The Smoothest Way Is Full of Stones (Plot Summary)

Plot Summary

"The Smoothest Way Is Full of Stones" begins on a hot Friday afternoon in the middle of July in upstate New York. Rebecca, the narrator, a girl of about twelve or thirteen, is staying at the home of her uncle and aunt, the Adelsteins. Rebecca has been sent away while her mother recovers from the death of her infant son. That was six weeks ago, but she is still in hospital suffering from an infection and depression.

Rebecca's relatives are Hasidic Jews, whereas Rebecca's parents, who live three hundred miles away in Manhattan, New York City, are secular Jews. Rebecca's older cousin Esty, who is about thirteen, is very pious and tries to persuade Rebecca to be more observant of Jewish religious rituals and other customs.

Even though they are not supposed to be doing so, Rebecca and Esty wade into a lake and swim fully clothed out to a raft. They watch as a teenage boy comes along the lake road. He hides something under the porch steps of a house owned by the Perelmans, who are away until August. Esty recognizes the boy as Dovid Frankel and tells Rebecca that he and his family will be coming to Shabbos (Sabbath, the day of rest at the end of the week) dinner that evening at the Adelsteins.

After Dovid leaves, the girls swim ashore and investigate. Under the porch they find a paper bag and inside it is a book titled, Essence of Persimmon: Eastern Sexual Secrets for Western Lives. They read some of it but do not really understand it, and Esty says it is a sin to read it. But they agree to take the book home and hide it in the top shelf of their closet. Esty says they will not look at it, because that would be a sin.

They ride their bicycles home, hide the book, and help Rebecca's Aunt Malka with the preparations for Shabbos dinner. Rebecca makes a brief call to her mother in the hospital, but her mother sounds depressed, and their conversation ends before Rebecca has a chance to feel much connection with her.

At six-thirty, the female guests start arriving for Shabbos, bringing food and drink. The men are still at shul (a Yiddish word for synagogue). When Dovid arrives, Rebecca studies him carefully.

Everyone gathers around the table and the men sing "Shalom Aleichem." As they serve the food, the two girls keep their eyes on Dovid, although sometimes Rebecca looks at Mrs. Handelman, Dovid's older sister, who is pregnant. Rebecca's five little step-cousins scream as they run around and underneath the table. It is all very disorderly, quite different from the quiet dinners Rebecca is used to at home. At the end of the meal they all sing in Hebrew the Birkat Hamazon (a grace after meals), which again is something that does not happen at Rebecca's home.

Uncle Shimon then tells a story about a Jewish family thirty miles away whose house burned down in June. The only thing that was not destroyed was the mezuzah (scriptural passages in a box placed on doorposts). It was later discovered that there was an imperfection in the mezuzah; some of the letters of one of the words were smudged and misshapen. Uncle Shimon suggests that is why the house burned. Dovid expresses skepticism about this idea, and Uncle Shimon does not respond directly to his question, simply replying that he makes sure he has their mezuzah checked every year.

After dinner, Dovid steps outside, and after a while Rebecca follows him. For a few minutes they make desultory conversation about whether a smudged mezuzah causes a house to burn, and whether they believe in God at all. After Rebecca says that sometimes she hopes there is not a God because he would know all her secret thoughts, Dovid lets on that the Adelsteins are scared of her. They think that she may lead their children away from the orthodox religious path. This revelation surprises Rebecca, since she assumed the influence would be the other way round. Dovid then says that he is not scared of her, and he touches her arm. She knows that as an Orthodox Jew, he is not supposed to touch any woman who is not his mother or sister. For a moment she thinks he is going to kiss her, but then he walks back toward the house.

That night, Esty will not talk to Rebecca. She is angry and jealous because Rebecca was outside with Dovid. At night, Rebecca lies awake. She knows that Dovid was doing something against the rules, and she wonders whether she is really becoming the kind of orthodox religious girl she has been pretending to be during her stay at the Adelsteins.

