And who could blame them? On one side, she was supported by a woman in a shocking red dress wearing red patent leather heels so high and so thin each step was not to be taken for granted; while on the other, by the highly respected widow of a great Torah scholar, mother of her groom’s first wife, the epitome of religious dignity and modesty. It was this very lack of symmetry that provided the counterbalance which made it impossible for onlookers to make up their minds if they were witnessing a travesty or a blessing. Yes, the girl’s mother was a definite prutza. But what could one say to the vision of Rebbitzen Fruma Esther Sonnenbaum tenderly holding the bride’s arm, not only giving the match her blessing but physically leading the bride to the saintly man who had fathered her grandchildren?

Shaindele watched it all from the sidelines with her little sister and brother. The children were jumping up and down with excitement and joy. Shaindele hoped some drops from their overflowing cups of happiness might anoint her, too. Just at that moment, as if her thoughts had been read, the bride turned and smiled at her directly, beckoning her to climb up and join them under the chuppah along with her older brothers, who were holding the canopy poles aloft. Grabbing Chasya’s and Mordechai Shalom’s little hands, she nodded, leading them briskly down the aisle and up the steps toward the couple about to be wed.

The little ones, put off by the strangeness of the veil and the white dress, approached the bride shyly. But Leah bent down to them, whispering endearments, and they stretched out their little arms around her, clinging hopefully, until Shaindele quickly led them away toward the back. Perhaps some of their joy had rubbed off on her, Shaindele thought, finding herself smiling through her tears in the shadows as she contemplated the newly expanded circle of her family. That was until she caught sight of Leah’s mother: the spiky, dyed blond hair, loosely covered by the gold-spangled headscarf more appropriate to a Middle Eastern belly dancer or a gypsy, dangling there for all to see like the red handkerchief taunting the snorting bulls of disgrace and ostracism, goading both to aim for her, Shaindele, right between the eyes.

2

THE WEDDING DANCE

As prescribed by Jewish law and tradition, soon after their wedding vows, Yaakov and Leah were ushered into the seclusion, or yichud, room, where for the very first time in their entire relationship they found themselves completely alone behind locked doors, a state forbidden to them as an unmarried couple.