The Miracle of Chance

By Kerry Klineberg

This is the third novel in a series, following the stories and characters crafted in Miriam and Tato and The Retired Timekeeper. Whilst the earlier novels share no common thread, characters, place or time, The Miracle of Chance is a sequel to both, told through alternate chapters before melding into one story.

Hope and good fortune have eluded Miriam all her life. Faced with the aftermath of her father’s sudden death and tumultuous news that will change her life, can she reach out and grab the one chance to change it all?

With the turnaround in Tato’s fortunes, for the first time in his life the future looks bright and full of promise. But can his success continue as he navigates the opportunities and challenges that face his family?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9781398406803

Kerry Klineberg

Kerry Klineberg was born in Sydney in 1948, educated at Sydney University and moved to Melbourne in 1971, where he married. He has two children and two grandchildren. His diverse career spanned the public and private sectors, from industrial relations to the arts and cultural sector. Common to all his employment was the development and advocacy of public policy. His first two novels are completely different. They share no common theme, characters nor time and place. These distinct stories are not the stories of heroes, but of ordinary people, leading ordinary lives, battling their demons and extraordinary events they face along the way.

Book preview

Preface

This noveWWl is the third in a trilogy linking Miriam and Tato and the Retired Timekeeper, the two earlier novels.

Whilst each of the earlier novels is quite different and share no linkage, The Miracle of Chance picks up where each left off and follows the characters into a new period of their lives. It is in the telling of these stories that they become one, joined together through circumstance and good fortune.

The stories tell of joy, despair and the miracle of chance, taking the reader on a rollercoaster ride characterised by extraordinary events and ultimate fulfillment.

Chapter 1

The Aftermath

How many hours have passed? Many, she thought, as she woke slightly dazed. The sun had risen and its beams were gradually warming her body and lighting up the lounge room. She remembered where she was and why she was there. Looking at Isaac on the chair in front of her, a pale shade of greyish white, she leant forward and touched his cheek – not for the first time she recalled, and felt his coldness. He had left her many hours before.

‘Time to get moving,’ she murmured. ‘Time to tell Rachel and Leon and of course David. I’m not looking forward to that. But is there any choice? No. None at all,’ she said, answering her own question.

Miriam went into the kitchen and put on the kettle for her morning coffee. She needed it to waken her senses and her resolve to do what was necessary. Food was unnecessary she felt, at least until she’d made her connections. Maybe then she’d have an appetite.

She rang the Chevra Kadisha (Jewish Burial Society) and informed them of Isaac’s death, mentioning that there was a plot reserved next to her mother. It seemed only yesterday that her mother had gone. Somehow it was surreal going through the motions again – as if on automatic. They made a time to pick up the body. She then rang David in Israel. It was the call she was dreading.

‘Hello, David. It’s Miriam.’

‘Hi, Sis, why at this time?’

‘David—’ And then she broke down. Calming herself to David’s concerned question, she replied,

‘David, Dad passed away last night. He said he wanted to see Mum.’ And she broke down again. A silence followed. Then a broken voice could be heard softly spoken from David,

‘What happened?’

‘He just felt off. I think he had a heart attack but you know how he hates, I mean hated any fuss. He wouldn’t let me call Doctor Cohen. Maybe I should’ve just done so but at the time I didn’t want to argue with him.’

‘Was it quick?’

‘Yes it was pretty quick. And remarkably when I think about it, before hand, we had a wonderful discussion about so many things, including you, David. He was always asking after you, wanting you to be happy and to see you sometime, if it were possible.

‘I’m sure he didn’t suffer. I stayed with him right through the night. I couldn’t leave him, you know?’

‘Of course I do. I’m glad you were there. I’d hate it if he’d been alone. Oh and a long life to you, Sis.’

‘You too, David.’

‘We seem to have said that too frequently over the last 18 months. It doesn’t seem real.’

‘I know what you mean. I thought the same thing. But that’s life as Dad would’ve said and we have little control over what it dishes up. I’ll have to go upstairs to see Rachel. Oh and by the way, I’ve contacted the Chevra Kadisha and they’ll hold off like last time until you get here, but make it soon, okay? And I was going to say, I really don’t want to ring Dad’s friends. I haven’t the strength. I think I’ll ask Rachel to do it.’

