[to Robbie] Eavesdropping? How very Camden of you.
I feel badly that none of my family made it to your mothers dinner.
Under the circumstances...
Still, later tonight I'll call your mom and apologize. We were this close to pulling it off, to doing what neither of us thought we could do, get married with our two families thereby bringing us and our two faiths together, like a family is suppose to be.
Just for the record, I didn't think we were this close to pulling it off.
Our fathers are never going to admit they are wrong, apologize and show up and the synagogue as nothing ever happened.
RRichard
I don't believe in the marriage so I can't marry them. It's as simple as that.
With me here, Simon can take over Matt's role in the family and you can have your room back.
So, you're not moving?
No, unless you can tell me why all of a sudden my best friend in this family is declaring war on me and is trying to get me to leave the only place I ever really considered home.
[Ruthie just walks out]
It's a mistake, Dad. A big mistake. I mean, I love you, but if you don't show up at my wedding, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you.
And, if you convert tomorrow, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you.
So, we're at an impasse, both of us refusing to give in to the other. I wonder which one of us will win, or if we'll both lose.
You still planning on getting married?
Yes, are you still planning on not being there?
You can have your room back if you want it.
I'm fine with the garage. Look, I really need to finish this best man speech. I'm having a lot of trouble, so if you don't mind.
Are you kicking me out?
Yeah, just like you kicked me out.
Well, are you kicking Sam and David out, too?
No. Sam and David can stay.
Well, that's not fair!
And neither is the way you're treating me. You know, when you're ready to apologize and explain why you've been so mean to me, I'll be here. Are you ready? [long pause, Ruthie walks out]
[on the phone] No matter how much I like you, I just can't pick up and move to Glen Oak. My family is in Buffalo. My job is in Buffalo. I want to be with you, but I can't just give up my life.
So I should just give up my life and move to Buffalo?
I didn't say that, but it would be nice if you considered it.
I already used up my one "give up my life and move halfway across the country to be with the one I love" chip with Jeremy. I can't do it again.
Well, you can't ask me to do something that you're not willing to do yourself. (pause) Are you still there?
Yes. I'm still here. In Glen Oak. Without you.
Sarah's father has worked it out so that tomorrow, before Sarah and I get married, I can convert, and I'm gonna do it.
What? I thought you weren't going to address this issue until later--maybe when you and Sarah had children, or after I was dead.
Look, I have my reasons, and I'm ready to do this.
You can't seriously think that in less than four months, you've studied and researched Judiasm, a religion that's thousands of years old. Well enough to convert!
Well, I've been going to temple with Sarah and her family every Saturday since Sarah and I got engaged, and I've been attending conversion classes, and--
[sarcastically] Oh, why, I didn't know that you've been to temple 15 times and taken some classes. Well, why didn't you say so? Of course you're ready to convert! [pauses] Just for your information, converting just for marriage is wrong.
You can't call off my wedding, and you can't stop me from converting. Dad, you have to let me live my life.
Okay, live your life. Get married. Just don't convert.
I know this is not about religion. This is about you not wanting to let me grow up, but...
Oh, no, this is about religion. I don't want you to convert! And just so you know, it's not because you want to convert to Judiasm. If you wanted to be any other religion, I'd have the same reaction, and not because I think that our religion is better, but because you can't make a decision as big as changing your faith this quickly! And if you weren't getting married, you wouldn't be thinking about it, would you?
Dad, you can't stop me.
Are you really gonna do this tomorrow? Convert?
Yes.
Then it'll have to be without me.
I'm sorry, but I think I just heard you tell me you weren't coming to my wedding.
Maybe if I don't go, it'll give you some pause, and you'll rethink your decision.
I can't believe you'd do this to me.
Someday you'll thank me.
You're assuming that someday, I'll be talking to you again.
RGRabbi Glass
I made a suggestion, and Matt agreed. This is Matt's decision, not mine, honey.
Okay, Dad. If you're helping Matt to convert tomorrow purely because you think that he is totally committed to it and ready to enter into a covenant between God and Jewish people, then good. But if, like I suspect, you're only doing this as a last ditch effort to try to cause some sort of drama that might cause my wedding not to happen?? Well, if that's the case, then let me tell you that Abraham himself isn't going to be able to protect you from my wrath! [kisses him and walks out]
How do you think I felt when you rejected the Marines?
I didn't reject the Marines. I...
Chose a different path? Took a different road? When you came to me and said you were not going to enlist in the Marine Corps and indeed had already enrolled in Seminary, I felt you were rejecting me and my whole way of life. At that time, that was unbearable. And then I realized that you weren't rejecting the Marines or me. You were choosing something else, following your own heart, as is Matt. Matt may leave your house, Eric, and he may leave your church, but he can never leave behind what you taught him. What makes him, him is you. You raised him. He'll always be your son, and as long as he goes out into the world and does some good, does it really make any difference whether he's Christian or Jewish, as long as he's still Matt? That, I eventually had to realize about you. You may not be a Marine, but by heaven, you are my son, and up until now, you've always done the right thing and made me proud. Do the right thing, and make me proud.
Do I understand that you are not going to the wedding?
I have my reasons for not going, and they're not up for discussion or debate.
Who do you think you're talking to? Some friend who stopped by for coffee? I'm your father, and Matt's grandfather, and I've just flown 2,000 miles to attend this wedding. Whether you want to or not, you're gonna tell me what the devil is going on here!
Matt plans to convert.
Who cares?
I care, and obviously, you don't understand, and that's why I don't want to talk about this!
You feel that you raised Matt in a certain way--your way. And now, as an adult, he's choosing his own path, and you feel that he's rejecting you, or rejecting the road you thought he'd take in life, the road you picked for him to take life. And now you're hurt because you can't understand why he doesn't want to take your road.
Okay, maybe you do understand.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's 7th Heaven pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.