“Not so new anymore, Rav.” She smiled, already feeling a little better, as if she were still anchored to those safe shores to which Rav Weintraub had rowed her.

“And how is it to be a mother?”

She breathed deeply. “Rav Weintraub, I never thought I could love so much, so deeply. I never thought I could be this happy.”

“Not every mother is so enthusiastic all the time,” he joked. “I’m sure it isn’t easy.”

“That’s true, but it’s worth everything to take care of your children no matter what. Isn’t that true, Rav?”

His voice was bright, rejoicing. “Baruch HaShem! No sacrifice is too great for our children. Whatever we do for them comes back to us in blessings a thousandfold. May HaShem soon bless you with your own child.”

“Thank you so much, Rav Weintraub. You have no idea how much your phone call means to me right now!”

There was a beat. “Something is going on I don’t know about?”

“I can’t talk about it right now. But if you hear any loshon hara about me, know it isn’t true.”

“We don’t listen to loshon hara. So not to worry, Leah-le,” he joked. Then his tone turned serious. “If you need my help, you know you can always come by.”

“Thank you so much, Rav.”

“My secretary is sending you the girl’s number. Thank you, Leah-le.”

She put down the phone, the letter still clutched in her shaking fist.

She called Fruma Esther and asked her to come by in the evening, if it wasn’t too much trouble.

“Something happened?”

“Yes, I’m afraid. We need your advice.”

Later that afternoon, when she picked up the little ones from school and took them back to the car, she found the windshield had been smeared with broken eggs. Harlot appeared on the glass in red Magic Marker.

Chasya looked at it, startled. “Why did somebody paint on our nice car, Mommy?”

“Maybe they didn’t have paper,” she answered, tight-lipped and furious. She strapped the children inside, took out some rags from the trunk, and sprayed the windshield with glass cleaner, rubbing away the writing as quickly as she could, aware of strangers slowing down as they passed to take in the scene, their faces surprised and a bit excited. How many had managed to decipher the writing before she got it all? She worried, scrubbing away only until the word disappeared and she had just enough clarity to safely drive home. She didn’t want to linger an extra second with the children in the car in case the vandals were still nearby.

When Shaindele came home from school, she went straight to her room, closing the door. Leah followed her, concerned. “Are you okay?” she asked, poking her head through the barest opening, not wanting to infringe on her privacy.