272
MARK MIRSKY
in his tent, moaning and sick to his stomach. Jacob! Poor Jacob!"
Rabbi Lux swayed in his chair, a hand on his stomach. "He
was sick as a dog. I know. Believe me."
Mrs. Blatz shook her head. She knew, she knew.
Rabbi Lux continued. "All day, he sits in the tent weeping. Who
can comfort Jacob? He can't keep his food down. He's upset. With
the tears in his eyes, he can't see anything. All he can smell are the
ashes. He rubbed them in his nostrils. This Jacob was a sufferer,
just like you, Mrs. Blatz. He looks for misery. He calls up memories
of Yosselle, his little one, just to get sick over them. He weeps over
the time he pinched the baby's cheek, the time Yosselle said his
first word. Everything he can remember about the boy, he unrolls
it and cries over it. Misery - Jacob knows misery. The acid in his
system makes him happy. He enjoys his
ill
health.
As
long as he's
sick, it's all right.
"But how long can you be miserable? Even Jacob. One day he
has to look at his hands, wet and dirty with ashes. He slaps his
cheek. He shakes his tom clothes. For the first time Jacob realizes,
he is a little hungry.
"It happens, Mrs. Blatz. Let it happen to you. You got to live.
Would Harvey want you to hate yourself? It's a dishonor to the
dead. Take a breath of fresh air. Go to the G
&
G - have a nush.
It's human. Don't hate yourself. For Harvey's sake, let yourself
live."
"Mrs. Blatz," said Rabbi Lux, taking his hand off his stomach.
"Isaac lived! And Yosselle lived too. All that time, Jacob was weep–
ing, Yosselle was alive. Jacob swore - he'll go down to his grave
in mourning. But God smiles. Why? God knows Joseph
is
alive.
Not just alive. Mrs. Blatz, do you know where they find Yosselle?
Can you guess?"
"Korea . . . ," said Mrs. Blatz.
"Almost as far. Eretz Mitzraiim. Yosselle is alive in Egypt.
He's a bigger man than the Pharaoh. It's a wonderful thing. For
thirty years, Jacob has been weeping over Yosselle and now he
finds him. And he's not a little boy anymore. He's an adult. He's
got a beard, children . . . He's running Egypt. . . . He's a success.
Who expected it? Jacob hugs him. Jacob weeps, but this time from
happiness. Everyone kisses everyone. The whole family is there. I'm
telling you, you never know...."
