Needle Pass

Esther Rosa visits two dry goods stores in search of a needle. At the first store, the salesgirl becomes rude and impatient when Esther complains the needles have small eyes. At the second store, the salesgirl is polite and helps Esther find a suitable needle. Impressed by the girl's kindness, Esther reveals she is actually looking for a bride for her son, and chooses the red-haired girl to be her daughter-in-law. An engagement is arranged, much to the surprise and jealousy of the first store's salesgirl.

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Needle Pass

Uploaded by

Kushal Dey

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As a rule, when Esther Rosa travelled any place she dressed as elegantly as a

countess. This time she wore a simple cotton dress and a kerchief over her
wigs. It was summer and she inquired for Berish Lubliners dry-goods store.
A large store was pointed out to us. Nowadays in a dry-goods store you can
only buy yard goods, but in those days they sold everything: thread, wool for
knitting and odds and ends. What didnt they sell? It was a store as big as a
forest, filled with merchandise to the ceiling. At a high desk stood a man
writing a ledger, as they do in big cities. I dont know what he was, the
cashier or the book keeper. Behind a counter stood a girl with black eyes that
burned like fire. We happened to be the only customers in the store, and we
approached her. What can I do for you? she asked. You seem to be
strangers.
Yes, we are strangers, said Esther Rosa.

What would you like to see? the girl asked. A needle. said Esther Rosa.

The moment she heard the word needle, the girls face changed her. Her
eyes became angry. Two women for one needle, she said.

Merchants believe that a needle is unlucky. Nobody ever dared to buy a

needle at the beginning of a week, because they knew it meant the whole
week would be unlucky. Even in the middle of the week the storekeepers did
not like to sell needles. One usually bought a spool of thread, some buttons,
and the needle was thrown in without even being mentioned. A needle costs
only half a groschen and it was a nuisance to make such small change.
Yes, said Esther Rosa. All I need is a needle.

The girl frowned but took a box of needles. Esther Rosa searched through
the box and said: Perhaps you have some other needles?

Whats wrong with these? the girl asked impatiently.

Their eyes are too small, Esther Rosa said, It will be di cult to thread
them.

These are all I have, the girl said angrily. If you cant see well, why dont
you buy yourself a pair of eyeglasses?

Esther Rosa insisted, Are you sure you have no others? I must have a
needle with a larger eye.

The girl reluctantly pulled out another box and slammed it down on the
counter. Esther Rosa examined several needles and said: These too have
small eyes.

The girl snatched away the box and screamed: Why dont you go to Lublin
and order yourself a special needle with a big eye.

The man at the stand began to laugh. Perhaps you need a sackcloth needle,
he suggested. Some nerve, the girl chimed, to bother people over a halfgroschen sale.

Esther Rosa replied: I have no use for sackcloth or for girls who are as
coarse as sackcloth. Then she turned to me and said: Come, Zeldele, they
are not our kind.

The girl turned red in the face and said loudly, What yokels! Good
riddance!

We went out. The whole business had left a bad taste in my mouth. A woman
passed by and Esther Rosa asked her the way to Reb Zelig Izbitzers drygoods store. Right across the street, she said, pointing. We crossed the
marketplace and entered a store that was only a third of the size of the first
one. Here too there was a young saleswoman. This one wasnt dark; she had
red hair. She was not ugly but she had freckles. Her eyes were as green as
gooseberries. Esther Rosa asked her if she sold needles. And the girl replied,
Why not? We sell everything.

Im looking for a needle with a large eye, because I have trouble threading
needles, Esther Rosa said.

Ill show you every size we have and you can pick the one that suits you
best, the girl replied.

I had already guessed what was going on and my heart began to beat like a
thiefs. The girl brought out about ten boxes of needles.
Why should you stand? she said. Here is a stool. Please be seated. She
also brought a stool for me. It was perfectly clear to me that Esther Rosa was
going to test her too.

Why are the needles all mixed together? Esther Rosa complained. Each
size should be in a different box.

When they come from the factory, they are all sorted out, the girl said
apologetically. But they get mixed up. I saw Esther Rosa was doing her best
to make the girl lose her temper. I dont see too well, Esther Rosa said. It
is dark here.

Just one moment and Ill move the stools to the door. There is more light
there, the girl replied.

Does it pay you to make this eort to just sell a half-penny needle? Esther
Rosa asked. And the girl answered: First of all, a needle costs only quarter of
a penny and then, as the Talmud says, the same law applies to a penny as it
does to a hundred guilders. Besides, today you buy a needle and tomorrow
you may be buying satins for a trousseau.

Is that so? then how come the store is empty? Esther Rosa wanted to know.
Across the street. Berish Lubliners store is so full of customers you cant
find room for a pin between them. I bought my materials there but I decided
to come here for the needle.

The girl became serious. I was afraid Esther Rosa had overdone it. Even an
angel can lose patience. But the girl said, Everything according to Gods
will. Esther Rosa made a move to carry on her stool to the door, but the girl
stopped her. Please dont trouble yourself. Ill do it. Esther Rosa
interrupted. Just a moment. I want to tell you something.

What do you want to tell me? the girl said setting down the stool.

My daughter, Mazel Tov! Esther Rosa called out.

The girl turned as white as chalk. I dont understand, she said.

You will be my daughter-in-law, Esther Rosa announced. I am the wife of

Reb Lemel Wagmeister of Hrubyeshow. I have come here to look for a bride
for my son. Not to buy a needle. Reb Berishs daughter is like straw mat and
you are like silk. You will be my Benzes wife, God willing.

That the girl didnt faint dead away was a miracle from heaven. Everybody
in Zamosc had heard of Reb Lemel Wagmeister. Zamosc is not Lublin.
Customers came in and saw what was happening. Esther Rosa took a string of
amber beads out of her basket. Here is your engagement gift. Bend your
head. The girl lowered her head submissively and Esther Rosa placed the
beads around her neck. Her father and mother came running into the store.
There was kissing embracing, crying. Someone immediately rushed to tell the
story to Reb Berishs daughter. When she heard what had happened, she burst
into tears. Her name was Itte. She had a large dowry and was known as a
shrewd saleswoman. Zelig Izbitzer barely made a living.

My good people, it was a match. Esther Rosa wore the pants in the family.
Whatever she said went. And as I said, in those days young people were never
asked. An engagement party was held and the wedding soon after. Zelig
Izbitzer could not a lord a big wed-ding. He barely could give his daughter a
dowry, for he also had two other daughters, and two sons who were studying
in the Yeshiva. But, as you know, Reb Lemel Wagmeister had little need for
her dowry. I went to the engagement party and I danced at the wed-ding.
Esther Rosa dressed the girl like a princess. She became really beautiful.
When good luck shines, it shows on the face. Whoever did not see that couple
standing under the wedding canopy and later dancing the virtue dance will
never know what it means to have joy in children. Afterwards they lived like
doves. Exactly to the year, she bore a son.