Mrs. Mendelson

Mrs. Mendelson is the mikvah attendant who guides Devorah through her first immersion before marriage. She controls the rooms, the pace, and the inspection that precedes the ritual. To Devorah, her manner shifts from condescending authority to apparent triumph and, after the immersion, sudden concern; that sequence makes the visit a test of bodily dignity as well as religious preparation.

Identity and Introduction

Mrs. Mendelson appears in the mikvah’s anteroom wearing a flowered housedress and a shpitzel, a head covering Devorah associates with especially pious women. Devorah reads her wide smile as false and her tilted head as condescending, and believes the attendant considers herself superior because Devorah’s family wears wigs rather than shpitzels. Those judgments are Devorah’s immediate impressions, not a history of Mrs. Mendelson’s life; the scene gives her significance through the authority she exercises at work.

She addresses Devorah as “Mamaleh” and mistakes Chaya for Mrs. Mendlowitz, Devorah’s mother. Chaya does not correct her, deciding that explaining the relationship to a stranger in the anteroom would take too long and that the stranger need not know. Mrs. Mendelson takes charge without learning the family story: she tells Chaya she will look after her daughter, then leads Devorah away.

The Bridal Room and Its Procedures

Mrs. Mendelson guides Devorah through a large lobby furnished with velvet chaises and silk-flower bouquets, then along a marble corridor with chandeliers and sconces. They pass several branching hallways before reaching a small room reserved for brides. Devorah cannot remember the route back and feels unsettled by the room’s size and the thought of many women preparing in separate, similarly small spaces. Mrs. Mendelson’s authority is thus established not only by her instructions but by her command of a place whose layout leaves the bride dependent on her guide.

In the bridal room, Mrs. Mendelson asks whether Devorah remembers what to do, with hands on hips and feet planted as though underscoring her authority. Devorah has studied the procedure and remembers her instruction, but answers in a bright, thin voice that betrays nervousness beneath her practiced smile. Mrs. Mendelson points out the wall panel: one button is marked Help, the other Ready, and an intercom is available. The arrangement gives Devorah a way to summon the attendant, but also places the timing and terms of the inspection in the attendant’s hands.

After Mrs. Mendelson leaves through a second door, Devorah follows her checklist: she removes her contact lenses, wipes off makeup, cleans her ears, flosses, trims her nails, washes and combs her hair, and carefully cleans the creases of her body. She has been warned that nothing must come between her and the water, and that finding something afterward could mean repeating the immersion. When Devorah finishes bathing, she wraps herself in a new blue terry-cloth robe and presses Ready. Mrs. Mendelson answers immediately over the intercom, asking whether she is finished so quickly.

Inspection and Conflict

Mrs. Mendelson enters, sees Devorah seated on the toilet in her robe, and objects that she cannot inspect her that way: Devorah must be in the bathtub. This contradicts Devorah’s understanding from her kallah teacher, who said she would be checked while dressed. Devorah’s cheeks burn; she tries to speak but cannot. The conflict is not over whether Devorah has prepared according to the law, but over whose instruction governs the inspection and how much choice Devorah has when the two accounts differ.

The attendant ushers her into the tub impatiently and says she has many girls to take care of that night. She asks whether Devorah remembers what she learned, while Devorah perceives a faint triumph in her movements and feels that she is being baited into admitting she has forgotten. Unsure whether she missed something during her lessons, Devorah complies, slipping out of the robe and folding herself into the water with her knees against her chest. She notices goose bumps on her arms and reads Mrs. Mendelson’s satisfied expression as a victory. The scene leaves the attendant’s motive with Devorah’s perception; what is clear is that Devorah experiences the inspection as humiliating and feels unable to refuse.

After the Immersion

In the mikvah pool, Devorah completes the prescribed immersions and blessings. Mrs. Mendelson holds out the robe as Devorah climbs the steps. Devorah sees the attendant’s eyes above its collar and, after holding back tears, begins to cry. She forgets the customary kiss on the cheek; when Mrs. Mendelson turns to give her a blessing, she notices the tear and widens her eyes.

Her manner changes. She calls Devorah a string of affectionate names and asks what is wrong and what she can do. Devorah’s sob escapes, and she cries openly. Mrs. Mendelson tells her it is all right to be emotional the first time, but says she should be happy because it should be the happiest night of her life. The reassurance does not erase the earlier coercive-feeling encounter: the same attendant who insisted on the bathtub inspection now tries to console the bride whose tears follow it.

Narrative Role

Mrs. Mendelson’s brief appearance concentrates the tension between ritual instruction and a young woman’s control over her own body. She is neither presented through an independent account of her intentions nor given a broader personal arc; the reader encounters her through Devorah’s close, unsettled perspective. Details of gesture—the hands on her hips, the impatient ushering, the satisfied look, then the widened eyes—make authority and its emotional consequences visible without resolving whether the attendant understands the harm Devorah feels.

The episode also complicates the expectation that a bride’s first immersion will be simply joyful. Mrs. Mendelson calls it the happiest night of Devorah’s life, while Devorah’s crying records how far the actual experience is from that ideal. Her role in the scene is therefore consequential: she helps conduct a sacred preparation, but her handling of the inspection becomes the immediate source of the bride’s distress.