The Rebbe switches to English.

REBBE

No. He is a Jew.

Manning flinches slightly. The sage smiles and places a hand warmly on the detective’s shoulder.

REBBE

Don’t look so stricken, my friend. It is your Jewish soul that will save you.

The Rebbe smiles and moves off. Instancer guides Manning and me to the place where we will stand. I hear Manning, who does in fact look a bit stricken, ask Instancer what the Rebbe meant when he said Manning “is a Jew.”

INSTANCER

The Rebbe sees things that others don’t. Perhaps he meant that you struck him as a soul in exile. That is a very Jewish thing to be.

Where has the Rebbe gone? The central well of the auditorium is wall-to-wall with a welter of foot-stomping, head-bobbing Orthodox humanity. The space is filled with a press of beards and black fedoras, black jackets, black trousers, black socks, black shoes. A song in Yiddish or Hebrew, more like a chant, actually, is being sung by the rocking, swaying congregation. Everyone seems to be having a great time.

Ah, there he is!

The young professor nudges Manning’s elbow and points across the cavern. The Rebbe is picking his way among the flock. He’s already giving his talk, his voice projected via a clip-on microphone.

MANNING

What’s the difference between a rabbi and a Rebbe?

INSTANCER

There are a million rabbis but only one Rebbe. He’s like the Pope but without the apparatus of the Vatican.

Manning’s eyes track the Rebbe’s path through the throng. The congregation is simultaneously ecstatic at their leader’s apparition (my notes begin with a single word: “Elvis”) and merrily oblivious to his presence.

ME

Is he speaking Hebrew?

INSTANCER

Yiddish. The Chasidic movement originated in Eastern Europe in the 1700s. I’ll translate for you.

The Rebbe continues to cross toward the speaker’s platform. Instancer is explaining to Manning that the Orthodox community is notoriously impoverished. All time and passion go into studying Torah.

One of Manning’s standing instructions to me is to take notes on any individual I encounter in the course of an investigation, whether that person is “of interest” or not. “Don’t think,” he says. “Just record your impressions.”