Pem and Sarah's Courtship

A widowed rabbi and a defrocked priest move from theological friendship to embattled tenderness and marriage.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

First Meeting in the Synagogue Kitchen

First Meeting in the Synagogue Kitchen Context Pem arrives at the Synagogue of Evolutionary Judaism to recover the stolen cross and meets Joshua Gruen and Sarah Blumenthal. Sarah is the one who connected the cross to the newspaper story. Pem is immediately caught by her nearsighted eyes, her scholar's gesture of pinching her nose, and her honesty. He leaves feeling exceptionally sorry for himself that no Sarah Blumenthal waits at home for him. Significance The meeting plants a seed that will take years to flower. Pem sees in Sarah a freshness and self-possession that he has not found in his own world. She treats him naturally, without deference or fear, and that alone is transformative. Consequences Their friendship develops through the mystery of the cross, then through shared attendance at the EJ's Friday services, and finally through the grief of Joshua's death.

Dinner at Amarillo after Services

Dinner at Amarillo after Services Context After the Friday night seminars, Pem and Sarah often have dinner at a Broadway restaurant, occasionally joined by Everett. Everett notices the attention they pay each other in the candlelight, a communion they are not aware of. Sarah avoids being alone with Pem, out of concern for the children and for her own mourning. Significance The dinners mark the slow rhythm of a courtship conducted under the sign of grief. They are both excited and afraid of what is happening. Sarah's caution makes Pem feel he is being tested; his patience is a form of discipline. Consequences Everett acts as a chaperon and witness. His presence allows them to remain in the safe country of friendship a little longer.

Pem's Confession of Love

Pem's Confession of Love Context Pem tells Everett that he is in love with Sarah and would convert to Judaism if that were what it took. He cannot make a move, fearing he would trivialize himself in her eyes and reveal his lack of understanding of her irrevocable widowhood. He also mourns Joshua, her late husband, whose quest he admires. Significance The confession shows Pem's vulnerability beneath his prophetic bluster. He is in love with someone he can never fully possess because she still belongs to a dead man. The love becomes an education in forbearance. Consequences He continues to attend the EJ, to charm her sons with baseball games, and to wait. Sarah gradually sees him not as a replacement but as a possible future.

The Archive and the Shared Grief

The Archive and the Shared Grief Context Pem's successful recovery of the ghetto archive brings him and Sarah together in a ritual of unsealing. She is moved by the photographs of her father as a runner, and Pem is overcome by the sacramental whiteness of the room. They sit side by side in silence, each aware that something between them is no longer only friendship. Significance The archive is the physical conduit of their intimacy. It contains the world that made Sarah, and Pem has returned it to her. Their shared encounter with death dissolves the barrier of clerical decorum without requiring a word. Consequences Sarah begins to see Pem differently, not as an admirer but as a man who acts out of love. The wedding becomes possible.

The Wedding Dance

The Wedding Dance Context Sarah and Pem are married in a civil ceremony. At the reception, Everett dances with Sarah, and she says, You will always be our friend. When she dances with her son Jake, her arms are outstretched and her face is serene. Pem's wedding prayer turns assertion into humble entreaty. Significance The dance is the emotional resolution of the courtship. Sarah has chosen life after grief, and Pem has found a love that is also a faith. Their union carries Joshua's memory rather than erasing it. Consequences The marriage becomes the ground of Pem's conversion and the continuation of the EJ's work. The novel's most intimate thread ends in a sacrament of ordinary happiness.

the day Pem comes to retrieve the cross from the EJ synagogue

after a Friday night EJ service, when Pem and Sarah dine with Everett

at a later Knickerbocker's conversation with Everett

during Pem's search and the unsealing at JFK

at the reception in the Jefferson hotel