David said he’d make arrangements as quickly as he could to get home and he’d expect Jacob to want to come as well, if he could make it. Miriam was silent at the mention of his name. Her ears were still ringing from Isaac’s news that Jacob was her half brother and as a consequence, a marriage couldn’t be contemplated. She also remembered, only too well, that it was about the same time that she’d realised the nausea she was having was probably because she was pregnant. Pregnant to Jacob. She was far from peace within herself as to how she’d deal with all that. But of no consequence today, she decided.

‘Baruch Hashem (Thank God), he never knew.’

She steeled herself and went upstairs to tell Rachel and Leon.

*‘Oy gevult!* (Oh my God),’ replied Rachel with tears in her eyes on hearing the news. Leon was already out she said and that she’d tell him later. ‘It would be such a shock to him,’ she mumbled to herself. ‘Es tit mir zai’er vai tsu hecheran (it really hurts me to hear it) Im yirtz Hashem (God willing), he didn’t suffer,’ she whispered.

‘I have to tell Leon. It won’t be easy. They shared a lot. We all shared a lot, you know Miriam. It’s been a terrible year. One of adjustment for all of us. The end of an era. It’s a lonely time ahead. At least for Isaac, he’ll have your mother. A’feelu in gan aiden iz nisht gut tsu zein a’lain (Even in paradise, it’s good not to be alone).’

She opened her arms to Miriam and both broke down as they hugged and their tears mingled and became one. Pulling away, Miriam told her she had begun to make arrangements and that David would be here as soon as possible.

‘You’ve had practice,’ commented Rachel shaking her head.

‘A favour, Rachel,’ Miriam asked. ‘Could you please call Isaac and Pola’s friends, as I don’t think I can.’ And she broke down.

Rachel agreed and asked Miriam to stay for some brunch. Characteristically of Rachel and Pola before her, food was the antidote for everything.

‘You’ve got to keep your strength up, darling.’

‘I know, Rachel, but I just can’t at the moment. Maybe later.’

However, begrudgingly for peace and quiet, as Rachel picked up on the maybe later, Miriam took some Klops (meat loaf), a piece of roast chicken and some poppy-seed cake that had been made the evening before. Returning to her apartment, she relished the quiet, knowing that once David arrived, there would be the funeral followed by a week of Minyans (gatherings at the end of day of at least ten men to recite prayers for the departed, usually led by a Rabbi) and much to talk about. More than she could manage now.

She turned her mind to Jacob and the unborn child. Firstly, she decided, she needed to confirm her suspicions with the family physician Dr Cohen early in the week. Then she needed to decide what to do about the child. Who to tell? Who did she need to tell and when?

David arrived the following afternoon and each shared their grief. It seemed to have no limits. Isaac had been more than a father to each of them. He’d been an intellectual mentor for Miriam, and for both a lightening rod for the Holocaust narrative that so frequently intertwined itself with their lives. He was also a person who so often provided the judgment as to how they weathered the world together with its complexity, hopes and fears.

Jacob accompanied David and it was an awkward moment when he first entered the apartment because Miriam was still indecisive as to how to manoeuvre through the relationship. Jacob seemed to sense this distance and they each largely kept to themselves, at least till the funeral was over and the Minyans began. Then Miriam’s grief and fatigue began to take its toll and she seemed eager to open up to him, as if she needed his warmth as much as the comfort and intimacy she naturally gained from David’s presence.

By the time of their return to Israel – ten days after their arrival, her relationship with Jacob had regained its closeness of the past, and yet she knew that a certain degree of reserve was needed before complex questions were ultimately considered and decisions made. Whilst the opportunity presented itself many times to discuss her predicament with David, she chose not to do so as she held to the view that at this moment in time, she needed her own counsel, more than anybody else’s. There would be time for discussions down the track.

She also realised that if she were to open up to David, she’d need to share with him the secret of her father’s love of Esther, giving Miriam Esther’s name as her middle name, and the child who was conceived out of wedlock so long ago, was Jacob, her lover. When she thought about it and all Isaac had told her on that night when he had died, she realised that it would be dishonorable to his memory to tell it all to David. If Isaac had’ve wanted David to know any of the story, he’d had many opportunities to tell him. Somehow she felt the whole story could never be told, which in itself posed consternation for her as she wasn’t sure she could carry such a secret forever.

