Chap­ter 17 of the nar­ra­tive titled “The Bull­frog” revolves around the issues faced by the Aha­vat Achim con­gre­ga­tion in Pottstown, par­tic­u­lar­ly fol­low­ing Chona’s hos­pi­tal­iza­tion. The tem­ple, built by Chona’s father, is thrown into dis­ar­ray due to the recent influx of new Hun­gar­i­an mem­bers, one of whom, Mr. Hud­son, dis­cov­ers a giant bull­frog in the mik­vah. Out­raged, he promis­es a hefty dona­tion for a new mik­vah, demand­ing it be dou­ble the size and made of Car­rara mar­ble, despite the tem­ple’s finan­cial strug­gles indi­cat­ed by their mea­ger funds.

The meet­ing to address these issues reveals Rab­bi Karl Feld­man strug­gling to main­tain order amidst the chaos. As dis­cus­sions unfold, it becomes clear that there are sig­nif­i­cant water issues affect­ing the pro­posed mik­vah. Feld­man awk­ward­ly explains com­pli­ca­tions relat­ed to obtain­ing run­ning water, reveal­ing the tem­ple had to clan­des­tine­ly use water from a well because the town had nev­er run water to the site. This rev­e­la­tion adds lay­ers to the con­gre­ga­tion­al dynam­ics, as it con­nects back to Chona’s pre­vi­ous dis­putes with a local farmer, Mr. Plitz­ka, and com­pli­cates rela­tion­ships with the town’s author­i­ties.

The dia­logue rais­es ten­sions as con­gre­gants, espe­cial­ly Mr. Hud­son and Irv Skrupske­lis, clash over the mis­man­age­ment of the temple’s resources and health con­cerns about Chona. The chap­ter explores themes of com­mu­ni­ty, prac­ti­cal­i­ty, and the inter­sec­tion of Jew­ish and local cul­ture as the char­ac­ters grap­ple with both mun­dane issues con­cern­ing water access and deep­er per­son­al ties to the sick con­gre­gant. Hud­son’s frus­tra­tion crescen­dos into a call for mod­ern­iza­tion and a reeval­u­a­tion of the tem­ple’s place in the com­mu­ni­ty, reflect­ing a broad­er desire for progress amid entrenched chal­lenges.

Ulti­mate­ly, the chap­ter speaks to the resilience and inter­con­nect­ed­ness of the char­ac­ters as they nav­i­gate these com­mu­nal strug­gles, reveal­ing not just the impact of an unex­pect­ed bull­frog but also the broad­er impli­ca­tions on their faith, com­mu­ni­ty ties, and iden­ti­ty in a chang­ing world.

The chap­ter “The Bull­frog” delves into a tumul­tuous time for the Aha­vat Achim con­gre­ga­tion in Pottstown, with Chona’s hos­pi­tal­iza­tion occur­ring amidst the con­gre­ga­tion’s strug­gle with their mik­vah chal­lenges. The tem­ple, found­ed by Chona’s father on Chick­en Hill, faces upheaval with the arrival of new Hun­gar­i­an mem­bers and an unex­pect­ed guest—a giant bull­frog found in the mik­vah. This pecu­liar inci­dent draws the atten­tion of Mr. Hud­son (Junow Farnok), a new con­gre­gant from Buf­fa­lo who demands a larg­er, more lux­u­ri­ous mik­vah, offer­ing a gen­er­ous dona­tion towards it.

The tem­ple’s finan­cial sit­u­a­tion, pre­vi­ous­ly bol­stered by quirky dona­tions, now depends on address­ing the mik­vah’s water source—a dilem­ma high­light­ed dur­ing a chevry meet­ing attend­ed by key con­gre­gants, includ­ing Rab­bi Feld­man, Irv Skrupske­lis, and Mr. Hud­son. Dis­cus­sion reveals that the tem­ple has been clan­des­tine­ly using water from a near­by dairy’s well, a solu­tion com­pli­cat­ed by own­er­ship changes and his­tor­i­cal griev­ances with the local Plitz­ka fam­i­ly. These chal­lenges are inter­twined with per­son­al sto­ries of love, migra­tion, and com­mu­ni­ty sol­i­dar­i­ty, paint­ing a vivid pic­ture of the con­gre­ga­tion’s social and logis­ti­cal intri­ca­cies.

Mr. Hud­son’s attempts to ratio­nal­ize the mik­vah’s water issue are met with lay­ers of local his­to­ry, bureau­cra­cy, and resent­ment, mak­ing a straight­for­ward res­o­lu­tion elu­sive. The nar­ra­tive weaves through past inter­per­son­al dynam­ics, touch­ing on Chona’s activism and the com­mu­ni­ty’s reliance on impro­vised solu­tions for their water needs. As the dis­cus­sion shifts from water logis­tics to Chona’s wors­en­ing con­di­tion and the broad­er impli­ca­tions for the con­gre­ga­tion, ten­sions flare, reveal­ing deep­er divides with­in the com­mu­ni­ty.

Rab­bi Feld­man’s hes­i­ta­tions, Irv’s pro­tec­tive stance, and Mr. Hud­son’s frus­tra­tions cul­mi­nate in a heat­ed debate that encap­su­lates the chap­ter’s core themes—community resilience, the com­plex­i­ty of belong­ing, and the chal­lenges of bal­anc­ing tra­di­tion with mod­ern demands. The mik­vah, and the bull­frog found with­in it, sym­bol­izes the con­gre­ga­tion’s strug­gle to main­tain puri­ty and sanc­ti­ty amidst prac­ti­cal and exis­ten­tial chal­lenges, under­scor­ing the nuanced inter­play between faith, iden­ti­ty, and sur­vival in an evolv­ing soci­etal land­scape.