My impression of Jake Instancer is I desperately want to fuck him. I don’t dictate this into my notes, however. Instancer is lean and charismatic, with dark eyes set deep beside a hawkish nose. He looks simultaneously scholarly and athletic. The male of the species, I confess, has never been my thing. But if anybody could pull me back across the line, it’s this dude. Standing a body-width away from him, I have to call on all my resources to keep my voice even and professional. His shoulders. His hands. But the most powerful thing about him is his smell. At first I’m not even sure the scent is coming from him. Is it some kind of cologne or musk? I find myself actually edging closer just to get a noseful. Whatever this hombre is radiating, it is high-octane male mojo.

The Rebbe has mounted to the speaker’s platform. He is expounding on a portion of the Torah. Instancer tells Manning that such study progresses through the five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—taking sections of each in sequence throughout the Jewish calendar year. Tonight’s talk is on the subject of “manipulation by evil.”

The Rebbe speaks for twenty minutes, thirty, forty. The audience listens with total immersion. Many nod in concurrence, others appear to be praying silently. The tone of the Rebbe’s speech is cerebral but also intensely personal. At least that’s what I’m getting from the snatches of translation I catch from Instancer. The Rebbe’s concern is not only for the souls of his congregation but also for the wider world, for whom in his faith the devotion of these pious Jews carries the hope of salvation for all mankind.

INSTANCER

(to Manning)

Are you getting a sense of how the Rebbe teaches? He calls upon every Jew to live as if the preservation of the entire world depends upon his godliness alone. Can you feel it?

The Rebbe is telling a tale of the founder of Chasidism, the beloved Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer, commonly called the Baal Shem Tov—the “Master of the Good Name.” In the story the young Baal Shem Tov, an orphan, travels from town to town studying under various masters. He is learning the mysteries of the spirit, becoming closer each year to attaining the status of tzadik, a Righteous Man.

Now the Rebbe introduces a new character, a personage of evil.

This character’s name is HaSatan.

REBBE

HaSatan means “the Satan.” He is called “the Adversary.” HaSatan is the master manipulator. He may assume any shape or appearance. He plays with our minds, seeking to seduce us from our virtue. HaSatan’s object is more diabolical than to steal our souls. His aim is to make us donate them of our own free will.

The Rebbe, for the first time, alludes to the current murders. He mentions no names and cites no specifics.

REBBE