Iripomonoéià

Iripomonoéià is the "Creature" Rabbi Isaac Kornfeld addresses in the "love" letter found in his pocket after he hanged himself from a tree in a park. She seems to be a sort of pagan goddess of Nature, who seduces the rabbi into the "pagan" worship of Nature over his Jewish faith.

Isaac and Sheindal's Daughters

Isaac and Sheindal have seven daughters, including Naomi, Esther, Miriam and Ophra. Isaac announces each new birth to the narrator in brief notes that they exchange with each book the rabbi orders from the bookseller. As the rabbi's preoccupation with Nature becomes more extreme, his bedtime stories to his daughters become more fantastical and disturbing.

Isaac Kornfeld's Father

Isaac Kornfeld's father, a rabbi, was both friends and enemies with the narrator's father, also a rabbi. The two fathers shared a professional competition in their rabbinical work and...