The Golem and the Jinni Chapter 11 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • The Jinni buys an umbrella because rainy days and Mondays always get him down.
  • He feels stupid carrying it (Gene Kelly hasn't come along to make them cool yet) so he embellishes a little bling on the handle.
  • While walking in the Bowery, a girl from the brothel propositions him, but he declines her offer, even at the bargain price of twenty cents.
  • Way over in the Syrian Desert, Fadwa is living the desert life, milking goats and dreaming of the Jinni; she wonders if he even really exists.
  • In New York, the Rabbi discovers a formula to bind the golem to a new master. There's a catch, though, which is that she'll have to consent freely to the removal of her will.
  • He gathers the Golem's things—her leather wallet and the paper labeled COMMANDS FOR THE GOLEM (11.77) and…
  • Has a heart attack. Overworked and exhausted, the Rabbi collapses and dies.
  • The Golem finds him that night; his face is "cold and hard" (11.91).
  • She tucks the envelope labeled COMMANDS FOR THE GOLEM away, and then she realizes she's been crying out "Rabbi, Rabbi!" (11.95).
  • Someone comes to her aid and calls for help.
  • In shock, the Golem leaves and wanders the streets… until she bumps into someone who is as strange as she is on the streets of New York.
  • When the Jinni sees the Golem, he knows she's not human, and she knows he's not human, either.
  • He tries to find out more, but she runs from him, so he decides to track her.
  • Ice cream Saleh decides to take a walk right at this time and sees a man whose face is made of fire. That's pretty strange, even for Saleh.
  • Back in her boardinghouse room, the Golem opens the envelope. "The first Command brings Life. The second Destroys" (11.163). She wonders why the Rabbi had this.
  • Meanwhile, Yehudah Schaalman is boarding a boat for America; Europe vanishes behind him.