Rabbi Gabrielle's Defiance (44 page)

Anina could barely wait to be settled before
talking. "Rabbi, I'm sure you're wondering what will happen between
Asa and me. Everything's up in the air. California works for Asa,
but not for me at this time. I'm not normally the jealous type, but
the idea of him in the West with all those sexy girls with 34 inch
boobs and 21 inch waists doesn't give me the warm and woolies – if
you appreciate where I'm coming from. Whatever happens between us,
I imagine you and I won't have the same opportunities to talk. You
understand I'm not a religious person and don't come to the Temple
often. Asa re-introduced me to Judaism and that, I regard, as
something very positive."

"I appreciate that, Anina. I wish only for
what is best for you guys. Still, I'd like you to know I think the
world of him. And that was
before
we all
came to appreciate his musical talent. I'll be available to you,
irrespective of what happens with Asa."

Sensing a false start, Anina cleared her
throat twice. "Thanks, Rabbi. You're the only rabbi I know other
than Asa. But that's not why I want to speak with you, though this
might be considered a violation of a professional code between
physicians and their patients. We're not supposed to talk about our
patients without specific authorization. We can discuss them with
other physicians, but it's not clear if that leniency includes
other professionals or members of the clergy. Nevertheless,
sometimes rules must be broken. I don't like to think of myself as
a ridged person. What I'm about to say, I'm sure you won't
misuse."

Gabby improved her position in the school
chair to give maximum attention.

"Seven weeks ago, Kye Naah called my office.
My receptionist made the appointment and I had no idea why he
sought my services. Turns out, he had learned from Asa that
occasionally I perform circumcisions on adult males and wanted to
know what was entailed in the procedure. I told him how working on
an adult male is different than an infant. I have a demonstration
model in my office and I explained it to him. I inquired why he was
interested. He told me he wasn't circumcised at birth and was
seriously considering having it done. I referred him to a male
surgeon at Georgetown Hospital who also performs the
operation."

Gabby's mind flooded with questions, most of
which she would wanted to ask Kye.

"It's a surprise to me," she said, not
feeling surprise at all. The subject had come up between them in an
uncomfortable way.

"But that's not the end of the story," Anina
read Gabby's reaction on her face, adding, "The following week, he
called again. He said he wanted me to perform the operation on him.
Since we've developed a professional relationship, I had my
reservations. He said he felt confident of my surgical skills and
wasn't the least bit embarrassed. I told him that before I could
consider this, he'd have to undergo an examination. That didn't
bother him either, so he came again to my office. The examination
went well. Excellent blood pressure. Strong heart. Not overweight.
Everything a surgeon looks for in a surgical candidate. I performed
the operation three days later at Suburban Hospital. Everything
went well. He stayed overnight to ensure his urinary flow was okay.
We released him the next day."

When Gabby fell into her own thoughts, Anina
apologized for perhaps overstepping the lines of propriety.

"No, no, thanks for telling me," Gabby
appeared appreciative through her mind was already sailing through
clouds of memories, one that stuck – the image of Kye Naah standing
naked before his mirror and looking at himself. She blamed herself
for revealing why circumcision was so important to her, perhaps
making him feel deficient. Certainly, she never suggested he
undergo an operation. What motivated him remained a mystery, though
it dovetailed with his study in Israel. Anina's disclosure led
Gabby to believe that she had been wrong in her original assessment
– he was not running from her, but moving with deliberate steps
toward her. The chasm separating them was closing. And that, she
confessed without reservation, was exactly what she wanted.

That night, before going to bed, Gabby
dispatched an email to Kye in Jerusalem.

Knowing others might read it at Yeshiva
Shomer-Mitzvot, she exercised restraint. After explaining the
positive outcome of the Morgenstern settlement, she wrote:

Anina and I talked last night and
I now know what happened at Suburban Hospital. While I never asked
you to do this, I am humbled. Why was it necessary?

Gabby

His response arrived in twelve hours.

Because when I looked in the
mirror I needed to be honest with myself. I understood then the
difference between
having you
and
holding on
to you. I knew then that holding on would require
me to be Jewish in body as well as in soul. I'm almost there
now.

