The Rabbi and The Rebbetzin (41 page)
“I
never thought that you are a real rebbetzin. I assumed that your colleagues
were calling you that because you were so religious.”
Once
again, Andrea asked Meir to keep quiet if he didn’t want to lose his chance to
find a high paying job. “Here,” she said, “take look at this.” She drew out a
copy of the special edition of the
Law School Briefs
which was printed
in honor of Shulamit’s wedding. She pointed out to him the full page wedding
picture of Rabbi Adler and Shulamit.
“Oh
my God,” Meir cried, “you are married to my rabbi!”
“Indeed
she is,” Andrea said. “Her first child was born in wedlock, and the one coming
will also be legitimate.”
Bill
Mazer joined in. “Let’s put an end to this trivia, both of you. Let’s get on
with the interview. We don’t have your transcript, Meir, because you were not
recommended by the placement service. We invited you because of your very
beautiful resume. When the first candidate came in tonight I felt a need to
test his knowledge, even though he’s number one in the school. So I hope you
won’t mind if we test your literary knowledge.”
Unknown
to Mazer was the fact that Shulamit signaled her husband on the intercom to
come into the study.
“How
are you going to test my knowledge of poetry?” Meir wanted to know.
“That’s
easy” Bill said. “I will ask each founder to recite a line and you will fill in
the next line.”
“Good
idea,” Shulamit said. “Let’s start with you.”
Bill
said: “Stormed at, with shot and shell…”
Meir
answered immediately:
“‘Boldly
they rode and well,
Into
the jaws of death,
Into
the mouth of hell, rode the six hundred.’
That’s
from
Charge of the Light Brigade
, by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
Andrea
followed: “Out of the night that covers me…”
Meir
said:
“‘Black
as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever Gods may be,
For my unconquerable soul,
(And the final verse)
It
matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.’
That’s
from
Invictus
, by William Ernest Henley.”
“Let
me try one,” Shulamit said.
“When
old age shall this generation waste…”
Meir
responded:
“‘Thou
shalt remain in midst of other woe,
Than ours, another man,
A friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
Beauty is truth,
Truth beauty
― that is all,
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’
That’s
from
Ode to a Grecian Urn
, by John Keats.”
At
this point Rabbi Aaron Adler walked in to the room. Meir rose immediately and
turned somewhat pale.
“Hello,
Meir,” the rabbi said. “What are you doing here?”
Meir
answered, “I am being interviewed for a job in the public relations department
of the new firm for a position as a writer.”
“That’s
wonderful,” the rabbi said. “I hope that you will be selected.”
In
a devilish way, Andrea said, “We have been testing Meir’s poetic knowledge.
Each one of us offers a line of poetry and Meir responds with the line that
follows.”
The
rabbi said, “It’s hardly necessary, but I’ll play along:
‘Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or
who shall stand in his holy place?’”
Meir
followed at once:
“‘He
who hath clean hands and a pure heart,
Who
hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
Nor
sworn deceitfully.’
That’s
from the 24
th
Psalm in the Bible.”
“Take
a few minutes,” Bill Mazer said to Andrea, “and explain to Meir what his
responsibilities will be as your employee.”
Andrea
did so, and then also told Meir about his salary. “Meir,” she said, “salaries
in the PR department are somewhat higher than for associates in other
departments. We can offer you $70,000 as a base salary and $20,000 as a signing
bonus. Given your academic rating and your unusual skills you might find it
hard to get a position in one of the larger firms. I would therefore suggest
that you accept this offer at once, take the signing bonus and run.”
Meir
thanked her and waited for a note to Abe Levine for him to complete the salary
arrangements.
In
the previous week, Abe Levine had moved into the office which the new firm had
rented on the ground floor. Shulamit had told him about a sign painter on Sansom
Street who could hang a sign above the doors which read:
THE
NEW HOME OF THE LEGAL FIRM
OF ADLER, COHEN, MAZER, AND LEVINE
WILL
BE OPEN FOR BUSINESS FROM OCT. 1
ST
ON
FLOORS 7 THRU 12 OF THIS BUILDING.
Inquiries
about employment and legal matters
may
be made in this office from between the
hours
of 10 AM to 5 PM. Tel. 533-5533
As
soon as the telephone, computer and printer were installed, Abe Levine moved in
to the reception office. In the event that he had to leave the office on
business, he would leave a sign: ‘Back again’ and added the time. As soon as possible,
Abe found a woman who could handle telephone calls and set up appointments.
He
left word at the information desk to send all those looking for the new law
firm to go to the reception office. He tipped the desk clerks in order to
motivate their cooperation.
Abe
soon discovered that there was a branch of the Mellon Bank which was located on
the first floor of the building, two stores down from his office.
The
next morning Abe visited the bank and asked to see the branch manager. The
manager had a sign on his desk: “New accounts may be opened here.” There were a
number of customers in the bank but none were waiting to open accounts. He sat
down on a chair facing the manager and waited for the man to ask what he
needed. Levine introduced himself as the managing director of the new legal
firm that was planning to open for business in the six upper floors of the
building. The manager perked up when he realized that he was dealing with a
highly capitalized firm.
