Free Rabbi Gabrielle's Defiance by Roger Herst Page B

come with a humble and sincere prayer to implore
His favor upon them. From time to time we all need prayers."
    "They have enough of your prayers." His throat gargled saliva.
    "Are you certain of that?" she countered,
feeling diminished by the severity of her remark. "Rabbi Folkman
was in the waiting room all last night. He's there now. We have
come to provide comfort and seek God's help. I'd like to see Janean
and Tybee."
    "They don't need you or Folkman. Go away.
Please!"
    The cacophony of voices from inside Janean's
room interrupted Gabby's desolation. Nurses at nearby workbenches
immediately rose to be of service. Two green-gowned doctors
appeared from the outside corridor and merged immediately into
others around their patient. David Morgenstern returned to the
congested room, elbowing his way forward.
    A hand on Gabby's upper arm gently tugged in
the direction of the exit. It belonged to Asa, the only person she
believed might understand how she felt. How was it possible to
become so marginalized?
    He guided her out of the ICU into the
hospital corrido. "I've tried; you've tried. It's no use. Whatever
we have to give, they don't want it." Once near the waiting room,
he said, "I feel like I want to sleep until this nightmare is over.
But I know it won't end."
    Once distanced from the ICU, she felt
stronger. "Let's go to the cafeteria for a cup of tea. We need to
clear our heads."
    An elevator took them to the ground floor
cafeteria, an expansive dining room with square four-person tables
and nearby fast-food service counters. She fussed over a limited
selection of herbal teas. As they moved toward an empty table, she
spotted a television camera and back-pack lights resting on the
floor. "Not over there," she cautioned, detouring in the opposite
direction.
    Seated at a distant table, he broke the
silence. "The family is out-rightly rude."
    "Look at it this way: if they weren't kicking
us they'd be kicking the doctors and, for the time being, the
doctors are far more important than we."
    Asa finished a Danish, swabbing glazed sugar
from his index finger and thumb between bites, before wrapping the
lean fingers she had often seen working his piano keyboard around a
coffee cup for warmth.
    "You're Rabbi Lewyn, if I'm not mistaken?" a
woman's voice inquired from behind Gabby.
    Turning to look, she found a well-dressed,
attractive woman vaguely recognized from the table across the
cafeteria. A shoulder-held camera rested upon her cameraman's
shoulder.
    Gabby lifted a palm, forbidding any coverage.
"I am Gabriella Lewyn, but not interested to speak with the press.
This is a very trying time."
    "I'm Andrea Mobely from Channel 5," a
friendly smile parted her lips to expose big, white teeth.
"Covering the Morgenstern family fire. We're standing by for
medical reports. They say that Janean Morgenstern isn't doing
well."
    "So they say," Gabby responded.
    "We are also told that the children were
lighting Chanukah candles. That's true, isn't it, Rabbi?"
    "That's what I've heard but I wasn't there,"
Gabby replied, fighting back her impatience.
    "We heard the parents were late for dinner
because they went for drinks after work. They telephoned Janean
that they'd be home about 7:30 p.m. But for some reason, the
children were impatient to fulfill a ritual with candles before sundown. Maybe you can tell us,
Rabbi. Must candles be lit before dark?"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Mobely, but I haven't agreed to be
interviewed. I'll answer this one question, then no more. Chanukah
candles can be lit anytime, but Sabbath candles are traditionally
lit before the sun goes down, then allowed to burn out on their
own."
    "Thank you, Rabbi," Andrea Mobely signaled
her cameraman to lower his lens. "It's true that you train your
children to light candles at your synagogue, isn't it?"
    "That's obvious. Now if you'll excuse us,
please."
    "Certainly," she started to back step but
reversed her direction and fired off another question. "And you
don't give instruction in