The following Monday after the boys had departed, she visited Dr Cohen who confirmed that she was pregnant between two and three months and all seemed to be fine. She realised that she probably had another three months before beginning to show and she would have to deal with that and all the palaver that came with it. She decided she didn’t need to tell anyone, and in the meantime there was much thinking to be done.

Miriam had read that if she was to decide to terminate the pregnancy, the safest period was within the first 12 weeks and so a decision in that regard needed to be made soon. If she were to wait till the second trimester of up to 24 weeks, she was placing her own life at risk.

She threw herself into her work as a means of escape from addressing the issue and that was not very difficult, with work at Freiberg and Frumm escalating at an alarming rate. As Larry Freiberg’s executive assistant, much fell on her shoulders to smooth the way for the two lawyers.

Miriam resumed her social connection with Sara Gleitzman who was obsessed with her forthcoming wedding to Yossel Meyerovitch, the investment banker – as her mother made clear – to anyone who stopped still long enough. As her closest bridesmaid, Miriam was entrusted with organising the hen night.

‘Miriam, I want it to be glitzy but no male stripper. I don’t think I could face one and anyway, he couldn’t show me anything I haven’t already seen or done.’

‘Spare me the details, Sara, I understand what you’re saying and it hadn’t even occurred to me to organise one. But now you mention it, what about Solly?’

‘Old DTAB (Doesn’t take a breath) Solly? Don’t make me laugh! In fact it’s too disturbing a thought to laugh at. My God, what a terrible thought. All that fat and hair!’

There were three other bridesmaids including Yossel’s sister who were much younger than Miriam and with whom she had absolutely nothing in common. She decided early in the piece not to involve them in any of the arrangements. She was intent on making all the decisions herself. That way, she wouldn’t have to deal with adolescent nonsense, that she assumed was their daily fare.

Miriam and Sara spent many hours together planning all aspects of the wedding, as Sara had insisted to her parents and to Yossel, who was absolutely delighted, that she would organise everything. Her parents simply needed to pay all the bills, which they appeared delighted to do.

On one such occasion, drinking champagne together, a habit that Sara acquired since her engagement, Miriam mentioned nonchalantly that she was pregnant. She was as surprised as Sara to hear mention of it as she’d never intended to tell anyone yet, let alone Sara who was known to know everyone’s business and happy to spread the word around. But it simply slipped out, possibly, she thought, as a result of a liberal quantity of fine Pol Roger champagne.

‘You’re what? You have to be joking? Tell me you’re joking.’

‘Ah no. All too true.’

‘Jesus, you sure know how to floor a girl! When did this happen, and more to the point, whose is it? I mean God forbid if it should be Solly’s, after that insignificant millisecond you spent with him after the Shule supper.’

‘Bite your tongue! What a terrible thought. You’ll remember I met a boy in Israel who was a friend of David’s and worked at the same kibbutz?’

‘Ah yes, I do. What was his name?’

‘Jacob.’

‘You were quite taken with him I remember. In fact, greatly taken it would seem!’

‘I fell in love with him in Israel, and when he came out to Mum’s funeral, we became closer. But the first time we made love was when I was still on the kibbutz. It happened again when he visited with David.’

‘Wow! I’m astounded. What are you going to do?’

‘Mmm, that’s the question. I just don’t know yet.’

‘Well if you are going to have an abortion, which I recommend, unless this love is so strong that you want to marry him, you know there’s a timeline you need to follow.’

‘Yes I know and I think I have about two weeks left to me.’

‘Gee, that’s not much time. Look, if I can be of any help or you want me to accompany you to a clinic, just ask, okay? I’m here for you. I’m just so sorry you have to deal with this. I know from my own experience it’s a hard decision to make.’

‘Thanks, Sara.’

They sat for a while completely silent, caught up with memories and facts to be considered. None of it was simple as each knew and yet a decision was necessary. They refilled their glasses, and as Miriam began to sip the champagne, she recalled the time she sat conversing with her mother in the hospital alcove after her mother had passed away. It was a moment she hadn’t thought about for some time and yet doing so now, seemed quite natural and in fact necessary. She thought for a while and then broke the silence.

