The Coffee Trader

The thought of a world peopled with cu

Miguel soon learned his thanks were premature.

He had thought it fortunate that Joachim had pulled his impudent prank while the men of the Vlooyenburg were scattered about the city in pursuit of their business, but he had forgotten to account for the women, women who sat in their parlor chairs and stood in their kitchens with their eyes upon the streets, praying that this day heaven would release them from their tedium by manifesting the miracle of scandal. Joachim’s crude behavior had been witnessed: from doorways and windows and side streets. Wives and daughters and grandmothers and widows had seen it all, and they had talked eagerly, to one another and to their husbands. By the time Miguel saw Daniel that evening, there was hardly a Jew in Amsterdam who did not know that a strange man had threatened Ha

Later, Daniel crept down to the cellar. He took a seat in one of the old chairs, his feet slightly lifted out of the damp, and remained silent long enough to expand the discomfort that already crept over them. His eyes half focused on Miguel while he poked at a back tooth, all the while making sucking noises.

Finally he extracted his finger. “What do you know of this man?”

“It does not concern you.” The words sounded feeble even in Miguel’s own ears.

“Of course it concerns me!” Only rarely did Daniel lose his temper with Miguel. He might condescend and lecture and express his disappointment, but he shied away from anything like anger. “Do you know that this encounter is so upsetting to Ha

Miguel felt some of his own anger subside. He had asked Ha

“I’m sorry Ha

“And that foolish maid. Every time I try to inquire of her what happened, she pretends not to be able to understand what I say. The girl understands my Dutch well enough when I go to pay her wages.”

“You are more practiced with those words,” Miguel suggested.

“Don’t play the fool, Miguel.”

“And don’t play the father with me, my younger brother,” Miguel boomed.

“I assure you, I am not playing your father,” Daniel replied tartly. “I am playing the father to an unborn son and I am playing the husband, a role that would have taught you much had you not botched your agreement with Senhor Parido.”

Miguel almost lashed out with some hateful words, but he checked his tongue. In this case, he knew, his brother’s grievance had merit. “I am truly sorry that anyone unpleasant should have had contact with the senhora. You know I would never consciously expose her to any danger. This matter was nothing of my doing.”

“Everyone is full of this, Miguel. I ca

Perhaps that was the source of Daniel’s anger. He did not like that it was Miguel who had saved Ha

“Make sport if you like, but this kind of behavior is a danger to us all. You have threatened the safety not only of my family but of our entire Nation.”

“What madness is this?” Miguel demanded. “Of what threat to our Nation do you speak? Your wife and A

“We both know there is more to it. First I hear you have dealings with the heretic Alferonda. Now I have heard that this man who accosted Ha

“You have heard a great deal,” Miguel answered.

“I might even go so far as to say it hardly matters if it is true-the harm may be the same either way. I have no doubt the Ma’amad would regard these transgressions very seriously.”

“You speak very authoritatively for the Ma’amad and its outdated policies.”

Daniel looked worried, as though they were in public. “Miguel, you go too far.”

“I go too far?” he snapped. “Because I disagree with the Ma’amad in private? I think you have lost your ability to judge the difference between power and wisdom.”

“You mustn’t criticize the council. Without its guidance, this community would be lost.”

“The Ma’amad was instrumental in creating this community, but now it rules without accountability or mercy. It threatens excommunication for the slightest offense, even the act of questioning its wisdom. Shouldn’t we be Jews in freedom rather than in fear?”

Daniel’s eyes widened in the flickering candlelight. “We are foreigners in a land that despises us and needs only an excuse to cast us out. The council stands between us and another exile. Is that what you wish? To bring ruin upon us?”

“This is Amsterdam, Daniel, not Portugal or Spain or Poland. How long must we live here before the Ma’amad understands that the Dutch are not like these others?”

“Do not their clergy condemn us?”

“Their clergy condemn us, but they condemn paved streets, and lighted rooms, and food with flavor, and sleeping while lying down, and anything else that might bring pleasure or comfort or profit. The people mock their preachers.”

“You are naive if you think we ca

Miguel sucked his teeth in frustration. “You hide in this neighborhood with your countrymen, knowing nothing of the Dutch, and so you think them evil because you ca

Daniel shook his head. “I’ll not say you are wrong about these things, but you are not going to change the Ma’amad. It will continue to act as though we are in danger at every moment, and it is better for it to do so than grow complacent. Particularly when Solomon Parido is a parnass, you must treat the Ma’amad’s power with respect.”

“Thank you for your advice,” Miguel said icily.

“I’ve not yet given you advice. My advice is that you do nothing to endanger my family. You are my brother, and I’ll do what I can to shield you from the council, even if I think you’re deserving of its anger, but I’ll not place you before my own wife and unborn son.”

Miguel could say nothing.

“There is more,” Daniel said. He paused to play with a tooth for a moment. “I have not said anything of this to you before,” he mumbled, one finger still in his mouth, “because I knew you to be in a great deal of difficulty, but I have heard that things have changed with you. There is the matter of the money I lent you-some fifteen hundred guilders.”

Miguel nearly gasped. The loan had been like a fart at Shabbat meal: everyone notices, but no one says a word. After all these months, Daniel now finally spoke of the money, and the spell of silence was broken.