When the Angels Left the Old Country

At the end of the workday on Saturday, the three friends wait outside the factory and follow Mr. Boaz as he walks to a dance hall. They are each struck by the glamour of the dance hall compared to their own homes. On their way in, Little Ash notices a dybbuk attached to Mr. Boaz, but they lose track of Mr. Boaz once they enter the hall. As they look around, Uriel realizes that it wants to dance with Little Ash. When it asks, Little Ash hesitates, understanding that the sight of two boys dancing together may garner an unwanted reaction. Little Ash breaks away when he overhears a gentile (non-Jewish) man requesting to go into the back to meet with Mr. Boaz.

Little Ash goes around the building and climbs the fire escape to eavesdrop. Mr. Boaz owes the visiting man, Mr. Sullivan, a great deal of money and must pay it back by the end of the week. Mr. Boaz is struggling to raise the money because of the impending strike. With his demon eyes, Little Ash can see that Mr. Sullivan is a very violent man. Mr. Boaz suggests that if Mr. Sullivan kills Malke’s husband, Isaak (the leader of the strike), the strike will end and the money will flow. At this, Little Ash slips and makes enough noise to alert the men to his presence. He flees.

Uriel and Rose hear the commotion and go outside, only to be ushered back in by Little Ash. They hide, dancing in the crowd. When Mr. Boaz leaves, they follow him to his home.  Little Ash asks Uriel to bury its papers and forget the name of Uriel, worried about the growing changes to his friend. Uriel refuses, wanting to keep the name and the free will that comes with it.

The next morning, the trio goes to the Café Krakow to plan. They read different newspapers and learn that Mr. Boaz is throwing a banquet for his daughter’s upcoming birthday. The party will admit some girls through the Women’s Council House. They plan to get Rose on the list so that she can infiltrate Mr. Boaz’s house and find Essie. Uriel struggles to summon holy books, realizing that it has lost more of its angelic powers. However, Uriel insists that it still wants to keep its name. Rose writes a letter home and realizes that she is no longer angry at Dinah, for she is now happy with her life in America.

The three friends attend a strike meeting and listen to Isaak and a young woman speak of the horrific working conditions in the factory and the pain that Mr. Boaz causes in their community. Both Rose and Uriel are moved by the speeches, though Little Ash is less so; he is tense as he surveys the room, watching for any threats to Isaak. Meanwhile, Uriel gains a greater sense of what it means to be human and realizes many things that it never noticed before. Before it took on the name of Uriel, its angelic nature compelled it to refrain from taking action because angels are meant to be above human affairs.

Later that night, Little Ash sneaks out of the apartment to search for the account books in the factory. Uriel follows and surprises him. Little Ash, hesitant to put the angel in danger, nonetheless allows it to follow because he is comforted by its presence. In the factory, as they search, Little Ash asks why Uriel wants to give up its powers. Uriel tells Little Ash that it is chasing freedom and identity. Little Ash reminds Uriel of its lament at not having much power, but Uriel reminds him that he is the entire reason for this adventure in America. They find no evidence of the account books. As they leave the factory, people from the street spot them.

A bullet almost hits Uriel, and Little Ash pulls the angel back into the building. They realize that Sullivan and his men have spotted them. The men chase Uriel and Little Ash into the building. The angel and the demon head to the roof. They realize that they must jump to the next building, and Little Ash tells Uriel to trust him. They make the jump successfully and go down through the building to hide in a nearby park.

The strike begins. With the community’s attention focused on the strike, Rose, Little Ash, and Uriel go to the Boaz house, hoping to see Essie. Uriel and Rose dress and act like a couple, and Rose thinks of how nice it would be to act this way with Dinah. Little Ash dresses as a peddler and brings a case full of fabrics from Malke’s apartment. When he gets to the Boaz house, he notices the dybbuk’s trail on everything. By acting the part of the peddler, he is invited into the servant’s quarters, where everyone wants to hear the gossip about the strike. Little Ash sees Essie working on the factory ledgers and is encouraged when she looks up at him.

Rose and Uriel wait outside the house, worrying. Finally, Little Ash returns, declaring that the dybbuk is all over the family and Essie. He wipes the dybbuk’s energy off himself and goes to bury the rag. Suddenly, Essie appears, asking if Malke sent them. She wants them to tell the strikers to persist because Mr. Boaz has no money and will soon acquiesce to their demands. After proving that they are from Shtetl, Little Ash tells Essie of the dybbuk and gives her a ribbon for protection. Essie tells them that the dybbuk must be Mrs. Shulman, Isaak’s deceased mother. They plan for Essie to escape with Rose and the ledgers during the party tomorrow night. Back at the apartment, Rose, Uriel, and Little Ash discover that the strike turned violent when Mr. Sullivan appeared. Isaak and his brothers are now in jail.

Uriel and Little Ash make their way to the Tomb, a prison with a reputation for having people disappear within its walls. They meet Mr. Shulman on the steps, and he tells them that Isaak is not there; Isaak has likely been taken by Mr. Sullivan. They send Mr. Shulman home and promise to find Isaak. Little Ash follows the trail of Sullivan’s sins into a gentile neighborhood and makes sure that he and Uriel hide their Jewish identities. He leads them to a bar named the Irons.

In the bar, Sullivan meditates on his next move, not believing that Mr. Boaz has no money. He plans to take the money and dump Isaak’s body at the party the following night. Uriel and Little Ash sneak into the back of the bar, and Little Ash notices that a dybbuk is nearby. He picks a lock, and they find Isaak beaten and bloody. When they go to help him, he jumps up, wary of Little Ash. When Uriel steps between them, Isaak punches Uriel in the face. They realize that Isaak is now possessed by the ghost of the rebbe, who has become a dybbuk.

The possessed Isaak storms out of the room and into the bar to attack Sullivan. Uriel stops him, but the rebbe laments that Uriel did not get him to Malke in time. The rebbe accuses Uriel of betraying him by waiting too long for Little Ash to emerge from the immigration center. Suddenly, Sullivan shoots at them, and mayhem breaks out in the bar. Isaak tries to get to Sullivan through the crowd, and Little Ash tells Uriel that they must leave because Isaak is too far gone to help. Uriel disagrees and causes a distraction by etching his name in alcohol on the bar, starting a fire. Uriel and Little Ash lose Isaak in the crowd but safely exit the building. Uriel laments its free will and feels guilty about the harm that the fire may cause. Uriel also blames Little Ash for repeatedly exposing them to danger.