come to lift her away from the prison tower of her illness. If Lieba came back up to speed, she would surely liven him up and take him away from his books from time to time. He would take care of her, and Lieba could develop an interest in Jewish content that came in books rather than two-minute WhatsApp clips. Yes, there was potential for happiness there. Chani hung up the phone in a state of dazzled relief that Mindy had interpreted as surprise and joy for Lieba. Well, sure, she was happy Lieba was dating Ezra Beyda. But the main thing was that Effi wasn’t dating Lieba anymore! Lieba was taken!—or would be, maybe, if this shidduch worked out. What a relief! Where had Effi been anyway? Nobody had seen him for weeks. Was he away on business? Had he made himself absent to avoid facing Lieba and the Moskowitz family? She could only wonder where he was—and how he felt about her.To be continued.
