“Surely—” Leah began, shocked, but one look from Yaakov silenced her. This was none of their business.

“And who exactly is this psychologist?”

“Rav Yoel Grub.”

“I will look into it,” Yaakov said.

“He’s the only one we’ll accept,” Halpern repeated.

“I said, I’ll look into it.”

According to everyone Yaakov spoke to, Yoel Grub was a tzaddik. “He helped my child. She was broken, and he made her whole again,” said one of the people he turned to. “He has been treating young people for twenty-five years. All the rabbonim send young people to him.” “He is a close friend of the Bobelger Rebbe.” Of his professional qualifications, the same people were a bit less certain. “A degree in psychology. From Brooklyn College,” they offered. “I heard rabbinical counseling training from Yeshiva University,” someone else said.

But it was useless. When Yaakov called to make an appointment for Shaindele, he couldn’t even get through. “Leave a message, and God willing, I will get back to you,” the recording said. “This is normal,” his advisors assured Yaakov. “He is up to the roof in clients. He is the best. It could take months.”

Yaakov didn’t have months. So he called Rav Alter, who agreed to intervene.

“Yoel Grub, you say? And he is a psychiatrist?”

“Psychologist. They say he is very close to the Bobelger Rebbe. Please, Rav Alter, it’s my Shaindele. She needs help, after all she’s been through.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Don’t worry.”

Rav Alter, who had never heard this name, was troubled. He picked up the phone wishing to speak to his old friend, the Bobelger Rebbe himself, but was surprised to find himself stonewalled, only getting as far as the nephew. “Hundreds of our girls have gone to him over the years,” the nephew told him enthusiastically. “He specializes in these kinds of problems, especially the ones who start to have doubts. God be blessed. He helps them and their parents. I can recommend him without a single hesitation. Don’t worry. I’ll ask the rebbe to call him to make room for the girl immediately.”

Through this exalted connection, the phone soon rang, and an appointment was arranged for Shaindele. And because Yoel Grub was a respected member of their own community, whose character and piety had been vouched for by numerous acquaintances as well as many rabbonim, Yaakov was spared the anxiety of this damaging the family’s reputation in any way. Such a man knew how to be discreet.

For the first time in months, Yaakov felt he was truly leading his family down a safe and comfortable road. He was grateful and hopeful. Shaindele, too, felt the world was becoming a safer, saner place. She was actually looking forward to it.

No one had a clue.

20

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING

After much consideration and the weighing of many options, Fruma Esther decided on rugelach.