Love, Kye

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

FINALLY A TOUCH OF
HEAVEN

Gabby went to the Izaak Walton League Rifle
Range in Seneca, Maryland to share her happiness with Joel Fox. It
was 7:30 a.m. on a May morning. A brisk mountain wind blew through
the flowering dogwoods. Blossoming white and cardinal red azalea
punctuated the green landscape with dashing color. No cars were in
the parking lot and, at this early hour, the range stood deserted.
She sat beside Joel's monument, occasionally stroking its granite
surface and talking about dreams she and Kye had come to share.
"You made this happen for me, Joel," she whispered. "Without you, I
wouldn't be here. Thank you, my dearest friend."

When the time came to leave, she planted both
hands on the monument to his memory and recited "
she-he-che-ya-nu ve-ki-man-nu, ve-hi-gi-a-nu, la-ze-man
ha-zeh
, Blessed is the Lord who has sustained us until this
happy time." At that moment, a most extraordinary event occurred.
Unbeknownst to her, a rifleman must have been sighting his
high-powered deer rifle on the long sighting range. A single shot
shattered the silence and seemed to echo in the confinement of the
trees. She expected to hear a follow-up shot, but there was none.
In years past, the crack of a rifle would have frightened her.
Today, her reactions were different. Nothing could disturb the
internal fullness she felt. This gunshot portent no danger. Just
the opposite. She interpreted it as an omen from the grave, a
signal of Joel's approval of her marriage to Kye Oliver Naah.

On her wedding day, Gabby traded her black
rabbinical gown and multicolored yarmulke used in hundreds of
weddings, for a sleeveless silk-duchess-satin gown with a
scoop-neck bodice, cut very low in the back. Years of careful
attention to her body filled it with nubile beauty. Her dark hair,
longer than she usually wore it, was pulled back behind the ears,
with a flowing white veil held in place by a thin golden tiara. On
the very pulpit from which she has spoken for so many years,
officiated at hundreds of weddings, funerals, bar and bat mitzvoth,
she abandoned all signs of her rabbinic persona to be, what she had
always longed to become, a simple bride.

The wedding of Gabrielle Lewyn and Kye Oliver
Naah occurred on Sunday morning, June first before multitudes of
family and friends, predominately Korean and Jewish, but certainly
not exclusively. Of Gabby's friends, several you would recognize.
Her original rabbinical mentor and close friend, Rabbi Dr. Seth
Greer, flew from Israel to officiate at the ceremony, as he had
pledged when, years before, he had fled Washington in disgrace.
During the intervening years, the indiscretions that resulted in
his resignation as Senior Rabbi of Ohav Shalom had lapsed into
historical memory. Even the old families who were deeply offended
at the time were now willing to forgive. Time has a way of eroding
outrage. An old member of the synagogue who had witnessed the
unfortunate episode with Seth Greer's womanizing and inevitable
resignation wisely quipped to all who would listen, "It's always
better to forgive before you forget."

The erstwhile Rabbi Dr. Greer, now a
celebrity political satirist and radio-television raconteur, no
longer conveyed the persona of rabbi. But for Gabby's wedding, he
dusted off his old clerical robe, tallit and yarmulke. "This," he
said in the brief service, "is the summit of my rabbinical career.
How long I've waited for this moment."

Many who attended the ceremony had never
actually met, though they knew of each other through Gabby's
elaborate descriptions.

Dr. Samual Lewyn from Los Angeles gave his
daughter away, though bad knees obliged him to totter down the
aisle beside her with the aid of a thick cane. Her sister,
brother-in-law, and their three children arrived from Cleveland,
laden with good wishes and much unsolicited advice about marriage.
Zoe Mountolive, the New York attorney who defended Noah Zentner at
his trial, came, escorted by a wealthy investment banker, sixteen
years her senior, and her 17-year-old daughter, Clementine, thin
and stunning, with double earrings in pierced ears and a tattoo on
her bared shoulder. Noah and Morgan Zentner, now the parents of two
sons, were ebullient with wishes for Gabby's happiness. By now
tension between Noah and Gabby had long since lapsed and they could
look fondly at each other not as jilted ex-lovers, but old friends
who had shared a traumatic experience. Though stooped and in
constant pain from acute arthritis, Ephraim Rothman spoke
eloquently about Gabby, as though he represented the custodial
memory at Ohav Shalom. Rabbi Dov Shellenberg, now Lieutenant
Governor of Indiana, arrived from Indianapolis and immediately
began hobnobbing with members of the congregation who remembered
him as Gabby's junior associate. Lydia Browner, Gabby's tennis
coach and sometimes doubles partner, whose physical beauty Gabby
believed could still launch a thousand ships, brought her steady
companion, Daisy Seasongood. Her brother, Chuck, had promise to
attend with his significant other, Lawrence Bourne. At the last
moment, the two had quarreled about something and he came
alone.

