Ruchel hugged him with happiness. “Oh Nachman, I love you,” she said. “But what about you? What about your teaching position?”
“Wherever we go there will be a need for teachers of Torah. Rishon LeZion will have no trouble finding someone to take my place, whereas there is a special mitzvah to look after orphans.”
“Are you sure?” Ruchel asked.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Tevye looked on in suspense.
“What’s all the whispering?” he asked.
“We have decided to leave Rishon and come with you,” Nachman answered. “Right now, the children need their grandfather more than anyone else in the world.”
A wide smile filled Tevye’s face.
“Do you hear that children?” he said. “We are all going back to Zichron Yaacov together!”
The children cheered. They jumped happily all over their grandfather. Goliath beamed at the wonderful news. He loved Nachman like a brother, and the thought that everyone would be together gave him such a feeling of joy, he felt that he could lift up the wagon with everyone in it.
“Everyone hopped in the wagon,” Tevye called.
Happily, they all climbed aboard. With a tug on the reins, Tevye turned back once again toward the house, this time to load Ruchel’s and Nachman’s belongings onto the wagon for the trip back to Zichron Yaacov.
