Based on a very true story
Part I
Penina Markowitz opened her eyes and blinked. The room seemed
very dark; it couldn't be morning yet. What time was it,
anyway? Penina glanced at her watch but couldn't see a thing
in the darkness. What had wakened her in the first place?
Just then, she realized that the phone was ringing.
"That's strange," she thought to herself. "Since when do I
receive phone calls at night?" Penina longingly threw a
glance at the bed next to her own, wishing her husband had
been there to receive the call. She didn't want to leave her
cozy bed to answer a pestering phone call. But just when she
needed him, her husband had to be away on a business trip to
China. The phone continued ringing. Penina forcefully tore
herself out of bed. "The noise will wake up the baby," she
warned herself, "and then you can forget about sleep for the
night." But by the time she reached the phone, it had stopped
ringing. Penina sighed and got back into bed. She promptly
fell asleep.
It must have been no more than five minutes later that the
phone started ringing again. This time, she jumped out of bed
by the third ring, but it wasn't quick enough for the baby.
She answered the phone just as Chavi began to scream.
"Hello," Penina said.
"Hello to you, too," the voice answered. "This is Karen
calling from Providence Hospital in Providence, Rhode
Island."
"Yes?" Penina asked nervously, fully awake by now.
"I was asked to inform you that Mrs. Rachel Rosen, presumably
your Mom, is hospitalized here, after falling and breaking a
hip. Being that she is elderly, this fracture is a serious
injury with possible complications. It is advisable that you
fly out here as soon as possible to visit her."
The baby was still screaming in the background but Penina
paid her no attention. In a quivering voice, she asked Karen
for details which were readily supplied. Penina thanked the
secretary and hung up.
Absentmindedly, she scooped her two month old into her arms.
The baby calmed down, but Penina didn't even notice. Her
thoughts were racing. Her mother falling down while trying to
dust a high corner in the basement? But that was so unlike
her. "Mom is such a confident, stable woman," Penina thought.
"She must be getting old. Old or not old, I've got to go
visit her."
Visit her? Impossible! Her oldest child was a lively six-
year-old boy and three-year-old Michali came next. After them
came the newborn infant. She'd definitely bring her along.
But what about the others? Should she get a baby sitter? She
didn't like the idea. It was too bad her husband wasn't home
to take care of the kids. That annoying business of his!
Sure, his diamond business brought in an ample amount of
money, but wasn't her husband worth more than money? she
thought, somewhat illogically.
Since money was not a deterrent in her case, she decided
she'd go and make it as quick as possible and see that things
were in order with her mother. In the end, Penina had no
choice but to settle for a baby sitter. She quickly got her
plane ticket in order, bought a couple of good books at the
local chareidi bookstore, and somehow found herself leaning
back in her seat on an El Al airplane, little Chavi asleep in
the travel seat beside her, just two days after the fateful
night call.
*
Twenty-three-year-old Mary Chris sighed and looked up from
her fascinating book. The clock had just struck nine, and it
was time for her to get to work. She laid her book aside and
put on a light jacket. Making sure she had her keys and
wallet, she walked out the door. On second thought, she ran
back in and stuffed the book into her handbag. Perhaps she'd
have time to read a few more pages during her break. Then she
zipped out the door and slid into her car. She turned on the
engine and sped off.
Ever since she had learned how to read, Mary had been a
bookworm. She was born into a religious Catholic family, but
had never quite fit in. She had hated church, and had always
been thinking up excuses to avoid going. To her, Christianity
was full of darkness, dullness and was generally lacking any
sunshine. She'd buried herself in a fairy tale world, trying
to involve herself in a life other than the one familiar to
her. Just recently, she'd begun reading books other than
fiction, books on other religions, for although she had cut
herself off from religion altogether, a voice from deep
inside kept telling her that religion was the key to real joy
and meaning in life, not to dreariness. All she needed to do
was to find the right one. So far, Buddhism was the religion
that captured her attention. She'd read about it till the wee
hours of night.
*
Penina hailed a taxi and stepped inside, little Chavi perched
in her arms. "To Providence Hospital, please," she told the
driver. She stared out of the window, trying not to fall
asleep. It had been a long trip, and she had barely slept a
wink during the whole flight. "That's what you get for
forcing infants to travel," she chided herself, but
truthfully, she hadn't had a choice. To top it all off, she
didn't have any place to find kosher food or other Jewish
necessities in this Catholic city, so she'd decided to make
the trip brief and make sure that her mother was being taken
care of. She glanced at her watch. In precisely six hours,
her plane back to Israel would be taking off. Her heart beat
faster. But her worries didn't end there.
Providence Hospital -- what a place for her mother to be in!
It was the closest to her house, but what did that matter
when the hospital was one hundred percent Catholic? Her
mother wasn't an observant Jew so she might not mind it too
much, even though the idea irked Penina, for both their
sakes. What would it be like for her, Penina, a full fledged,
very sensitive, baalas tshuva of many years standing,
to walk through a gray corridor lined with crosses, filled
with nuns? She would find out soon enough.
