“Good Shabbos, Shemuel.” said Simcha.  The light of love was in her eyes, and in her hair her newest comb.  Her sharp features shone with peace and good-will and the consciousness of having duly lit the Sabbath candles and thrown the morsel of dough into the fire.  Shemuel kissed her, then he laid his hands upon Hannah’s head and murmured: 

“May God make thee as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah,” and upon Levi’s, murmuring:  “May God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh.”

Even the callous Levi felt the breath of sanctity in the air and had a vague restful sense of his Sabbath Angel hovering about and causing him to cast two shadows on the wall while his Evil Angel shivered impotent on the door-step.

Then Reb Shemuel repeated three times a series of sentences commencing:  “Peace be unto you, ye ministering Angels,” and thereupon the wonderful picture of an ideal woman from Proverbs, looking affectionately at Simcha the while.  “A woman of worth, whoso findeth her, her price is far above rubies.  The heart of her husband trusteth in her; good and not evil will she do him all the days of her life; she riseth, while it is yet night, giveth food to her household and a task to her maidens.  She putteth her own hands to the spindle; she stretcheth out her hand to the poor—­strength and honor are her clothing and she looketh forth smilingly to the morrow; she openeth her mouth with wisdom and the law of kindness is on her tongue—­she looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness.  Deceitful is favor and vain is beauty, but the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Then, washing his hands with the due benediction, he filled the goblet with wine, and while every one reverently stood he “made Kiddish,” in a traditional joyous recitative “... blessed art thou, O Lord, our God!  King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine, who doth sanctify us with His commandments and hath delight in us....  Thou hast chosen and sanctified us above all peoples and with love and favor hast made us to inherit Thy holy Sabbath....”

And all the household, and the hungry Pole, answered “Amen,” each sipping of the cup in due gradation, then eating a special morsel of bread cut by the father and dipped in salt; after which the good wife served the fish, and cups and saucers clattered and knives and forks rattled.  And after a few mouthfuls, the Pole knew himself a Prince in Israel and felt he must forthwith make choice of a maiden to grace his royal Sabbath board.  Soup followed the fish; it was not served direct from the saucepan but transferred by way of a large tureen; since any creeping thing that might have got into the soup would have rendered the plateful in which it appeared not legally potable, whereas if it were detected in the large tureen, its polluting powers would be dissipated by being diffused over such a large mass of fluid.  For like religious reasons, another feature of the etiquette of the modern fashionable table had been anticipated by many centuries—­the eaters washed their hands in a little bowl of water after their meal.  The Pollack was thus kept by main religious force in touch with a liquid with which he had no external sympathy.