Traveling past the park, Jonathan steered the van onto a road sided by copses of denuded trees. Minutes passed; then new groupings of houses came into view. These were smaller, less adorned, and more functional. The driveways held cheaper cars and vans—sometimes even two vans. The lots were smaller and barer, and the shopping district was quite different from its upscale cousin. Except for the word “Quinton” every now and then, it could have been interchangeable with the religious stores and shuls and same-sex parochial schools of Boro Park. The residents were also identical, down to the wigs and black-hat dress. It was hard to reconcile the two areas as a single town. Decker asked why the two populations chose to share, when each area had such a distinct identity.

“At this point, the municipality needs every single bit of property tax to keep Quinton going. If the Frummies seceded, there wouldn’t be enough money to keep the services going.”

“Are there problems between the two halves?”

“Yes,” Jonathan said. “But they need each other. There have been some compromises. But there have also been some nasty wars. At the moment, the Frummies want their own school district, but they want the city to pay for it. They don’t understand the concept of separation of church and state. Even worse, they don’t understand why it’s good for them in the long run.”

“They have a point,” Decker said. “They pay in taxes, but don’t get anything back.”

“You’ve been talking to Rina. All the Orthodox like the voucher system.”

“Yes, she likes the voucher system, but she’s come to realize that there’s a point in maintaining a strong public-school system.”

“Well, then she’s a first,” Jonathan said. “The Frummies get the fire department, the garbage pickup, the police department. And lately, there’s been some talk about their using the public schools in the morning, then going to the yeshivas in the afternoon so the yeshivas wouldn’t have to hire teachers for secular studies.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Decker said.

“Unfortunately, the Frummies don’t want the teachers teaching evolution, or sex education, or biology of any kind. Things that are mandatory in the Quinton school curriculum. Plus”—Jonathan sighed—“the Frummies don’t care about secular education. They were dragging down the standardized test scores. There was a big town meeting about it. It got ugly. Here we are.”

Jonathan parked the car.

Decker said, “You don’t approve.”

“I’m not saying you compromise your principles,” Jonathan said. “But you don’t have to create spectacles. Then when you throw in the embezzlement charges… It reflects poorly on all of us.”

“No group is perfect.”

“Of course not. And the vast majority here are wonderful. But when you choose to make yourself visible, you do have an obligation to be a Kiddush Hashem.”

Kiddush Hashem: it more or less meant to set a good example for God.

“Ready?’ Jonathan asked.

“Sure.”

The rabbi opened the door to the van and got out. Decker followed him up the stone walkway to an unassuming two-story brick house similar to those in Boro Park. Jonathan didn’t bother to knock. He opened the door and stepped inside.