The taxi came to an abrupt stop. "That'll be eleven dollars
and fifty cents, lady." Penina thanked him and hopped out of
the cab. She gave the baby a big wet kiss on her cheek.
"Mommy loves you, sweetheart." She held the baby tightly to
her chest, took a deep breath and walked through the wide
glass doors that proudly proclaimed the entrance to the
hospital.
It was all that Penina had imagined, only worse. The sight
that met her eyes upon entering the lobby sent a chill down
her spine. The area was adorned with crosses of different
sizes and colors. In the center of the lobby stood a gigantic
silver cross. In front of it, somebody was photographing a
monk standing next to a man in a wheelchair. Penina went over
to the information desk to ask directions to her mother's
room. The rest of the people in line were nuns. When she at
last had her directions, Penina walked straight to the
elevator, trying to be oblivious to the statues around her.
"I came to visit my mother in the hospital," she told
herself, annoyed, "not to explore a church or a museum of
Christianity." She sighed in relief upon reaching her
mother's room and she happily basked in her mother's warmth
and comfort for a few short hours.
*
Mary walked up to the woman before her and asked if there was
anything she could do to help her. She was actually on her
way to a nearby bakery for a few cinnamon buns. Her break
wasn't that long, but it would have been impossible for her,
Mary, with her heart of gold, to walk by paying no attention
to the lady standing in the middle of the sidewalk, a
suitcase by her side, a baby in her arms, and a look of pure
distress on her face.
"Uh... help?" Penina repeated, staring blankly into the eyes
of the woman before her. "Well, no I don't think so. You see,
I need to catch a plane that's due to take off in an hour,
and there isn't a taxi in sight. Thank you for your concern,
but I don't see any way for you to help me..."
"Well, I do." Mary answered quickly. "Just hop into my car
over here." And before Penina knew what was happening, she
found herself, her baby and her luggage at the airport with
just enough time to check in.
"How much do I owe you?" Penina asked the kind woman who had
gotten her there. "Not a dime." the woman answered as she
took Penina's suitcase out of the trunk. Penina realized that
trying to convince her would be of no use. She racked her
brain for a way to repay this wonderful woman and something
clicked. The books.
Penina had stocked up on some good books with which to occupy
herself during the endless hours of gliding above the clouds.
On the way to Rhode Island, she hadn't managed to read much,
meaning she'd have a lot of reading material for her return
flight. But now she had a brainstorm. Why not give the kind
lady who had driven her to the airport a book as a token of
appreciation?
A good book, especially one full of fascinating stories of
Divine Providence, was not something that Mary could refuse.
She graciously accepted the gift and set off back to work;
her lunch break was over. Had she wasted it? Mary didn't
think so. An act of kindness and a great religious book, all
in one hour, was not what Mary considered a waste of time.
No, it definitely was not.
As for Penina, she happily boarded the airplane just in time.
A minute later, the huge aircraft began its takeoff and
Penina held her breath as she watched the whole world shrink
before her eyes. She wondered at her strange impulse. Why had
Hashem made a non-Jewish woman receive a book on Hashgocha
Protis. Perhaps she would never know the real reason, but
she had no doubt that this whole issue was Divine Providence
itself. And do you know what? She was right.
*
Mary stretched out on the big comfortable couch in the beauty
salon, waiting her turn patiently. It was going to be a long
wait but she didn't mind at all. This was the most elite, top
notch beauty salon in the city. For the styled haircut she
would be getting, it was well worth the wait. And besides,
she had her new book as a companion.
An hour later she looked up from her book. Each story was
more amazing than the other. Mary found them hard to believe.
But who was this G-d the book kept mentioning? What kind of a
G-d was it? The G-d of the Jews. The One who wisely plans
every person's every move, making sure it turns out for the
good. Much to her own surprise, she found herself wishing
that she had a G-d like that. It was then that a seed of love
for the Jewish G-d was planted in her heart.
Suddenly, she roused herself from her reverie, wondering if
her turn had come. Looking around, she saw another twenty-
five people waiting their turn, as she was. Whether they were
before or after her, she hadn't the foggiest idea. But where
were the hairdressers? What was taking so long?
At the far end of the room sat a grand tray of salads and
bottles of the finest dressings -- salad, not hair. The size
of the salads looked a bit too big for women as slim as they,
and they didn't even seem to be eating. They were chattering
and laughing among themselves, oblivious to the room of
customers waiting to be served. Mary looked at her watch in
disgust. Enough was enough. She went up to one of the
hairdressers and asked how much longer it would take her to
finish her royal lunch. The hairdresser either pretended not
to hear or was half deaf. Mary cleared her throat and
repeated her question in a louder tone of voice. "Oh,
patience, dear," one of them deigned to reply. "We haven't
even begun yet." She turned back to her friend. "Here, have a
cigarette, the choice brand. So did you hear the latest?" she
babbled on while Mary turned around and walked out the door
in utter disgust.
End of Part I
