Life among the Hasidic Jews of Williamsburg (2 of 4): The Morning After.

From Deborah Feldman’s Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots (2012; pp. 168-171):

When I open my eyes in the morning, the sun is shining weakly through the window blinds and the air conditioner is whirring sluggishly against the humid August air...

[My husband] Eli dresses quickly and grabs his tefillin just as his father knocks on the door...  It’s time for morning prayers...

In a minute [my aunt] Chaya is here with the electric razor [to shave my head in accordance with community rituals]...

I hear footsteps in the hall.  I think it’s Eli, but it’s my mother-in-law, lips pursed, hands folded in front of her, glancing away from the peephole...

I offer Eli’s mother coffee, tea, any excuse to use my new dishes, and when she politely refuses, I insist on arranging chocolates prettily on a silver dish.

“So how’d it go?” she asks.

I smile but I’m politely confused...  I murmur vaguely and indistinctly, “Oh, fine,” and wave away her question like an annoying fly...

My mother-in-law’s face draws tighter and she takes her hands off the tablecloth.  “My husband tells me it wasn’t finished.”

I’m speechless...

The door opens before I can say anything, and Eli and his father are at the door.  My mother-in-law stands up and reaches forward to air-kiss me good-bye.  I don’t lean in toward her, and she leaves with her husband, shutting the door behind her.  My eyes are on Eli, but his eyes are downcast...

“What happened?” I ask Eli.  “What did you tell your father?”

He cringes at the urgency in my tone.  “I didn’t tell him anything; he asked me!” he protests quickly...

I’m panicking now, thinking of the possibilities... of the way gossip travels like lighting in my world...

Eli interjects, a pained look on his face.  “It’ll be fine.  My father says we’ll just have to do it tonight.  We’ll get it done, and once it’s done, no one will be able to say anything.  We’ll try to leave the minute the 'sheva berachos' is over, so we won’t be too tired...”

. . .