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"They were a lost nation spread across the American countryside, bewildered, their yeshiva education useless, their proud history ignored, as the clankety-clank of American industry churned around them, their proud past as watchmakers and tailors, scholars and historians, musicians and artists, gone, wasted. Americans cared about money. And power. And government. Jews had none of those things; their job was to tread lightly in the land of milk and honey and be thankful that they were free to walk the land without getting their duffs kicked—or worse."

This quote appears in Chapter 6, in a passage during which Moshe reflects on his deep friendship with Malachi. As two Jewish immigrants in America, Moshe and Malachi bond over their people's shared history, forging and strengthening their connection. McBride uses the passage to reflect on the larger theme of immigration in America and the erosion of traditional Jewish culture. He comments on the erasure of culture, history, and identity that comes with the process of assimilation. As Jews flocked to America, he states, their arrival not only demanded adaptation to a new society and order, but also signaled the loss of an entire way of life. To be considered American, they had to lose something intangible and were then expected to react with gratitude instead of mourning. McBride describes how Jews had to join the ranks of American industry and, in doing so, reject Jewish history and identity. To some degree, this forever severed them from their people's traditional way of life.

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