Friday the Rabbi Slept Late Read Online Free PDF

the doorway of the office, and somewhat reluctantly Becker went over. Schwarz turned away so he would not appear to eavesdrop.
    “Ben is a good customer of ours, Al,” whispered Bronstein. “I don’t think the company would question it.”
    “Yeah? Well, I’ve had dealings with the Ford Company since before you got out of high school, Mel,” said Becker aloud.
    But Bronstein knew his partner. He grinned at him. “Look, Al, if you turn Ben down you’ll only have Myra to deal with. Isn’t she president of the temple Sisterhood this year?”
    “And last year, too,” Ben could not help adding.
    “It won’t do our business any good to have her sore at us,” Bronstein said, once again lowering his voice.
    “Well, the Sisterhood don’t buy cars.”
    “But the husbands of all the members do.”
    “Goddammit, Mel, how am I going to explain that I want the company to put a new engine in a car because the rabbi of my temple decided they ought to?”
    “You don’t have to mention the rabbi at all. You don’t even have to explain how it happened. You can just say that the seal let go while the car was being driven.”
    “And what if the company sends down an investigator?”
    “Have they ever done it to you, Al?”
    “No, but they have with some other agencies.”
    “All right,” said Bronstein with a grin, “if he comes, you can introduce him to your rabbi.”
    Suddenly Becker’s mood changed. He chuckled deep in his throat and turned to Schwarz. “All right, Ben, I’ll write the company and see if they’ll go along. I’m only doing it, you understand, because you sold Mel here a bill of goods. He’s the original big-hearted kid, the softest touch in town.”
    “Aw, you’re just teed off because the rabbi was involved,” said Bronstein. He turned to Schwarz. “Al would have gone along from the beginning, and glad of a chance to help out a customer, too, if you hadn’t mentioned the rabbi.”
    “What have you got against the rabbi, Al?” asked Ben.
    “What have I got against the rabbi?” Becker removed the cigar from his mouth. “I’ll tell you what I’ve got against the rabbi. He’s not the man for the job; that’s what I’ve got against him. He’s supposed to be our representative, yet would you hire him as a salesman for your company, Ben? Come on now, be truthful.”
    “Sure, I’d hire him,” said Schwarz, but his tone did not carry conviction.
    “Well, if you were fool enough to hire him, I hope you would be smart enough to fire him the first time he got out of line.”
    “When has he got out of line?” demanded Schwarz.
    “Oh, come on, Ben. How about the time we had the Fathers and Sons breakfast and we brought down Barney Gilligan of the Red Sox to talk to the kids. He gets up to introduce him and what does he say? He gives the kids a long spiel about how our heroes are scholars instead of athletes. I could’ve gone through the floor.”
    “Well …”
    “And how about the time your own wife had him come down to pep up the girls of the Sisterhood to put on a big campaign for a Chanukah gift for the temple, and he tells them that keeping Judaism in their hearts and a kosher home was more important for Jewish women than campaigning for gifts for the temple.”
    “Just a minute, Al. Naturally I wouldn’t say anything against my own wife, but right is right. That was a luncheon meeting, and Myra served shrimp cocktail, which ain’t kosher-type food and which you couldn’t blame a rabbi for being sore about.”
    “And with all this in-fighting going on, you keep trying to get me to join the temple,” said Bronstein with a wink at Schwarz.
    “Sure,” said his partner, “because as a Jew and a resident of Barnard’s Crossing you owe it to yourself and to your community to become a member. As for the rabbi, he won’t be there forever, you know.”

Chapter Three
    The Board of Directors were using one of the empty classrooms to hold their regular Sunday meeting. Jacob