Reuven feels comfortable in Danny's household and is welcomed by his sickly mother, quiet little brother, attractive sister, and silent father. They discuss Freud extensively and discover his disturbing effects on both their psyche. Although troubled, Danny seems to accept Freud's teachings along with his Hasidic practice, despite their overt contradictions.
When Reuven visits his father in the hospital, he sees a thinner obsessed man with articles and newspapers strewn all over the room. He is convinced that the Jews now need a homeland in Palestine. A stark Zionist, he believes that the Jews cannot wait for a messiah to come, for they may be all murdered in the meanwhile. Soon after this visit, Reuven eats breakfast with the Saunders family and brings up his father's ideas. Reb Saunders explodes at Reuven by saying that the idea of building a Jewish homeland without the messiah is for goyim, non-Jews, apikorsim! "God will build the land, not Ben Gurion and his goyim! When the Messiah comes, we will have Eretz Yisroel, a Holy Land, not a land contaminated by Jewish goyim!" Chapter 12, p. 198. As Danny walks outside with Reuven, he tells him never to bring up the subject of Palestine again. His father is suffering from? the deaths of the six million Jews.
While studying one day, Danny tells Reuven that he feels trapped and poisoned by his inheritance. His younger brother, although sick, would be a great tzaddik and could take over Reb Saunders'position instead of Danny. Reuven chooses to ask about his sister, who has been promised to another man when she reaches eighteen. Danny plans to tell his father in the near future and needs Reuven around when he does so.
During Reuven and his father's vacation at their cottage, the Americans bomb Japan. Reuven enters Hirsch College and starts shaving. Danny remains fairly unchanged, save the new glasses he wears and the heavier beard on his face.
