Book III: The Coal Summary

David, upon Albert's request, is attending cheder each afternoon, after school. Here, under the tutelage of a crusty, frequently abusive rabbi, he is learning Hebrew, first by reading the Old Testament in Hebrew, and then translating it. This study is meant to prepare him for eventual Bar Mitzvah, a "coming into manhood" for boys of the Jewish faith. Rabbi Yidel is clearly dismayed about this young generation of Jewish boys, seeing them as undisciplined, rowdy urchins who have very little interest in Judaism and even less in becoming model members of the Jewish community. In the course of study, David is particularly interested in a passage of the Old Testament wherein God sends an angel to cleanse Isaiah's mouth with coal. Trying to imagine how painful this would be, David concludes that perhaps angel coal would be...