In the middle of the night, Rebecca wakes and finds that Esty has gone from her bed and is in the closet, reading the forbidden book. Realizing that Esty is in love with Dovid, she tries to reassure her that nothing happened between her and Dovid. They agree to read the book for a little while and look at the drawings. They read descriptions of orgasm, masturbation, and body parts including the clitoris, but they have little idea of what it all means. Esty refuses to believe that Dovid has read it all. They close the book and hide it away again, promising to repent in the morning. During the night, Rebecca thinks about the judgment of God.

In the morning, Rebecca wakes before her cousin and steps out on the porch where she finds her uncle. She asks him whether, when a person dies, the family is supposed to have the mezuzah checked. Uncle Shimon replies that he was told by his rebbe (rabbi) that sometimes bad things just happen; people do not always know why Hashem (God) acts as he does.

Rebecca keeps the Shabbos all day, doing no work, not even turning on a light or sewing. She is not allowed to call her mother. Esty spends most of the day alone and prays a lot and studies the Torah (the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses).

Aunt Malka tells Rebecca that her mother sounds better and that Rebecca will be going home soon. She tells Rebecca about mikveh, a spiritually cleansing ritual bath. According to Aunt Malka, the mikveh is especially important after a woman gives birth, even if the baby dies. She says it is a commandment for adult females to perform this bath every month unless a woman is pregnant for it is a ritual purification after menstruation and childbirth. Aunt Malka instructs Rebecca to tell her mother how important the mikveh is. Rebecca goes off alone and lies in the grass. She wants to know what God wants her to do, and she wants to do it.

At night, the family gathers for Havdalah, the blessings recited at the conclusion of Shabbos, separating the holy day from the other days of the week. They stand in a circle outside and sing to God, smell spices, and drink wine. Finally they sing about Eliyahu Hanavi (known to Christians as Elijah), the prophet who will arrive someday and bring the Messiah.

Rebecca calls her mother. Her father answers the phone and tells her that she can probably come home in a couple of weeks. Rebecca mentions Aunt Malka's instruction about the ritual bath. There is silence at the end of the line for a moment, before Rebecca's father asks to speak to her aunt. Although Aunt Malka is close by, Rebecca has an uneasy feeling about what might ensue, and she says her aunt has gone out for milk. Her father requests that Aunt Malka call him.

That evening, Esty leaves the dinner table without touching her food and goes to her room, where Rebecca finds her reading the erotic book. Esty tells her to explain to her mother that she has a headache and is laying down.

After dinner, as Rebecca washes the dishes, she is angry and worried about her cousin, and she also feels fear and guilt for not doing what God wants her to do. Seeing Esty leave the house and run down the yard and into the road, Rebecca runs after her. Esty has an envelope in her hand. She tells Rebecca that she has written a note to Dovid, telling him that if he wants his book back, he must meet her at the Perelmans' house the following night. Rebecca tells Esty that is forbidden, but Esty will not listen. She tells Rebecca to go back to the house and pretend Esty is in bed. Back in her bedroom, Rebecca tries to pray. After a while Esty returns, having delivered the letter.

The following day the entire family goes blueberry-picking. Esty is in a good mood and acts as if nothing unusual has happened between her and Rebecca. At home that night, Rebecca's father Alan calls Aunt Malka, who talks to him in private. When she returns, she looks as if she has had an argument or been reproached by Alan over the matter of the ritual bath. But she insists to the girls that people have to do what is right, even when others are doing otherwise. Esty takes this as a sign that she is right in her actions regarding Dovid.

At twelve-thirty that night, Esty takes the book and is about to slip out of the quiet house when Rebecca insists on going with her. Esty agrees on one condition, that if they are caught, Rebecca must take the blame. Rebecca agrees. They reach the Perelmans' backyard and wait for Dovid, who arrives at one o'clock and asks for his book. Esty shows him the package but does not hand it over. She tells him that looking at such pictures is a sin, that there are many rules for when people can have sex. Then she kisses him, and the book falls from her hand. Rebecca picks it up. She takes it to the lake and wades in. She takes off her clothes, wades in deeper and floats on her back. She lets the book fall into the water and drop to the bottom.