The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

by Lynda Cohen Loigman

“My job isn’t always to keep you safe,” said her mother. “My job is to teach you to keep yourself safe.

“Will you tell me about the words inside it? The words you are always repeating? Please, will you explain what they mean?” “The words themselves could not be simpler. They state the mortar’s purpose, that is all.” She held up the mortar and pointed inside it as she recited the words in English. To ease the pain of those who suffer To repair the bodies of those who are ill To restore the minds of those in need

“B’sha’ah tovah.” Augusta knew what the words meant. It was customary, when wishing a pregnant woman well, to refrain from congratulatory language. Mazel tov, Augusta had been taught, was appropriate only when referring to something that had already occurred. Pregnancy, on the other hand, was the expectation of something yet to come, a potential yet to be fulfilled. Esther had chosen the more prudent phrase, which, translated loosely, meant “all in good time.” It was a wish for the future, rather than a blessing for the past—a wish that the pregnancy should be smooth, the baby healthy, and the birth without complication.