The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store Chapters 5–7 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 5–7

Chapter 5: The Stranger

Two days later, Addie and Moshe are sitting by Chona's bedside when Malachi, the man who bought the bakery, arrives asking for Moshe. Moshe asks Addie to send the man away but Addie, who does not entirely understand what Malachi is asking, refuses, causing Moshe to briefly reflect on the power and authority that both Chona and Addie possess over him. Moshe tries to send Malachi away—he has come for kosher flour to make challah bread—but Malachi resists as Moshe strains against the door in an attempt to close it on the unwelcome guest. Malachi says he is here because of Chona and Moshe finally relents, letting Malachi in and saying he can have the flour. Malachi, still a stranger to Moshe, remarks that he has finally found a wife. Moshe, confused, questions why he should care and the stranger seems hurt, replying that Moshe had urged him to find a wife and that Moshe had invited him here. Moshe finally recognizes Malachi as the dancer from Mickey Katz's performance twelve years prior and is flooded with a sense of lightness and relief. The man formally introduces himself as Malachi and, at Moshe's prompting, indicates that he remembers the explosion that the men witnessed together. However, he insists that the bad times are over now.

Chapter 6: Challah

Two days later, Chona's fever breaks and over the course of the next few weeks she begins to recover from her illness. Moshe attributes her recovery to the arrival of Malachi, who brings Moshe a loaf of challah bread every day to give to Chona. Moshe thinks the bread is revolting. Nate agrees and throws it to a dog that regularly bothers the theater. However, Moshe thanks Malachi who claims that, like Moshe's theater, the bread will bring people together. Careful not to offend his new friend, Moshe reports that the bread has indeed brought peace and healing and realizes that in some ways, he is telling the truth; Malachi seems to bring lightness, joy, and magic to everything he touches and even the dog has begun to leave Moshe alone since it ate the challah.

Moshe reflects that he has few friends and despite his closeness to Nate, there is a disconnect between the two men due to their differences. However, Moshe and Malachi, united by their shared history as Jewish-American immigrants and somewhat disconnected from the world and culture of their ancestors, quickly form a strong bond. Malachi is less drawn to America than Moshe, deeply proud of his European heritage and devout Judaism. However, Moshe tries to convince Malachi of the joys of being American, giving him a mezuzah with the inscription "Home of the Greatest Dancer in the World," which readers will recognize as the mezuzah found with the mysterious skeleton in Chapter 1. Moshe says that if he wears it around his neck, Malachi will be welcome anywhere he goes. However, Malachi declines, telling Moshe to give the mezuzah to Chona instead.

Due to his horrendous baking, Malachi's business quickly deteriorates. Moshe suggests that he hire Black workers but due to a mix of racism and lack of kosher tendencies, Malachi refuses. He asks Moshe about a small Black child standing nearby. Moshe looks at the boy and wistfully thinks of his own childhood in Romania with Isaac. Malachi, to whom Moshe has finally confessed the truth about the challah bread, suggests that it’s not the bread itself Moshe dislikes, but the painful memories tied to it and his troubled childhood. He encourages Moshe to turn to prayer for healing. Malachi stares at the boy and laments that Black people are what is wrong with America and they are the ones who actually have the advantage. Moshe, extremely uncomfortable, defends the Black community. Malachi changes the subject and mysteriously asks Moshe to sell his bakery, then disappears for three years.

Chapter 7: A New Problem

With no sign of Malachi, Moshe sells the bakery and spends a lot of time dwelling on the things Malachi said, ultimately identifying Malachi as a "part of the past." Meanwhile, Nate approaches Moshe about Dodo, explaining that Dodo is deaf and that Thelma Herring, Dodo's mother and Addie's sister, has recently passed away. He and Addie—who, like Chona, cannot have children—have taken the boy in. However, the government is sending a man to take Dodo away to a special school. Nate asks Moshe if Dodo can hide at Moshe's theater for a few days until the man leaves. Moshe is apprehensive at the mention of the government and fears getting into trouble with the state. However, he thinks back to the unwavering loyalty and support that Addie showed Chona during her illness and tells Nate he will check with Chona, though Moshe knows she will immediately give her approval. He lets Dodo stay in the theater's basement, and when he tells Chona that night, she is furious that he left the boy in a cold basement, demanding that Moshe bring Dodo to their home.

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