“Normal in a relative sense. Because there I was, a frum woman with two little boys wearing kipot and tzitzit, standing next to a priest in full religious regalia. Meanwhile, I had a husband dying at home. Rav Schulman had agreed to care for Yitzchak so I could take Sammy to Disneyland for his birthday. He actually asked Bram to go with me because he didn’t think I should be alone. You can imagine how bad off I was if Rav Schulman sent a goy to be my shomer—my guard.”

Decker said, “Can I ask you how he and Yitzchak became friends?”

Rina stared at her half-eaten dinner. “Bram was writing a book—interpreting the Chumash in a very Catholic way—which is what they do.”

“The gentiles. Or should I say goyim?”

“Goy is not a bad word, Peter. It means nation. It’s used with Jews as well.”

“It’s just the way the Jews say it when they refer to gentiles. He’s such a goy—”

“You’re teasing me. You’re only hurting yourself,” Rina chided. “You shouldn’t be interrupting me if you want to pump me.”

Decker laughed. “Go on. Bram was writing a book on the Bible.”

Rina organized her thoughts. “Bram was young and very brash. Apparently, he waltzed into Rav Schulman’s office one day and started asking him questions about the Talmud. Bram was lucky that he had picked Rav Schulman who treats everyone with kindness.”

Decker nodded. “More than they deserve.”

“Probably much more than Bram deserved. The Rav was patient. Rather than brushing him off—which almost anyone else would have done—the Rav struck a deal with him. There’s an eesur—a prohibition—against teaching Talmud to gentiles. The Rav got out of it by telling Bram that he’d be happy to answer his questions just as soon as Bram had mastered Chumash. Of course, Bram wasn’t anywhere near that level.”

“A good dodge.”

“A very good dodge.” Rina smiled. “But Bram was clever, too. He told Rav Schulman that he couldn’t possibly master Chumash to the Rav’s specifications because he didn’t know how we taught Chumash. So he needed a Chumash teacher. Rav Schulman couldn’t teach him personally, but he knew Bram wouldn’t give up. Bram was very persuasive, back then.”

“I could tell.”

“He was more than persuasive, he had the ability to manipulate words. The Rav recognized this right away. He decided to send Bram to one of his students, someone whose emmunah—whose faith—was ironclad and indisputable. So he sent him to Yitzchak.”

“They hit it off right away?”