Thursday The Rabbi Walked Out

8

LAURA MALTZMAN WAS NOT A PRETTY WOMAN; IN FACT, she was plain, she was tall and angular with square shoulders, she had a long face with a square chin, which seemed a little off center, as though she had just been struck a blow, or was on the point of turning her head. But her eyes were large and kindly and understanding, as her husband, rubbing his hands in satisfaction, came into the living room from the hallway, where he had been on the phone, she looked up inquiringly.

"Just got word,” he said, "that the loan is going through, pretty sure anyway."

"Oh? Who called?"

"Molly Mandell, she spoke to Gore about it, and she thinks he'll go along, she thought I'd like to know." He strode up and down the room and then stopped in front of her. "Look, this dinner you're having, how about calling the Mandells and inviting them?"

"But they're so much younger than the others,” she objected.

"So what? I want her—them—to know that I'm appreciative—"

"You appointed Herb Mandell to the board last week."

"Yeah, but he's active in the Brotherhood, so she might think it was for that. I want her to know I'm appreciative. See? She's got a lot of influence in the bank, and she's been friendly to me, like this phone call tonight, that can be pretty important, having someone you can count on right there in the bank. So I want her to know—"

Laura dropped her eyes to the knitting in her lap. "You think she's pretty?" she asked.

Instantly he was wary. "Well now, she's no cover girl, but yeah, I think she's kind of cute, she's eager and alive and fresh—"

"I guess she's fresh all right. Lillian Allen was telling me that she was with the group that went to see the rabbi, and she was pretty fresh to him."

"Oh, Lillian Allen! What did she say?"

"She said that Molly said the whole Jewish religion was sexist and she practically called the rabbi a male chauvinist pig."

"Did she?" He chuckled. "Well now, that's not what I would’vecalled him. I figure him for more the namby-pamby type. I mean, a real he-man wouldn't become a rabbi and spend his life praying. I know these guys. You'd think butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, but in their own quiet way, they screw up the works. So don't expect me to get uptight because Molly Mandell told him off. I intend to do a little of it myself if he gets in the way, the temple belongs to the members, and I and the board of directors are the people they elected to run it for them, the rabbi is just somebody we hire to do a job, and the sooner he realizes it, the better. Now, will you call up Molly Mandell and invite her?"

"If you insist."

His face got red and his eyes protruded. "Yes. Goddammit. I insist."