Conversion of the Jews

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Even on the roof, he bears a grudge and says, “‘Promise me you’ll never hit anybody about God’” (158). This was the first time in the story, that Ozzie got hit, and as a result, immense amounts of anger boiled inside of him.

Once Ozzie finds himself on the roof, his emotions get mixed up inside of him. He never wanted to jump, he never even wanted to run. His dash to the roof was impulsive, and he had no control of his actions, “‘Is it me? It is me?’—until he discovered himself no longer kneeling, but racing crazily towards the edge of the roof, his eyes crying, his throat screaming, and his arms flying every which way as though not his own”. He especially never wanted to jump, but as a result of the kids in his class chanting the idea, he thought about it. “He felt as if each part of his body were going to vote as to whether he should kill himself or not—and each part as though it were independent of him”(156). He encountered a suicidal moment on the roof. It was as if he was crossing the rubicon. He had a decision to make; jump and kill himself, return to normal life, or force his peers to listen to him, to respect him. He decided the latter, making the entire crowd bow down to him, including his rabbi. As mentioned before, his body was in a state of flux. In part because of natural puberty, but also because of his forward thinking. He had no connection between his body parts, and also none between him, his mother, and rabbi.

Yet, all of this struggle could have been avoided. It all starts and ends with Rabbi Binder. The rabbi should have answered all of Ozzie’s questions regardless of how uncomfortable. Rabbi Marvin Binder is a teacher and a mentor. He is supposed to be guiding Ozzie through a turbulent stage in his life, through the end of his childhood, into manhood. He ignores his responsibilities, risking Ozzie Freedman’s life. Albert Einstein
 once said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”, and unfortunately, Rabbi Binder has done just the opposite. He suppressed all of Ozzie’s curiosity, to the point where he became suicidal. If Binder had just taken the moment to answer Ozzie’s question, then he could have avoided hitting Ozzie, which would have removed the underlying cause of Ozzie’s breakout, allowing him to go home, and live the rest of his life satisfied about god.