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banking business?” Drexler asked the question, but it had occurred to most of them.
    “Look, let’s face it; there are guys like that. You know, it’s like a crusade –”
    “How about the rebbitzin?”
    Winer made a circle of thumb and forefinger to indicate complete approval. “Believe me, the rebbitzin is real class, a Wellesley graduate, or maybe Vassar or Bryn Mawr – anyway, one of the top women’s colleges. Matter of fact, if you want to know something, she’s a Stedman.”
    “What’s a Stedman?”
    “Dan Stedman. Didn’t you ever hear of him?”
    “You mean the commentator guy? On TV?”
    “That’s right. That’s her brother.”
    “Sounds pretty good.” said Raymond. “Could you give him a ring and arrange to have him come down so we could get a look at him and see what he sounds like, maybe have him take a Friday evening service?”
    “Unh-unh.” Winer shook his head. “A man like Rabbi Deutch you don’t ask him to come down for a tryout. If you guys are interested. I could sound him out. If he’s interested, we could drive down to see him and talk to him.”

Chapter Six
    Suddenly the Smalls found themselves popular. People they hardly knew found an occasion to drop in on them – to wish them a safe and pleasant flight, but especially a safe one. “We were planning to go about this time, but my wife thinks we ought to wait until things quiet down a bit – fella could get hurt when one of those bombs go off [self-conscious chuckle] – so we decided to take a trip to Bermuda instead.”
    To give them names and addresses of people they should look up. “I met him when I was there four years ago, and he’s doing some very important research at the university. One of the outstanding men there. I’m writing to tell him you’re coming. You call him as soon as you get settled.”
    To show them the itinerary of the trip they took last year
    together with colored slides and photographs of the
    places they had seen and to make sure that they wouldn’t
    miss what they regarded as the highlights of their trip. “I
    took this on a kind of hazy day. so you don’t get the full
    effect. Rabbi, but I tell you, the view is breathtaking. And
    be sure and see… “
    Meyer Paff. one of the pillars of the temple, came to see the Smalls. He was a huge tun of a man with large features. His sausagelike fingers closed over the rabbi’s hand in greeting. “Take my advice. Rabbi, don’t get sucked into the sightseeing rat race. I been there four times already. The first time they had me going from early morning till night. After the first week I said I’m not moving from the hotel. And that’s what I did all the other times we went. I’d stay in the hotel, sitting around the pool, shmoosing. playing cards. The missus, of course, she wanted to see things. She’d take one of these tours at the drop of a hat. So I told her to go and she could tell me about it afterward. You know, any other country I wouldn’t think of letting her go alone, but in Israel, you feel it’s safe. There’s always Hadassah ladies that if she don’t know them, she at least knows somebody they know. It’s like family. And I’ll tell you something: Just before coming home. I’d buy a bunch of slides of different places and when people asked me. ‘You saw such a place, didn’t you?’ I’d say5 ‘You bet. Terrific. I got some swell shots of it.’”
    Ben Gorfinkle came to see him. “I was talking to my brother-in-law. He’s editor of the Lynn Times-Herald’, you know. He thought maybe you’d be interested in writing some pieces for the paper.”
    “But I’m no reporter.” said the rabbi.
    “I know, but what he had in mind was background stuff, personal impressions, local color. That kind of thing. All he could pay would be regular space rates. I don’t know what it would come to – probably not much, and of course, he couldn’t promise to run them until he’d seen them – but the way I look at it. it would keep