After a pleasant Shabbos meal, and after Chana had gone to sleep, Mrs. Schwartz and the elderly woman sat together in the dimly lit living room, sipping cups of hot tea. It was the first time that Mrs. Schwartz had ever seen Mrs. Krupnick smile.

“Tonight is the first time since my husband died, many years ago, that I have not spent Shabbos alone,” said Mrs. Krupnick. “We always worked hard, yet we were quite poor, and although I wanted children badly, we didn’t have any. After my husband died, I felt so sorry for myself, and so alone. But I didn’t feel like being with people either, and children always bothered me, since I never had any of my own.”