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you to leave here now, quietly. What was, was. The rift is too deep to heal, and the clock can’t be turned back. If you insist on continuing, who knows where you will drag us all…. Go Chana. That’s the best thing for you and for the children.
     
CHANA stares at SHEINHOFF : What does she know? What is she afraid of? SHEINHOFF does not meet her eyes.
     
    CHANA : The best thing for my children is to see their mother. You can’t imagine…. Two years…standing outside the gates of their schools and kindergartens, like a leper, hoping to catch just a glimpse. Running between lawyers and courtrooms, and the money I spent, for a piece of paper….
    Music. Children’s motif. CHANA sees them in her imagination, the girls in white. They appear and disappear. They never reach out to her. They are not conscious of her at all.
     
    CHANA : I should have known Rav Aaron wouldn’t honor it, would send his thugs…If it hadn’t been for the police, they would have beaten me, too. ( SHEINHOFF mumbles apologetically ) I thought I’d learned to stand up for myself in the last two years. But when my mother and my sister trample over me…I feel like a squashed bug, like that same old doormat…They’ve even poisoned my daughters against me. It’s terrible to see how they’re torn….
     
    SHEINHOFF : [ sorrowfully .] Go, Chanaleh, before the riot starts again.
     
    CHANA : It would be abandoning them again. I just can’t. Please!
     
    SHEINHOFF : Nothing you could say would outweigh the harm of doing it this way. Please, if you love them…
     
    CHANA : ( worn down , beginning to give in .) With all my heart! (Beat) Promise me you’ll watch over them, that you won’t let my girls be crushed by her, the way she crushed me…And even more, watch over my little ones…
     
    SHEINHOFF : You have my word. Show consideration for us now, and who knows? Perhaps in the future something can be worked out.
     
    CHANA : [ after a pause. ] I’ll go. For now. But I am not giving up my children. I will never give up my children. I’ll think about what to do next and I’ll be back. [ she takes her purse, shopping bag, and walks toward the door. Suddenly, with a heartbreaking cry, she turns back and kneels before SHEINHOFF .] Please, Mameh Goldie!
     
    SHEINHOFF : I can’t go against the family.
     
    CHANA : [ heartbroken, she rises, opens her shopping bag. Tearfully. ] This is the doll for Shifraleh, and these are the Chassidic music discs for Shimmy and Shmuel Zanvil, and these are the books for the older boys—[ she drops the bag on the table, unable to speak, turns to leave. ].
     
    SHEINHOFF : [ also in tears. Taking her hand .] Chana, wait! We can say good-bye like human beings. At least sit a minute. Have a cup of tea before you go [ toward the kitchen. ] Bluma!
    BLUMA enters.
     
    SHEINHOFF : Bring a cup of tea for your mother.
    BLUMA exits. FRUME peeks into the room questioningly.
     
    [ SHEINHOFF waving her away. In an angry whisper :] She’s going in a minute! [ FRUME disappears. SHEINHOFF gropes for a chair .] Sometimes, that woman makes my head spin…. [ sits. ]
    BLUMA returns with two cups of tea. She serves SHEINHOFF , and gives her a questioning look concerning CHANA’S cup.
     
    SHEINHOFF : [ indicating a place at opposite end of table. ] Sit in your place, Chana.
    CHANA sits. Pause. BLUMA places the cup in front of her.
     
    BLUMA : [ standing. ] With a teaspoon and a half of sugar.
     
    CHANA : Just as I like it. You remembered. [ taking a sip. ] It looks good on you, the head covering, Bluma. [ taking out her gift. ] I brought you a silk one. It’s your favorite color—sky blue. [ BLUMA doesn’t take it. ] Come, sit.
    BLUMA looks at SHEINHOFF , who nods her approval. She sits near her mother, leaving some distance between them.
     
    CHANA : [ hurt. ] How is your husband? [ no answer. ] Are you…happy?
     
    BLUMA : [ hedging. ] I accept God’s will. One shouldn’t complain.
     
    CHANA : In which yeshiva is he