‘Sara, I’ve made a decision. And it’s based on a vow I made to my mother about bearing a child to pay homage to her memory, to do the one thing she yearned for. That is for me to bring a new life into the world, not only for me, but as further evidence of the strength and resilience of the family in the face of everything they went through.’

‘You’re going to have the child?’

‘I’m going to have the child. I have no choice and you know what? I feel fantastic that I’ve made a decision based on something so important to me.’

‘Okay. And are you going to tell the father?’

‘That is the one thing I haven’t yet decided and it’s a decision I can’t even think of making before the birth.’

Chapter 2

Growing Up

In the two years after Eddie’s Barmitzvah, his height, intellect, sporting prowess and academic performance soared. It was as if a door had been pushed open and a gust of wind carried all in its wake.

The clean sea air around Tato’s and his in-laws’ new homes in Bronte had been of great benefit to Abe, who was now into his 77th year. His aches and pains seemed to have disappeared and he got into the habit, accompanied by Rachel who was in rude health, of pacing along the cliff-face to Bondi every morning after breakfast.

Frank and Leila had become parents in early 1971 to a charming little girl who they named Lilly Rebecca Stein, after both Frank’s grandmother who had perished in the Holocaust and Leila’s grandmother, who had passed away the year before.

Edward and Tato were busy planning out a trip to the United Kingdom to trace the history of Edward and Tato’s father Edwin’s family in Glasgow, about whom little was known. The intention was also to visit the property that Edward had inherited in Buckinghamshire, catch up with the lawyer who’d looked after the inheritance – Everett Shillingsworth and see a little of England. The approach to the trip took on grand proportions – as it could – because no departure date had yet been set. And they were satisfied to luxuriate in the ever-increasing details and possibilities. Files were created with information about flight times and competitive airlines, possible accommodation options and historic and cultural facts that tourists apparently require before setting out on foreign travel. They had also started discussions with a travel agent who was a client of Chana’s and who Tato and Abe had used before.

In the same year, as if to smother their combined happiness, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had struck and massacred Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Abe’s family – deeply emotional with the news, sat fixated in shocked silence to the television with its broadcast of the events. It was an act which demonstrated to Jews everywhere – and the world at large – that the hatred generated by the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was no longer constrained by borders and that the experience of the 1930s could be revisited at any time, even in Germany. It was interpreted not only as a reflection of the strife in the Middle East but as a harbinger of the overt return of anti-semitism to the world stage. Over time, the determination and expertise of the Israeli Secret Service, Mossad, would hunt down and assassinate the perpetrators of the massacre.

In Australia, confounding even the most ardent optimist, an extraordinary event occurred. The Australian Labor Party (ALP), after being in the wilderness for 30 odd years won government, led by a charismatic man of huge stature and intellect – Gough Whitlam. The expectations were enormous and the patience of the faithful non-existent. So great were the expectations in every area of government policy, that it would be hard if not impossible, to fulfill them all, as events would ultimately demonstrate.

Tato and Edward could not believe the landslide victory, having waited so long and been disappointed so many times. The ALP theme, It’s Time reverberated throughout the McPherson home, as Tato remembered fondly the enthusiastic discussions he would have with his father around the hearth about what an ALP government would achieve for Australia. He also remembered his old waterfront mates and in particular the enigmatic Comrade Fred, who he thought was probably turning somersaults in his grave. He considered visiting the pub to see them again and feel the elation but decided on reflection, that too much time had lapsed and it would be better to just imagine the scene than to crash it and perhaps be disappointed. Anyway, since Fred’s death, the gloss he remembered had worn off the get-togethers.

The three years of ALP government would be recognised as the most innovative, creative and courageous reforming period for modern Australia in social, economic and foreign affairs.

Perhaps the most powerful and pointed marker heralding a new beginning was the early end to conscription, bringing the troops home and withdrawing them from the contentious and ever-widening Vietnam war. That move was followed up with the courageous and forward-thinking recognition of Communist China. Whitlam’s act and his visit to Beijing stole a tactical march on America, whose President Nixon followed Whitlam’s initiative.

