Chapter 7, Part 1 Summary

Spring has come in the prison and Yakov still has no indictment. He is desperate with boredom and cracks open one of the phylacteries to read. Zhitnyak catches him reading and confiscates the scrolls. The Deputy Warden is excited over the "new evidence" against Yakov. Zhitnyak later sneaks Yakov a New Testament to read. Yakov is very moved by the stories of Jesus Christ. He feels he is in a similar situation to Jesus.

Yakov quotes scripture to the guards, asking how they take communion each week yet think he is guilty of murdering a boy for blood. Yakov retaliates with their own religious words and they are fascinated by his spin on the Bible's teachings. Kogin, the interested guard, is comforted when Yakov reads the Bible. However, he declines, when Yakov asks for a pencil and paper to write a...