When the Angels Left the Old Country

When Uriel and Little Ash are called up by an official, Little Ash answers all the questions. They let Uriel through but hold Little Ash back for a medical examination. Little Ash gives Uriel some money and promises to meet up soon. Little Ash waits for his doctor in an examination room and is horrified to realize that his doctor is really a Christian demon. The doctor shows extreme prejudice toward Little Ash and initially tries to devour Little Ash’s soul. However, the demon decides that Little Ash does not have enough magic, so he lets him go, marking him for a return voyage to Europe.

Rose’s luck is no better; because she is a young girl, she is not allowed to enter the country without a chaperone. She resents this decision and finds herself in a room of weeping people who are being turned away. She reunites with Little Ash and wonders how she can contact her cousin and ask her to come. When Rose questions Little Ash, he resolves to find a way to force the officials to let him in.

Waiting outside the immigration center, Uriel is torn between its mitzvah to the rebbe and its commitment to Little Ash. Suddenly, Rose comes out of the center and tells Uriel to go to Hester Street and tell her cousin to come get her. Rose’s cousin lives on the same street that the rebbe’s daughter does. Rose tells Uriel that Little Ash refuses to leave the center and says not to worry about him.

Inside, Grandmother Rivke joins Little Ash, who laments feeling not good enough. He remembers how he once left his father’s palace to escape these feelings. He tells her of the Christian demon at the center, and she encourages him to be strong. He wishes to be different and thinks of how Uriel would help the people here. Unlike Uriel, though, Little Ash hates feeling human.

Uriel goes to Hester Street and is shocked by the enormity of the city. It finds the bookstore of the rebbe’s son-in-law, but the door is locked and no one is inside. Desperately thinking like Little Ash, Uriel tries the door to the apartments upstairs and finds Malke’s sister-in-law, Freidy, and a toddler. They are waiting for the family to return from a strike meeting. The rebbe guides Uriel through the conversation, and it learns that there is a strike brewing against Mr. Boaz, the owner of the factory where everyone works. Uriel also notices a half-covered mirror: a sign of a recent death. Uriel asks about Rose’s cousin, Bluma, and Freidy says that she knows Bluma. A very pregnant Malke soon returns, and Freidy introduces Uriel as one of the rebbe’s students. The ghost of the rebbe, who is weak and running out of time, jumps from Uriel to Malke. After these introductions, Uriel delivers the sad news of the rebbe’s passing.

At the apartment, Uriel learns to be a human guest. It participates in Kaddish (a prayer) for the rebbe. With the ghost’s disappearance, Uriel must now make plans alone. Meanwhile, at Ellis Island, Rose and Grandmother Rivke comfort each other. Rose is determined to find a way out. In passing, she remembers the picture of Essie and hopes to meet her. In another bunk, Little Ash feels lonely; he also worries about Uriel. For tonight, Uriel stays at Malke’s but cannot remember how to sleep. It feels the loss of Little Ash intensely, recognizing that they have a bond that is uncommon between angels and demons.

In the morning, Malke brings Uriel to the bookshop and asks what she can do to help. After hearing about Little Ash’s situation, Malke sends Uriel to Rabbi Wolf, who often helps those who get stuck at Ellis Island. The angel follows Malke’s directions uptown and is amazed by the differences between Shtetl and New York City. The synagogue is very different, and Uriel struggles to feel at home. Rabbi Wolf is cold toward Uriel and refuses to help Little Ash, saying that not everyone can come and that some must stay in the old country and improve the conditions there. However, he does offer money to Uriel. Discouraged, Uriel takes the money and leaves.

At Ellis Island, Little Ash plots to dispose of the Christian demon who is masquerading as a doctor. He plans to use the little magic he possesses to get out of the center. However, he struggles to find the doctor and envisions the doctor sucking out his soul every time he closes his eyes. Little Ash also notices that no other demons join him in the waiting room. He is anxious because he does not believe that the doctor would let them through.

Bluma leaves a note for Uriel, saying that she cannot get Rose until Sunday because she must work. She wants Uriel to bring a letter to Ellis Island on her behalf and promises to come soon. Malke sends Uriel to the Women’s Council House for another letter, saying that it will further help Rose’s case.

Little Ash slips out of the waiting room, and Rose follows him, insisting on helping. Little Ash goes looking for the doctor and tells Rose that she cannot meet the doctor because he is a “werewolf” and will kill them both. She agrees to be a lookout. Little Ash finds the doctor’s lair in the basement. He locks the door behind him and finds himself surrounded by ghosts. Uriel arrives to deliver the letters and tries to find Little Ash and Rose but only finds Grandmother Rivke. Uriel feels the angelic pull to forsake its name and help Rivke in her upcoming hearing, but it wants to find Little Ash and keep its name. Uriel gives Rivke all the money it has and runs to find the demon. In the basement, the ghosts want revenge against the doctor, so Little Ash asks them to lend him some magic. He feels the selfish, demonic urge to flee and swim to the city, but he knows that he cannot face Uriel without finishing his task. The ghosts point him to the morgue, where the doctor brings the bodies of the other demons.

The doctor is waiting for Little Ash and tells him that he should return to Europe. Little Ash instead tries to eat the doctor’s soul, using the ghosts to hold the doctor down. The doctor soon overpowers both the ghosts and Little Ash, pinning the young demon and breaking his wrist and ribs.

Uriel finds Rose. She leads the angel to another entrance to the basement. Uriel finds Little Ash and yells at the doctor, pinning him to a wall and using holy fire to burn the demon’s soul from his body. In the aftermath, Uriel no longer feels the angelic pull to do good deeds, for it has gone too far against its nature. When Rose finally arrives, Little Ash, who is now stitching his bones back together, suggests that his friends dress him as a girl. Uriel and Little Ash are relieved to be reunited.

When they return from the basement with Little Ash in disguise, the trio meets Rivke, who is now free to go because the money that Uriel gave her has proven that her family can support her. Uriel advocates for Rose, and she is permitted to enter the country. She also claims that Little Ash is a cousin, and Uriel acts as a chaperone for them both. Uriel, Little Ash, and Rose take the ferry to the city and go to Malke’s, where Rose is reunited with her cousin Bluma. Malke treats their arrival as a celebratory occasion, working through her grief over the rebbe’s death. Little Ash, who also masquerades as one of the rebbe’s students, asks Uriel if the rebbe’s ghost is still present. Uriel says no, but Little Ash feels unsure. Little Ash wants to ask Uriel if he can bury its identification papers so that it can forget the name of Uriel entirely, but they cannot speak privately yet. Uriel squeezes Little Ash’s hand to comfort him.