This week marks the premier of “The Council of Wise Women” my new novel of Chelm!
It will be serialized ongoingly in the Rhode Island Jewish Voice and Herald, and via email subscription.
If the podcast link above doesn’t work, click here: http://www.markbinder.com/audio/council/council_chapter_01.mp3
After the “words from our sponsor” you can read the first installment.
You can subscribe for free (for a limited time only…) at http://www.lightpublications.com/wise/
You can also invite friends and family (or even enemies) to subscribe)
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Words from our sponsor
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“If you have a youngster in school, I highly recommend Mark Binder for your end of year celebration! He brings energy and enthusiasm and stories that brighten up even the cloudiest day. You can contact him online at his website”
- Beth Hellman
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Get Mark’s first serialized novel of Chelm, “The Brothers Schlemiel”
The story of Abraham and Adam, identical twins born in Chelm and confused from birth. Mark says it’s a cross between the Brothers Grimm, the Brothers Karamazov, and the Brothers Farrely.
Now available in a beautiful hardback edition
You may order copies online at at Amazon.Com - at http://tinyurl.com/3bgplb
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The World’s Best Challah Special expires on Friday, May 9
If you’ve never eaten “The World’s Best Challah” then you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s delicious plain, with butter, toasted, or as French Toast. It makes great sandwiches, and if you let it sit around long enough and put shellac on it, you can use it as a door stop.
The book is a 70 page cookbook that tells you everything from how to make 3, 4 and 6 braids, what equipment to buy, and how to bake on a busy schedule.
The offer expires May 9 because postage goes up right after that.
(Plus, if you order within the next 72 hours, I’ll include a free bookmark!)
Read more at http://www.markbinder.com/specials/
Or to buy now just click here: http://tinyurl.com/6h9aj3
Thanks!
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The Council of Wise Women
by Mark Binder
Chapter 1
“First Born”
Her eyes were beautiful. They were brown and inquisitive. Open already and looking at the new world.
Her mother, Sarah Cohen, was exhausted. Childbirth hadn’t been as difficult as her mother had warned, but it had been labor. Long and painful, but with this delightful girl at the end nestled warm in her arms.
“Not again!” the midwife said.
Her words sounded worried. Sarah looked up from the babe. “Is everything all right?”
“Perfectly,” said Mrs. Chaipul. She patted Sarah’s hand. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Where is your husband?”
“He said he was going to Smyrna to buy some cloth. He should be back at any time.”
Mrs. Chaipul shook her head and clucked her tongue. What was it about the men of Chelm? Perhaps it was everywhere. Men always seemed to know and have appointments in other parts of the world when their wives were giving birth.
“Do you mind holding her?” Mrs. Chaipul said.
Sarah smiled. “Not at all.”
“Because we’re not done.”
Again Sarah felt nervous. “What do you mean?”
“Twins,” Mrs. Chaipul said. “A double blessing. It’s all right. I have plenty of experience. Just follow my directions and begin pushing again.”
Twins? Sarah’s mind began to spin. She was ready for one child. She was ready for a daughter. But another? Two mouths to feed? She remembered what happened to Rebecca Schlemiel after her boys were born. The fighting the arguing, the confusion… The exhaustion. It was crazy. It was impossible. No. It was a dream. Perhaps she was asleep even now.
Then she looked at the girl in her arms. The baby’s brown eyes were staring at her with hope and love and curiosity.
It would be a shame to wake up from the dream and leave behind a beautiful soul like this.
She felt something moving.
“When would you like me to push?” Sarah asked.
“Now would be nice!”
* * *
The door to the Cohen house slammed open as Benjamin Cohen ran inside.
“Shut the door!” Mrs. Chaipul shouted. “It’s still winter time and the cold won’t do anyone any good.”
The panting tailor shut the door behind him. “Are they all right?”
Mrs. Chaipul nodded. “Everyone is fine.
Benjamin gave her a grin and a hug. He reached for the knob to the bedroom door, and then he stopped. “How many fingers and toes?”
Mrs. Chaipul calculated for a moment and then answered, “A hundred.”
“A hundred!” Benjamin smiled. Then he paused. “What?”
Mrs. Chaipul nodded. “I assume you have all of yours, and Sarah has all of hers.”
“Yes,” Benjamin said. “Yes.”
The old woman shrugged and sipped her tea. “I have all of mine.”
