here - Jersey Devil Press

Coast?” Still no, and Yeshua looked so apprehensive that I realized
why he was so hesitant.
“She serves somewhere far away, doesn’t she? And you,” my
breath caught in my throat, “you want to move away from me to be
closer to her. You’re moving out, aren’t you, and going far away?”
“Oh no, Ma! No! I mean… yes, she is from far away.
Greenland, actually. But she’s wants to move here.”
“Greenland! I didn’t even realize there were any Orthodox
communities there! Although,” I said, “I suppose it’s a very big
country. There’s bound to be at least one.”
“No, Ma…”
“No? Really? How do you know there aren’t any?”
“I don’t! I mean, that is…” He sighed. It sounded like a road
paving machine. “Ma, Anyu isn’t Orthodox.”
Well that stopped my mental wandering.
“Anyu? With a name like that, I’m not surprised. I suppose she
serves a Reform synagogue?” At his expression, I asked, worried,
“Not one of those new-fangled synagogues where they don’t
believe in God? Don’t tell me she serves a Humanist rabbi?”
“Ma, Anyu isn’t Jewish.”
“Not Jewish? Now you’re teasing me. How can a golem be not
Jewish?”
“She’s not a golem. She’s a tupilaq.”
There was a strange buzzing in my ears. I felt faint. I must have
swayed because Yeshua put out a hand to steady me.
“A tupilaq? What…? I don’t know what that is.”
“She’s Inuit. But like me.”
“Like you? How can she be like you if she isn’t even Jewish?” I
couldn’t help it, I was yelling at him. For the first time in my life, I
was yelling at my Yeshua. I think we were both more than a little
shocked by it.
“Ma! You said you wanted me to be happy!”
“How is a girl like this going to make you happy? What could
the two of you possibly have in common?”
December 2011 45