“Strange to see how a good dinner… reconciles everybody.”

Diary, Samuel Pepys (1665)

The year was 1975. My medical student group, stuck working in Bellevue for the weekend, decided to eat at The 2nd Avenue Deli.

Good news for me being orthodox, it was kosher. Bad news, it was Friday night. I couldn’t pay for it.

Good news, I had been told that the owner, everyone called him Abe, was a good guy. Talk to him.

Bad news, when we arrived, he wasn’t there. Good news, as I was pleading with the manager, he walked in. I explained my predicament, asked if I could pay him the following evening.

To my dismay, he shook his head no. I turned red. I had no idea what I was going to do now. My friends were already seated.

Then, he smiled. He said I would be his........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)