“What
can I do for you, this morning?” the manager asked. Would you like to open an
account with us?”
“Yes,
indeed, one account for the firm itself and forty accounts for the employees.
We plan to deposit salary and checks and bonus payments at this bank. They may also
want to open checking accounts here to transfer previous funds from elsewhere.”
The
manager was very happy with the prospect of the new accounts and the larger
account for the company. “The employee accounts will take some time, but the
company account can be opened right away,” the manager said. “You realize that
if the initial deposit is over $10,000, the transaction has to be reported to
the IRS.”
“That’s
perfectly all right with us. The firm will open the account with a deposit of one
million dollars.”
The
manager was astounded. A deposit of a million or more dollars had to be
reported to the officers of the Mellon Bank as well as to the IRS.
It
was important to know how the check could be issued by a corporation that didn’t
yet have a working account in a bank. In answer to the manager’s question,
Levine said that he would wire the money to the bank later that morning. Once
the funds were in the bank, new employees that were hired on Sunday night could
open their accounts and deposit checks.
When
Althea came to Levine’s office, he told her that the company was not yet able
to transfer money into her account as part of a regular payroll system. He told
her that he would give her a check for $5,000 as a deposit. If she could get to
the bank before 3 PM at the Mellon Bank, she could open her new account. He
explained that all the employees of the new firm would have an account at the
local Mellon Bank where the firm could deposit funds to the employees account
directly. When a new customer opened an account at the Mellon Bank, the
customer received a number of temporary checks which could be cashed
immediately. Levine arranged that employees could cash their checks without
waiting for clearance.
Joe
Epstein and Meir Kalman couldn’t make the bank because they were attending a
bar examination study group on Monday. They came to the bank on Tuesday and
were happy to receive the funds. Both of them received checks for $5,000.
During the course of the week, final arrangements were made with the Mellon bank.
Checks were printed and employee’s social security numbers were forwarded to
the bank.
By
July 1
st
, all nine intended associates were signed up by the
founders. Ten more non-legal employees were signed up as well. All except
Amanda were signed up after their resumes were verified and references from
former employers were checked. They all reported to work. By July 1
st
they were directed to their temporary offices set up on the 11
th
floor. Andrea and Shulamit were assigned to offer the training sessions for the
new employees.
For
Shulamit, this posed no problem because her maternity leave started on the 1
st
of July. Andrea negotiated a temporary leave of absence without pay with Albert
Nash until her maternity leave would set in on August 1
st
.
The
most serious problem facing the founders was finding employees for security
work. She knew that Captain Casey would not join the new firm, nor would Lieutenant
Wolfson be willing to leave Casey. Her best bet was Sergeant Jerome Warner who
might be willing to become the security chief at the new firm. His salary would
be increased and his responsibilities would be more significant. She took the
elevator to the second floor to speak to Captain Casey before she started her
maternity leave.
“Captain
Casey,” she said, “I am recruiting security people for my new firm, Adler
Cohen. I know that you and your lieutenant would not be interested in leaving
Finkel Nash and I would not ask you to do so. However, I would like to approach
Sergeant Warner and make him a very attractive offer, to become chief of our
security staff.
“As
a police sergeant, he acquired all the necessary experience for such a job and
he seemed to be a very able and presentable officer. I don’t think he is using
his full potential at Finkel Nash and I believe that he would welcome an
opportunity to advance in rank and salary.”
Captain
Casey said, “One man can’t handle a security job by himself. Are you planning to
steal another officer from me?”
“I’m
afraid so,” Shulamit said. “We actually have two applicants in our resume file
who are interested in working on security. Since your men worked under your
direction, we know that they are capable and experienced. You probably have
some colleagues in mind who could easily replace them. I wish to have your
permission to offer them work.”
“For
you, Shulamit, I would do anything.” She didn’t have to mention the fact that
after her incident she had sent Captain Casey a check of $5,000 and other
checks for members of his staff.
She
further explained that the security office would be stationed in the office of
the first floor of the building together with the secretary who would handle
inquiries. Andrea told her how much Captain Casey was earning and she was able
to offer an attractive salary to the sergeant.
Before
offering a contract, she advised him that Captain Casey had given his consent
for her to solicit Warner’s services. Sergeant Warner gratefully accepted her
offer and came to her office to sign a contract and work out the details.
Shulamit’s
efforts to recruit another patrol man for security went through smoothly. In
her office, she outlined the responsibilities of the two men. The policeman would
greet workers of the company at the entrance of the building, and when special
visitors came, he would signal the sergeant to escort them to the elevators. During
the remainder of the time, the sergeant was busy with scanning monitors on each
floor of the company which were installed by Abe Levine. If any alarms were
sounded, he would respond to the floor from which the alarm came. Until
operations began, the new security chief spent his time training the new
workers in security procedures. The founders did not feel that a medical staff
was needed, but they hired a registered nurse to work in the first floor
office. She was to arrange with outside doctors to conduct medical examinations
when required.
When
Bill Mazer entered his 11
th
floor office, he was overcome by shock.
Levine had furnished the floor with the most expensive furnishing available. He
couldn’t imagine that the Bank of America offices were as exquisite as his. He
sat down on one of the easy chairs and put his mind to work.