Summary

In the story “Chance,” the synagogue attended by a young girl had been chosen to be the new home of a Torah from Czechoslovakia. The village in which the Torah had resided had been obliterated. A ceremony was scheduled on a Sunday two weeks from the day the Torah arrived at the synagogue. Before the Torah arrived, a study group that met in homes to play poker had a meeting at the narrator’s house. While playing poker, the narrator noticed the rabbi checking out her mother in a sexual manner. Later, during the service to accept the new Torah, the narrator realized that there were probably similarities between the congregation that had been obliterated and the congregation that she attended. Not only were there those who were deeply religious, there were also those who acted sinfully.

Analysis

This coming of age story addresses...