Benjamin’s face knitted into a frown. “That’s twenty extra.”
“It is.”
“I don’t understand.” Benjamin was imagining what a hand was like with five extra fingers. A foot with five extra toes would need a specially made shoe. Were the fingers and toes on the same arms and legs or were there extra arms and legs? “I thought you said that everyone was all right!”
The exhausted midwife spooned more sugar into her tea. “They are. If you made it your business to be here on time, instead of gallivanting around you would understand and I wouldn’t have to explain everything to you.”
Benjamin put his hands on his hips. Mrs. Chaipul was a rather important woman in Chelm, but she was still just a woman. Yes she ran the only kosher restaurant. Yes she was the closest thing the village had to a doctor, veterinarian and midwife. Yes, she and the rabbi seemed to be engaged in negotiations for marriage. But still. This was no way to treat him in his own house on the afternoon of the birth of his first child.
“Tell me woman,” he demanded, “what is going on?”
Mrs. Chaipul peered at Benjamin. She shook her spoon at him. “You need to learn more manners. And you owe me an extra chicken.”
Such insults and insolence, Benjamin could barely restrain himself. Enough talking with this foolish woman.
He opened the door and marched into his bedroom.
The sudden noise and draft startled Sarah, who was dozing. She looked up, “Benjamin?”
“It’s me,” he said. The room was dark. “Ow!” He banged his knee against a chair that shouldn’t be there. “Ow ow ow!”
“Are you all right?” Sarah asked.
“I’m fine.” He rubbed his leg. “How are you?”
“I’m tired. I’m exhausted. But I’m fine.”
“And the child?” he asked. He hated asking. He was afraid to ask. What was the point of hiring a midwife if she couldn’t give you a simple answer to a simple question?
“They’re fine,” Sarah said.
He was closer now, and he could see the smile on her face. She looked pale, but so wonderful.
“They?” he said.
A nod. “A boy and a girl.”
“Really?” he said in amazement.
Sarah stared at her husband. “You think I’d make something like this up? You think I’d lie at a time like this? You think that you wouldn’t figure it out in a moment or two?”
“No,” he said. Why was everyone picking on him? “I’m just surprised.”
“Me too,” Sarah said. “So are they.”
“Who was born first?”
Sarah glanced to her left. “She was.”
Benjamin frowned. “Really? Let’s tell everyone that he was.”
“Why?”
“Because being first born is important to a boy.”
“I don’t understand.”
Benjamin nodded. “You’re not a boy.” Benjamin was the third son in a family of seven children. He knew how much his brothers had lorded that difference over him. “We’ll tell everyone that he was born first. It’s important. It’s crucial.”
“It’s not such a big deal.”
Benjamin frowned. “Have you ever been held upside down by your ankles over a cesspool?”
“No!” Sarah said. “Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all!” Benjamin answered quickly. “I have been. By my older brothers.”
“They were so cruel to you.”
“They were bigger and older,” Benjamin explained. “It’s the way of the world.”
“She’s only older by a few minutes,” Sarah said.
“Minutes matter.” Benjamin was firm about it. “So, we’ll tell them that he was born first. We’ll tell Mrs. Chaipul. She’ll have to agree.”
“All right,” Sarah answered weakly.
“May I pick him up?”
“Yes, of course.” She felt the weight lift from her right side.
“He’s handsome.”
The exhausted mother smiled. “Yes, he is.”
“I have a son!” Benjamin Cohen said proudly.
“And a daughter,” Sarah Cohen added.
“Yes, yes, of course.” Benjamin reached out a finger and touched his daughter’s cheek. “A daughter as well. But a son! Think of that. A son!”
Sarah Cohen loved her husband but for a moment she felt her heart breaking and she hated him.
“Give him back to me,” she demanded.
“Why?”
“He’s hungry. We’re tired. We need some rest. Go to work.”
Benjamin surrendered the boy. He didn’t notice the curt tone of his wife’s voice. A son was something to be proud of.
He turned and “Ow!” Who put that chair there!
When she heard the door close, Sarah Cohen hugged her children tightly, but gently.
“You are both mine,” she whispered. “You are both important.”
Next Episode: Cry Me a River
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Copyright 2008 by Mark Binder
All Rights Reserved
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Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed “The Council” you will also enjoy other work by Mark Binder.
Learn more about Mark’s books and audio recordings at http://www.markbinder.com/store/