In Tato’s workplace – the Furniture Building Inc. (FBI), the tradesmen and apprentices were all ALP supporters and were beside themselves with joy, welcoming what they believed would be a new egalitarian Australia. And they were not disappointed, with changes to social welfare, free university education, the introduction of a national health scheme known as Medibank, the championing of equal pay for women and funding of schools based on need, being the stand-outs. There was no sector of Australian society that remained untouched, even to replacing the British Honours system with an Australian system and replacing the national anthem God Save the Queen, with Advance Australia Fare.

Abe, whilst initially worried about so much reform, got caught up in the reverie, the spirit of enthusiasm and the overt confidence in the future of Australian society. Its youth and vigour again came to mind as it had on so many occasions throughout Tato’s life, commencing in 1949 when he first returned to the mountain after his seven year absence. The sense of elation and giddy excitement was, however, not to last.

Tato and Chana spent many Saturday nights enjoying their favourite entertainement – the cinema. And they were not disappointed. The year produced a host of wonderful films that tantalised, moved, amused and beguiled. Perhaps the standout for them, was Cabaret, a wonderful musical, set during the 1930s in Germany, juxtaposing the high life with the emerging darkness of Nazism. It starred Liza Minelli and Joel Grey and left Abe and Rachel stunned and disturbed when they joined Tato and Chana at the cinema bringing back eerie memories of their homeland. It won eight Academy Awards. The Godfather, starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, was another outstanding box office success, winning three Academy Awards and wowing the audiences followed by a much needed change of pace, was The Man from La Mancha with Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren. It won two Golden Globes. And with a tongue-in-cheek irreverent look at Australian culture, came The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, starring Barry Humphreys, Spike Milligan, Barry Crocker and Peter Cook. Those nights, like in the years before, thoroughly entertained and enriched their lives.

Tato and Chana, encouraged by Annie, bought a stereo system and proceeded to purchase records of songs they’d liked from the radio and from television programs like Young Talent Time and Countdown, broadcast on the ABC. Bandstand, which had been a television musical institution since 1958, ended in 1972, much to Eddie’s and Annie’s disappointment. It was a rare thing for the McPherson household to be silent of music, which was played from the time Eddie and Annie returned from school till they went to bed. The allure of the music and the glamour of Bandstand and others was magnetic to Annie, whilst Eddie, who was aware of it all, had likes and dislikes but remained aloof to its glamour.

There were many songs that tantalised them all. The special ones for Tato and Chana, were I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing by The New Seekers, You’re so Vain by Carly Simon and Rocket Man by Elton John. Of particular note, was I am Woman by Helen Reddy that became the anthem for the Woman’s Liberation Movement that was in full swing. The movement at first unnerved Chana, unsure as to how it melded with her upbringing, but then, with encouragement from Rachel, she wore its allure with pride and became an ardent advocate, particularly after reading The Female Eunich by the Australian author Germaine Greer that had been published two years earlier.

‘I spoke to Tato about it, Mum, and he was supportive I think up to a point, but I don’t think he really gets it. I think the way he’s always been and that’s not bad, but certainly not liberated, will be untroubled by the new thinking. What do you think about it all, Mum?’

‘Well Chana, I think it’s wonderful. I don’t think my generation fully comprehends the possibilities and the doors it will push open. Your generation and Annie’s should get the real benefits, supposing it continues to change people’s thinking.’

‘What about Dad?’

‘Ha! He has no understanding. He’s from an old-fashioned culture where things were always as they were and I think will go on as if nothing has changed. He’ll think about it, don’t get me wrong, but that will be the extent of it. I mean Chana, your father and I being liberal progressive Jews – whilst more progressive and able to absorb change in a way the orthodox like your grandparents couldn’t – still have some residual difficulty in being able to bridge the void between then and now. The jump will be too much for some of your father’s and my friends.’

‘I’d like to think men will look at women differently, that they’ll be regarded for their intellect and natural abilities as much as for their appearance. Is that naïve, Mum?’

