The Goy Next Door (Girl Meets Goy #2)

Chapter 28 All kosher tonight

Leah left work that day lighter than she had ever been. She almost skipped from the office she was so happy to be back writing about loans and refinancing that she couldn’t believe she had ever thought she was cut out for Teen Club. This was where she thrived.

This was a new beginning. Well, a new beginning that consisted of going back and righting her path where she had veered the wrong direction. From now on, she was going to be more in control of her destiny.

She was excited to tell Maya about her new control over her destiny that evening at dinner. Even though Maya was now dating Kevin, a nice Jewish boy, her mother still insisted she attend at least one Jewish event per month in the city. And in fact, Leah was happy for Maya’s mother’s rule because these events were fun. Tonight they were going to a Shabbat dinner hosted by the Manhattan Jewish Experience. Leah was looking forward to some of her favorite Jewish foods like kugel, brisket, and challah because they always reminded her of home, the home she hoped to one day create for her own family.

She took the subway a few stops uptown and met Maya by the station.

“Where’s Kevin?” Leah asked.

“He thought it would be better if he didn’t come,” Maya responded. Leah understood he hadn’t come because of her. These were the type of things that made her regret her break up with Asher. Had she ruined their foursome? There would never be anymore double dates with her and Maya unless Maya and Kevin also broke up. But Leah reminded herself that that wasn’t enough reason to stay with someone.

“By the way, how was your date the other night?” Maya asked as they walked to the dinner venue.

“He ordered for me!” Leah responded with a giggle remembering her awful date the night before.

“Was it good?” Maya asked.

“That’s not the point! What if I was allergic to what he ordered? He ordered fish. Or what if I didn’t like fish? Or if I was vegan? And he ordered me a drink. What if I was a recovering alcoholic?”

Maya laughed. “You aren’t recovering, for sure.”

The girls giggled as they walked inside and found seats on one side of a stream of long white tables fitted together that snaked around the room. The table had a beautiful white tablecloth on it that reminded Leah of the one her Bubbe used when she used to host Shabbat dinners. There were challahs covered in embroidered challah covers and silver candle sticks spaced on every table. The candle sticks matched a silver Kiddush cup that waited next to bottles of sweet Manischewitz wine.

The girls had plenty to talk about while the tables filled up. Leah told Maya about the death pool at work and how it was exactly the push she needed to ask Tony to take her back at Club Business. It turned out that Maya also had no idea who Swagmatic was.

Once the tables filled up a woman stood up and got everyone’s attention. She asked that a woman from each table stand up and light the candles. Leah looked around her table. Across from her was a couple who looked a little older than she was. There were a few girls on their cellphones on the other side of Maya and another couple that seemed even less interested than the girls on their phones. Leah shrugged and with Maya’s encouragement, she stood up. She took a match and stroke it against the box to light it and gently lit the two Shabbat candles in front of her. Then, she covered her eyes and recited the prayer along with the woman leading the candle lighting.

Baruch atah adoneih eloheinu melach haolam asher kid’shanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu lehadlik ner shel shabbat.

Amen! Everyone responded once Leah and the other candle lighters finished and sat down. Leah noticed the couple sitting across from her listening intently and smiling at her. She gave a friendly smile back. Next, it was asked that a man from each table fill the Kiddush cup.

Feeling like she had connected with the couple across from her, Leah gave a welcoming smile to the man as though inviting him to take over. He shook his head and snapped to the man from the other couple at their table.

“This is all you, Man,” he said when he got the guys attention. That guy looked a little annoyed, but he stood up and accepted the Kiddush cup and filled it with the wine. There were small plastic cups for everyone else at the table and the man who had passed on reciting the blessing filled those cups and passed them around.

Their man with the Kiddush cup mumbled along with the leader who recited the blessing.

Amen! Everyone chanted after the blessing and the man took a sip from the cup and put it back down on the table. Leah drank the sweet wine that reminded her of Saturday morning services at her temple.

Next came the blessing over the challah. This time the woman from the couple across from Leah stood up and uncovered the braided bread. The entire room sang the mamotzi together and yelled Amen before ripping apart the deliciously sweet raisin bread.

Challah was one of the most delicious parts of Shabbat dinner, Leah thought. She remembered how as a kid she would only eat the inside of the bread and she would often roll the fluffy bread into a ball before shoving it in her mouth.

“Have you been to one of these Shabbat dinners before?” the man from the couple across from Leah asked her and Maya while they ate their challah. Leah could smell the rich aromas of food starting to come out from the kitchen.

Leah shook her head. “You?”

“We come maybe once a month or so,” the man said, looking at his partner to confirm. She smiled and nodded.

“So why didn’t you want to do the Kiddush?” Maya asked and Leah blushed from her friend’s bold question.

“Oh, I’m not Jewish,” the man said. “It wouldn’t be respectful.”

“So why are you here?” Maya continued her line of questioning that was making Leah uncomfortable and curious.

“Well, my wife here, Emily, is Jewish. So we come because it’s important to her,” he said. “And I think it is a very beautiful tradition. I enjoy it.”

