Kerschen is a writer and public school district administrator. In this essay she considers Singer's conflict with the philosophy of Spinoza as he leads his audience to question the main character's conclusion that he has become a fool.

The first clue to the interpretation of any story lies in its title. "The Spinoza of Market Street" causes the reader to ask "Who or what is Spinoza?" If the reader knows that Spinoza was a seventeenth century Dutch philosopher, then the question might be "What connection does Spinoza have to this street?" Is it significant that the street is named Market rather than Elm or First? The reader learns in the first line of the story that Market Street is the home of Dr. Nahum Fischelson in Warsaw, Poland.

Many of Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories are set in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw prior to World War II...