days ended with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The entire time was one of reflection, a time to set goals for the new year and to seek the forgiveness of G-d and others.
He had planned to spend the last few days in quiet contemplation of his own life and preparation for the liturgy he’d be giving. Much of Rosh Hashanah was actually spent in the synagogue.
This year, as always, he had a lot of repenting to do. What he had yet to figure out was what he planned on doing differently in the coming year. He could always pledge not to kill anyone, but with Cindy’s penchant for finding trouble that might be an unrealistic pledge. He didn’t want to make a vow to G-d knowing there was a real likelihood that he’d have to break it.
Maybe one of the things he needed to rethink was his relationship with Cindy. He had managed to live a low key life for the last few years until she entered into it. She had definitely shaken things up and changed the balance and order of his life. Because of her he’d done things that he’d never thought he’d have to do again. Then he had nearly kissed her.
Yes, his relationship with her, whatever it actually was, should definitely be the top thing on his list to discuss with G-d. He had brought Cindy into Jeremiah’s life and the rabbi did not believe in coincidences. That meant that in all the craziness, all the sheer insanity of the past year-and-a-half there had been a plan, a higher purpose. He just wished he understood what that was.
He thought again of the moment when he’d almost kissed Cindy. It had been so spontaneous, so honest, and it had seemed the most natural thing until he realized what it was he was about to do. It would have changed everything between them and that was something he couldn’t allow to happen.
He had always known that caring for a woman, getting close to her in a romantic way would be a complicated thing because he’d have to share with her his past. The burden of it would drive most away.
Lately though he’d had moments where he almost wished he could tell Cindy the truth. Then he would imagine the way she would look at him afterward, the horror in her eyes, the fear in every line of her body, and he knew he couldn’t do that. Not to either of them.
He couldn’t have a deeper relationship without telling her and there would be no hope of having a deeper relationship once she knew. He was stuck exactly where he was. Somehow that must be in G-d’s plan, too. He just hoped that one day soon he knew what that plan was. Even a tiny glimmer of it would make life so much better.
He finished his water and got back to work. He did a couple of quick tests with the recorder to see just how softly he could whisper before it became an issue. Armed with that knowledge he continued his work.
His stomach rumbled and he hoped that Cindy showed up soon with food. He also hoped Mark showed up soon with the video recorder. In the back of his mind playing over and over he was also wondering just how long he was going to be able to hold out before he pulled up all the carpets in the house looking for more treasure.
It was beyond frustrating that Heinrich still hadn’t said what it was that he had found and his optimism that sooner or later the man would write about it was dwindling. His curiosity about the Hebrew writing, though, was only growing. Someone like the ex-Nazi was the last person he’d expect to have made the effort to learn Hebrew. Wherever he had learned it, he had studied hard and done well. He had an impressive vocabulary for someone who hadn’t been raised with it. Maybe he would at least find out what had driven the man to learn it.
After the ice cream headaches subsided, Joseph volunteered to take both Cindy and Geanie out to dinner. Cindy declined so that she could take pizza to Jeremiah like she’d promised, but wished them a happy evening. Geanie was at least looking a little bit better than she had been earlier and with Joseph she
He had planned to spend the last few days in quiet contemplation of his own life and preparation for the liturgy he’d be giving. Much of Rosh Hashanah was actually spent in the synagogue.
This year, as always, he had a lot of repenting to do. What he had yet to figure out was what he planned on doing differently in the coming year. He could always pledge not to kill anyone, but with Cindy’s penchant for finding trouble that might be an unrealistic pledge. He didn’t want to make a vow to G-d knowing there was a real likelihood that he’d have to break it.
Maybe one of the things he needed to rethink was his relationship with Cindy. He had managed to live a low key life for the last few years until she entered into it. She had definitely shaken things up and changed the balance and order of his life. Because of her he’d done things that he’d never thought he’d have to do again. Then he had nearly kissed her.
Yes, his relationship with her, whatever it actually was, should definitely be the top thing on his list to discuss with G-d. He had brought Cindy into Jeremiah’s life and the rabbi did not believe in coincidences. That meant that in all the craziness, all the sheer insanity of the past year-and-a-half there had been a plan, a higher purpose. He just wished he understood what that was.
He thought again of the moment when he’d almost kissed Cindy. It had been so spontaneous, so honest, and it had seemed the most natural thing until he realized what it was he was about to do. It would have changed everything between them and that was something he couldn’t allow to happen.
He had always known that caring for a woman, getting close to her in a romantic way would be a complicated thing because he’d have to share with her his past. The burden of it would drive most away.
Lately though he’d had moments where he almost wished he could tell Cindy the truth. Then he would imagine the way she would look at him afterward, the horror in her eyes, the fear in every line of her body, and he knew he couldn’t do that. Not to either of them.
He couldn’t have a deeper relationship without telling her and there would be no hope of having a deeper relationship once she knew. He was stuck exactly where he was. Somehow that must be in G-d’s plan, too. He just hoped that one day soon he knew what that plan was. Even a tiny glimmer of it would make life so much better.
He finished his water and got back to work. He did a couple of quick tests with the recorder to see just how softly he could whisper before it became an issue. Armed with that knowledge he continued his work.
His stomach rumbled and he hoped that Cindy showed up soon with food. He also hoped Mark showed up soon with the video recorder. In the back of his mind playing over and over he was also wondering just how long he was going to be able to hold out before he pulled up all the carpets in the house looking for more treasure.
It was beyond frustrating that Heinrich still hadn’t said what it was that he had found and his optimism that sooner or later the man would write about it was dwindling. His curiosity about the Hebrew writing, though, was only growing. Someone like the ex-Nazi was the last person he’d expect to have made the effort to learn Hebrew. Wherever he had learned it, he had studied hard and done well. He had an impressive vocabulary for someone who hadn’t been raised with it. Maybe he would at least find out what had driven the man to learn it.
After the ice cream headaches subsided, Joseph volunteered to take both Cindy and Geanie out to dinner. Cindy declined so that she could take pizza to Jeremiah like she’d promised, but wished them a happy evening. Geanie was at least looking a little bit better than she had been earlier and with Joseph she
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