“You enjoy it?” Leah couldn’t help herself. When the man nodded, she turned to his wife, Emily. “I’m sorry if this is personal, but can I ask? Was it like, a big deal for you to marry someone not Jewish?”

Emily chuckled. “A huge deal! My parents were upset at first. They wanted Luke to convert. He even thought about it, but it didn’t seem right to convert solely for marriage.”

“So what happened?” Leah asked. She could feel herself sitting on the edge of her seat.

“Well, we decided to get married anyway,” Luke responded. “I respect Emily’s Judaism, we come to Shabbat meals and we celebrate the Jewish holidays. We don’t eat milk and meat together in our home. And Emily respects my family’s traditions. We celebrate Christmas and Easter with my family.”

“But I don’t eat the pork they serve!” Emily said with a giggle as though it was some inside joke between them.

“You’d like it if you did! But I’ll never pressure you to try,” Luke smiled at her with his hand lovingly stroking her head. “Even though you make a face every time I order shrimp at a restaurant.”

“Well, I just can’t kiss you after you eat that stuff until you’ve brushed your teeth! And I can’t believe you’d rather eat shrimp than kiss me!” Emily giggled.

“If you’d try it, you’d understand. It’s worth a couple hours of sacrifice,” Luke winked. “But tonight all is kosher!” He nuzzled into his wife who giggled and pretended to push him away.

Leah looked at them with an admiring smile on her face. “How long have you been married?” she asked. She wanted to know everything about how this couple navigated their interfaith relationship.

Just as she asked someone came around and placed a giant platter of kugel on the table. Steam wafted from the platter and Leah eyed the crispy noodles on top that were just seconds away from being burnt. The best part of the kugel.

“Three years,” Emily responded as Luke offered kugel and placed a piece on everyone’s plates.

“And like, your religion has never been a real issue? I’m sorry if I’m prying—” Leah asked as she tasted the crispy part of the kugel. Perfect.

“No! No! It’s fine, everyone has lots of questions,” Luke responded. “Emily’s family was really upset about it at first, but it’s been three years, they’ve softened to me, especially since they’ve gotten to know me as a person rather than just Emily’s non-Jewish boyfriend.”

“Goyfriend,” Maya said with a laugh.

“That’s a good one!” Emily giggled. “I haven’t heard that before. Eventually my parents agreed that it was better for me to be with a good person who makes me happy, even if he wasn’t Jewish. They really pushed conversion for a while, but like, what does conversion mean if he’s just doing it for their approval? It doesn’t change anything except to appease them.”

Leah nodded. “What about kids? Sorry, that’s too personal!”

“It’s OK,” Emily said. “We’ll raise them with both our families’ traditions. It’s not like they are mutually exclusive.” She placed her hands below the table and looked down. “But I guess we’ll find out how that works soon.”

Luke kissed his wife’s shoulder and looked down toward her belly that Leah couldn’t see.

“Are you…?” she asked and both of them nodded. “Congratulations!”

Plates of brisket and roasted chicken were set on their table, as were a few different plates of salads and roasted vegetables. Everyone started serving themselves.

“I’m sorry to be so curious,” Leah said. “It’s just that…” She couldn’t help thinking about Gabe and how she wished it were she and him sitting together at this Shabbat table. Would Gabe be as open minded as Luke? Would Gabe come to Shabbat dinners and give up unkosher food in their home? Would her family grow to like him if they actually got to know him?

There was still the question of kids in her mind, and she thought back to the time that Gabe confessed he didn’t want children. Was that something that could change?

“Leah is in love with her own goy,” Maya told the couple while Leah’s thoughts spiraled. The couple looked at her and nodded.

“Look, it works for us,” Emily said. “It doesn’t work for everyone, but if you make an effort to be inclusive and not judgmental then it can work. Of course, there are compromises and fights, like Luke’s mom wants to have our child baptized, which will absolutely not happen!”

“But you want to do a bris,” Luke commented.

“That’s hygienic!” Emily retorted. “And if we’re doing it, we might as well invite a few family members, but anyway, the point is, that we work together as a couple to communicate what’s important to us and how we can respect each other’s beliefs. Like the baptism thing, that’s Luke’s mom. If Luke cared about it, then we might discuss it.”

“Might,” Luke emphasized with a smirk. “Sure, there are a lot of compromises. But we love each other, so we work through them.”

“I don’t want to tell you it’s easy,” Emily said. “It’s definitely not when it comes to our families. I’ll never forget Luke’s mom asking him if he was OK with his children going to hell.” Emily rolled her eyes with a deep breath. “But this is the path we chose and I think it was right for us. Tell us about your goyfriend?” Emily giggled with the use of the new word she’d just learned.

Leah blushed. “He’s, well…” She didn’t even know where to start. He was smart and funny and he just got her. She felt alive with him. There was passion and honesty between them. The more she talked about him, the more she felt her cheeks hurt from smiling and the more she imagined his touch.

She missed him and the minute dinner was over she decided she was going to see him and tell him that they could make it work. They could be like Emily and Luke.

“Mazel tov on the baby,” she said to them before excusing herself from the table.