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He’d never really cared all that much about the candle-lighting part of the holiday growing up – his dreidel game was strong and he had a sweet tooth motivating him to win all the chocolate gelt off his cousins before sundown. But he found himself wanting to hear his voice, in unison with Nora’s, reciting the Hebrew blessing every Jew – even the most unobservant – could probably mumble in their sleep. He wanted to see how the flicker of the holiday lights lit up her eyes even brighter.
He’d never wanted to ditch his cousin so bad in all his life.
“So long story short, I ended up with both the pharmacist AND the acupuncturist!” Drew laughed. “Jess had to work tonight, being flu shot season and all. But I brought Dahlia along. She has no clue what’s going on with this wholemishegas.”
Two shots apparitioned atop the bar – this bartender was working all the miracles tonight, despite the crowd being three-deep. He was also rocking Captain Jay’s hat.
“Well,” Alex toasted. “Tomishegas.”
* * *
Forget about even getting near the menorah. The entire passenger manifest must’ve gotten the memo to gather around the giant hanukkiah – a twelve-foot candelabra Jay commissioned especially for the Matzo Baller. Taking no chances with an open flame on board, it was electric, but not like the big gaudy one lit in Brooklyn every year.
“Tal!” Nora’s internal radar homed in on her best friend’s head of ginger curls amongst the crowd. It was like having BFF-GPS and it worked every time. Talia was already near the tall ladder next to the menorah.
Jay had hired some kind of techno-klezmer band to kick off the quasi-religious portion of the festivities, and they broke into a trippy version of “Hava Nagila.” She caught a glimpse of Beck on the outskirts of the crowd. He lifted the two drinks in his hand with a smile and a shrug. She toasted him back with her empty hand and mouthedSorry– there was little chance he’d make it to her side of the boat without sloshing half those drinks on the deck, given the number of impromptu hora circles breaking out.
Some guy next to Beck helped himself to one of the drinks, much to Nora’s surprise.My cousin,he mouthed. Rolling his eyes as the guy alternated yammering and drinking.
Nora wasn’t going to get anywhere if she didn’t hora her way there. She stepped into the fray, instantly regretting her shoe choice. Two women twice her age latched onto her, linking their arms through hers like that old Barrel of Monkeys game. Feet and hips minced side to side in a dance that felt ingrained since childhood. Just as her circle approached Beck’s side of the deck, another faction serpentined through, going counter-clockwise at a dizzying rate.
Nora lost sight of him, keeping pace with the women in her group who were clearly trying to out-hora their frenemies, their mahjong league, and anyone standing in their way. Into the middle they all went, arms up, then back. Nora laughing till her sides hurt.
The group suddenly changed directions and widened. Talia had broken in, bless her. She stole Nora out and moved her to safety under the menorah before some over-ambitious guys began Cossack dancing and Kazotsky kicking their way into the center of the circle.
She longed to tell Talia about the strange turn of events the night had taken; complete with dumpster fire details about the office party and bringing a plus-one on board, but now was not the time or place. The lighting of the first candle officially kicked off the Festival of Lights and the Matzo Baller itself.
As emcee, Jay would do the honors of “lighting” theshamash, the helper candle that stood taller than the others, before lighting a candle representing the first night. After that, the menorah would reside in the ferry terminal and be lit by various city officials throughout the rest of the holiday until the entire thing shown like a beacon from Pier 83.
But first, it wouldn’t be tradition if their crew didn’t help hoist their Year-Course leader to the top of the ladder.
“Tradition…TRADITION!”
Avi Wolfson strut-shuffled across the deck like a tattooed Tevye, his booming baritone helping to part the crowd. Murmurs and cheers rose from those on board who realized the lead singer of the chart-dominating Painted Doors was in their midst, but no one tried to intercept him on his mission. In fact, the crowd parted as miraculously as the Red Sea.
It may have helped that Avi had a hulking henchman bringing up the rear – the friends all knew him as the softest teddy bear, but there was nothing “klein” about Jonah Klein; even as the youngest kid on their Israel trip, he towered over them. Although tonight, Jonah’s intimidating stature and bodyguard vibes were softened a bit by the butt-ugly Hanukkah suit he wore. A print of neon dreidels, menorahs, and even jelly donuts and Chinese takeout containers danced across crushed black velvet.
“This is how we Jew it,” he sang, bringing a little Def Jam style to go with Avi’sFiddler on the Roofkitsch. With a wink, he stabilized the last rung of the ladder with a solid grip so Jay was safe to climb the rest of the way up.
Nora had a flashback; the same four friends leaning against the rakes and shovels they held, each trying to make the others laugh harder under the glaring sun on themoshavfarm they’d all worked on for the first three weeks of their year abroad. As Jay’s voice echoed through the microphone, thanking everyone for coming, her brain fast-forwarded. These were the people she wanted holding the poles of herchuppahsomeday, if she ever got married. Lifting up and supporting her wedding canopy as they had her life, in the years since Israel.
Emotion filled her eyes and throat, and she tried to concentrate on the blessings Jay led. But Avi was doing that thing he did with his eyebrow every time Adonai was mentioned. And Jonah was grinning as he stumbled over the third, more obscure prayer. And Talia’s voice lifted and carried them all, her Hebrew melodious and resolute.
Over her friend’s shoulder, she finally caught sight of Beck again. His lips moving in unison with the words coming from hers. The smile he flashed her competed with the crowd’s cheer as the stained glass flame on the first candle was officially illuminated. A group hug, starting with a J&J sandwich, ensued, and she lost sight of Beck again as Talia and Avi were pulled in.
“So, who’s the suit?” Jay, hisshamashduty done for the evening, was back to being up in everyone’s business.
“A colleague with a sense of adventure who was just as eager to ditch a Christmas party as I was – and that’s allyouneed to know,” Nora supplied. Talia squeezed her hand, indicating girl talk later.
“I mean…who’s the guy in the three-thousand-dollar suit and what’s he want from you? I know Brioni when I see it, Nor.”
Damn, take back the mailroom theory. Not that there was anything wrong with that.
“Kinda have to side with Katz on this one,” Avi added. “You’ve got fifteen hundred dollars of this guy’s wardrobe wrapped around you tonight, so…what’s he expecting wrapped around him later?”
“Stop. He’s been a perfect gentleman…he’s fine. He’s a co-worker. But we made a pact not to talk about work tonight.”
“And since you are a workaholic, that is a losing bet for you. Lucky him,” Jay quipped.