On Kye's side of the aisle, half of
Washington's Korean American community was present, including many
from the Korean Baptist Church of Bethesda. Friends and associates
in the high tech industry came, whether or not they had received
invitations. Most gratifying to Kye was a generous gift received
from his ex-creditors, all of whom he repaid with proceeds from the
sale of
Politicstoday
assets. They were so
thrilled at getting their original investment back that they
chipped in to pay for a week's honeymoon at the Four Seasons Hotel
on the Caribbean Island of Nevis. Kye's associates insisted on
putting the ceremony on the Internet to share with their friends
abroad. Their Facebook entry was titled: "The Giant and the
Rabbi.com"

As a tribute to Gabby, Asa Folkman wrote a
peppy ballad, which he played on the piano as Reuben Blass sang.
Family and friends applauded so strongly that he and Reuben agree
to an encore – a short number they had worked up for another
performance.

During toasts, Kye beamed with happiness,
toasting two treasures – his new wife and Judaism. He was witty and
yet humble. Though brides often remain silent, Gabby's friends
demanded that she say a few words. It proved difficult for her to
move around in the long silk gown, so she stood behind the wedding
table to toast her family and friends.

The woman who used words so fluently was
tongue-twisted. Her eyes were weepy and her voice cracked. She
could do no more than raise her champagne glass in a trembling
hand. "To those I love… and who, during the long dark and dreary
hours, have given me life and sustained me. To my husband, Kye,
whom I adore,
L'chayyim
!"

Chuck Browner jumped up from the head table
to add a final observation. "No, No, No," he was gasping on the way
to his feet. But the mood had already shifted. The joy felt by
Gabby's family and friends erupted into spontaneous cheers. The
celebrants were kissing and embracing those beside them as though
they themselves had been readmitted into the most sacred bond of
intimacy. Chuck's plea for an additional moment of their time went
unheeded. Glasses of champagne rose in toast not just to the
beautiful bride and the male who had eventually won her heart, but
to the mystery of relationships that bind lovers.

Cheers of those enthusiastically shouting
Mazel Tov
to the couple drowned out Chuck.
He pivoted around to acknowledge that events had sped past him. And
in a mellow, resigned voice that nobody could possibly hear,
uttered what was his intention to say aloud, "No. Gabby, to the
contrary. It wasn't we who gave you life and sustenance, but you,
who gave it to us."

THE RABBI GABRIELLE SERIES

Book I: Rabbi Gabrielle's
Scandal

Rabbi Gabrielle, a young female rabbi in
Washington DC, is called upon to defend an accused rapist in court,
imperiling her career. She must negotiate a hostile climate both in
her synagogue and in the community, while attempting to live a
normal life as an attractive, unmarried woman. Here is a chance to
have an internal look at the life of a clergywoman in a profession
that has long been a man's proprietary domain.

Book II: A Kiss for Rabbi
Gabrielle

Rabbi Gabrielle succeeds the senior rabbi a
Congregation Ohav Shalom and in this new role must perform a
funeral for her favorite Bar Mitzvah boy, now a young man recently
murdered in a remote Washington DC park. This death brings her to a
ghetto high school where the victim coached its struggling tennis
team. An avid tennis player herself, Gabrielle attempts to keep the
tennis team going and, because the police are unable to apprehend
the murderer, investigates the crime. This brings her into conflict
with Washington's thriving gun trade. Pursuit of the killer thrusts
Gabrielle into the nation's spotlight, exactly where she doesn't
want to be.