‘As I say, maybe in Annie’s lifetime. As to Tato’s discomfort, that is the first step to change, because you have to let go and give women freedom to control their own lives – their destiny if you like. And that’s not easy. At the base of it, all is sex and sex is a mighty drug, Chana, and its influence on people’s behavior, even the most enlightened, can never be underestimated. At the end of the day, you can’t pass laws to regulate how one person values another. It’s something that a person has to grow up with and be influenced by schooling and parents. But whatever its fundamental affect, if it makes people think about these things, then that at least is a worthwhile benefit. A real start in the process of change.’

Chana was determined that it would change Annie’s perception of herself and her place in the ever-changing world. Interestingly, Eddie spent time discussing the movement and its ideals with Tato, unsure as to what it meant in terms of relationships with girls, who were of increasing interest to him. He took much from the discussions, always the ardent listener, scouring his intellect for understanding.

Beyond attending the cinema and their increasing bevy of favourite restaurants, they had been introduced by one of Chana’s clients, to Whisky Au Go-Go, a burlesque nightclub in Kings Cross and The Mandarin Club in Goulburn Street in the Haymarket. The club was basically a pub, open 24 hours, which attracted many celebrities who congregated there after finishing their nightly shows. The glamour and glitzy nature, whilst far removed from their daily life, was an attractive outlet and an opportunity to experience the seamier side of the Sydney nightlife. However, other more serious matters were poised to tax their sense of fun and entertainment.

In October 1973, on the eve of Yom Kippur, a most sacred and solemn day in the Jewish calendar, as Tato and Chana and the whole family prepared for a day of fasting and sacred prayers, Israel was attacked without warning by a coalition of Arab armies led by Egypt and Syria encouraged by the Soviet Union. The war raged with Israel greatly outnumbered and seemingly close to destruction. However, as it turned out, superior strategies, and disciplined determination in recognition of what was at state, greater fire power and fury at the complete disrespect of this holiest of Jewish Holidays produced positive results for Israel in many bloody battles on a number of fronts in the Sinai and Golan Heights, which Israel had annexed in the 1967 war. Despite strong initial advancement by Egypt and Syria, Israel, though greatly outnumbered, pushed the Egyptian army back across the Suez and virtually neutralised the Syrian army gaining more territory in the Golan Heights.

As had happened on so many extraordinary moments in world history over at least the last decade, Tato and Chana sat with Abe and Rachel and their children glued to the nightly television news, silent and pre-occupied with premonitions of disaster and dreams of miracles. When the war ended on 26 October with Israel as the victor, they were elated, relieved and proud of their little country, which again had punched so much above its weight and gained the respect of the rest of the free world.

In 1972, Annie had turned 12 years old but didn’t celebrate her Bat-mitzvah with a group of girls from the Temple Emanuel until the beginning of the next year. Her study, and required performance on the day, whilst not as onerous as Eddie’s had been, was never the less received with great excitement by Tato and Chana who remarked to her that it was a wonderful achievement which, as with Eddie, brought with it great expectations, some of them by Annie of herself.

‘You know I’m a lady now, Dad?’

‘A lady? Well, that would be nice but I think adult is the word you’re looking for.’

‘Well, Dad, the point is I can’t be treated like I used to be. Do you know what I mean?’

‘Not really.’

‘I mean my opinion needs to be asked rather than just being told what I’m supposed to do.’

‘Really? So I can’t ask you or expect you to do the drying up after dinner?’

‘Well, probably not. I can’t tell you what sort of things it covers because I haven’t really thought about it.’

‘Okay. Well it seems to me that you need to think about it and be a little more specific and then we can talk again. Okay?’

‘Thanks Dad.’

‘Oh and by the way, you had an assignment to finish for school if I remember correctly and this discussion certainly excludes school work.’

‘I know. I get you. We’ll talk more next time.’

‘I look forward to it.’

Tato was amused but understood what she was getting at and if she was to feel any sense of change, no matter how small, he’d need to listen to her with some increased patience and understanding. He also realised he’d better fill Chana in to the new world order.

Following the ceremony in the Synagogue, a lunch for adults combined with a party for Annie’s friends, was held at a heritage listed home, which had become popular for receptions.

Annie and her friends danced, with her hanging onto Ricky Blumeberg who she had announced the month before was now her boyfriend. A