“What?” Ethan struggled to hear over the din of conversation in the synagogue’s social hall.
“Seltzer,” Ira practically shouted. “There’s only a few cans left, and they’re all vanilla.”
“Shira”—Ethan ducked down so they were eye level—“you’re going to nail it tomorrow, I promise. I’m so confident in your singing skills that if I’m wrong, I’ll watch an episode of thatBelow Deckshow you’re always telling me about, okay?”
She gave him a watery smile.
Ethan followed Ira toward the refreshments spread.
“We’re really running low already?” He checked his watch. Oneg Shabbat had barely started. “We’ve still got iced tea, right?”
Ira nodded.
“We’ll be fine. I’ll talk to Cheryl about doubling the seltzer order for next week.”
“It’s pretty nice, huh?” Ira nodded toward the crowd. “I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about having so many young people show up all at once, but it feels good. The synagogue seems... perkier.”
Ethan smiled at that description. He had a feeling Naomi would appreciate it.
“They came thirsty.”
Ethan followed his companion’s gaze across the ravaged buffet table in the center of the room to the various card tables set up for people to mingle at during the late Friday evening social hour. Now that he could see them spread out, the crowd was considerable. Definitely more than usual. Several faces from the seminar series jumped out at him.
Craig, holding out a chair for Mrs. Horowitz. Molly, laughing as Morey pantomimed what was either fishing or something decided less PG. A cluster of women who always sat together at the JCC, lingering by the beverages table.
“Hey, come with me for a minute. There’s some people I want you to meet.” He steered Ira toward Craig.
Turnout at various synagogue events, including services, had risen gradually over the past few weeks since the seminar series started, slowly enough that Ethan almost didn’t notice the influx right away. But tonight, the increase in both diversity and volume of congregants was clear.
Oneg Shabbat provided a weekly cornerstone for many in the congregation. A chance to catch up with friends and begin unwinding after a long week. Ethan knew the seminar participants could have been anywhere at nine on Friday evening—bars or clubs or the beach—but they came to Beth Elohim. Hope sprouted in his chest at the sight.
“Ira, this is my friend Craig, one of the Modern Intimacy seminar participants,” Ethan said by way of introduction. “Craig, I’d like you to meet Ira, one of our board members.”
“Nice to meet you, young man. Glad you could join us for services. Is this your first time at Beth Elohim?”
Craig finished swallowing a big mouthful, gesturing in apology with a plate full of cookies.
Finally he came up for air. “Hi. Sorry. Yeah, this is my first time. I don’t usually come to synagogue unless I’m, like, with my parents or something, but a bunch of us decided to show up after this week’s lecture.” He pointed to where a couple of his friends stood. “Pretty good time. Rabbi C, you’re no slouch at singing, huh?”
Ethan laughed. “Lots of practice.”
“Can I ask you,” Ira started, “um, why you decided to come?”
Craig considered for a moment.
Ethan shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“I guess I realized, going to the seminar series in the past few weeks, that I missed having a community. Feeling connected to my heritage or something. The people in our course, they’re from all over L.A. Some of ’em are way older than me, and some might even be younger. We get all these different perspectives in one room, and suddenly you realize that people are going through the same stuff you are, even though we’ve all got our own stories. I like being connected, and I thought I’d find more of that here.”
Ethan found himself grinning. Sure, Craig was only one person, and maybe he wouldn’t become a full-time member anytime soon, but his answer proved Ethan’s plan had worked. He’d created a new pathway to Beth Elohim.
“Hey, Ira, would you take a picture of us for me?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone before throwing his arm around Craig.
“Updating your Jdate profile?” Ira teased.
Ethan waved him off. “I wanna show Naomi.”
He shot her a quick text, addingProgress!as a simple caption to the image.Hope your night is going well, he typed, and then deleted it. Hedidn’t want her thinking he was prying into her social life. He shoved the phone back in his pocket to avoid staring at it, waiting for her reply.