“Did you know that my namesake uncle was a silver engraver?”
Sabine glanced up from her teacup, looking at her husband quizzically. No, she did not know that. “Who?”
“Irv. Uncle Irv. You never met him. I never met him. He died. A long time ago. Lungs.”
“Oh,” Sabine said.
“You mean a person who does these things?” Casey pointed to the monogram on the handle of her spoon.
Isaac nodded, not having thought of Uncle Irv in several decades. His father had told him that the “I” from Isaac was from the “I” from Irving.
“So who is Uncle Irv?” Sabine sat up tall.
“He was the eldest in my father’s family. They were maybe fifteen years apart?”
Casey nodded.
“So, all Uncle Irv ever wanted was to become a lawyer. He lived and breathed the idea of being some Clarence Darrow.” Isaac raised his hands joyfully toward the clear glass Venini chandelier. “And naturally, my grandparents were delighted. But. . .” Isaac grew quiet.
“So did he not have the money for school?” Casey asked. Lately, she believed that most of her problems in life could be boiled down to the lack of dollars and cents.
“No. My father’s family had no money, but my grandfather had a sister whose husband owned a feather factory in Manhattan, and she, who had only three daughters, had promised to pay for Irv’s education.”
“Feathers?” Sabine said out loud.
“For trimmings, blankets, and pillows,” he said. “Anyway, Irv went to City College, because Columbia turned him down.” He raised his eyebrows, amused. Isaac thought everything had some sort of comedy in it.
Casey nodded solemnly. “He’s in good company.”
“Well, Irv thought Columbia turned him down because he was Jewish and poor.” Isaac shrugged. “Whatever. Their loss, right? So, Irv goes to City College. Pre-law. Gets A’s. And in one of his classes, he meets a boy who has a very pretty cousin who is very religious. Now, mind you, my grandparents believed that religion was the root of all evil.”
Sabine nodded knowingly.
“But Uncle Irv’s still sore because he believed that he didn’t get into Columbia for being Jewish, but then he figures since he is Jewish, he should get some perks. Like getting to know his friend’s pretty cousin Sarah.”
Casey smiled at him. Isaac was half Jewish and half Italian-Catholic. He swore that on his deathbed, he’d ask for a priest and a rabbi （“Maybe heaven has several entrances”）。
“So his friend, I don’t know his name, and his pretty cousin ask Irv to come to shabbos dinner. Before you know it, Irv gets involved with some Orthodox community in Brooklyn. When my grandparents get wind of this, they threaten to cut him off, but he keeps seeing the girl and her people anyway.”
“And?” Casey asked.
“He decides to join up.”
“With who?” Sabine asked.
“With the Jews.”
“But he’s already Jewish.”
“You know what I mean—he wants a bar mitzvah, grows his beard, and all that jazz.” Isaac shrugged, because he didn’t know much about Judaism and kept himself from it as much as he could. “He wanted to be a practicing Jew. And to marry this Sarah, who will not marry him unless he becomes really Jewish. The funny thing is that Irv got religion, and he started to really believe this stuff. So my grandparents stop speaking to him, but his aunt continues to pay his tuition.”
“The Jews and the Koreans. . .” Sabine shook her head. “So crazy.”
Isaac laughed. “Then the girl Sarah asks Irv to write to the head rabbi to get permission for them to get married and to ask if it’s okay for Irv to become a lawyer.”
Casey tilted her head, fascinated. “Permission?”
“Yeah, I know. Crazy,” using his wife’s word. “But get this—” He raised his pointer finger.
“Darling, you are giving me a headache,” Sabine said.
“I take no responsibility for your headaches.” Isaac winked. “The rabbi says yes to the marriage. So Sarah becomes my aunt. Another one who dropped off before I was born, but he says no to Irv on his lifelong wish to become a lawyer.”
“What?” Casey and Sabine said at once.
“Lemme finish,” he answered, enjoying his hold on the women. “The rabbi says, on reading Irv’s letter and recognizing his excessive passion to become a lawyer, he has come to the conclusion that it would be a mistake. If a man loves his job far too much and has a lust for it, he will make that an idol and he would destroy his own life and his family’s.”