- This chapter opens with Asher missing his dad a lot. Aryeh writes his family from random places in Europe—Zurich, Geneva, Paris, Bucharest—to let them know he's okay. This is the 1950s, remember (otherwise known as the Dark Ages), so there's no Skype or even international phone calls—if someone leaves the country, that person basically disappears.
- Asher draws a lot of pictures of his dad and feels like he knows him better than he did before he left.
- Rivkeh buys Asher some oil paints, and he feels better about finally painting with them because they're not stolen goods. He paints his first oil on canvas and of course it's really good.
- Meanwhile, he continues to be really, really bad at school. His dad learns about this all the way in Vienna and is pretty mad about it. Asher starts to feel really guilty, but he doesn't change his ways because he doesn't know how. He was born to paint, and he has to keep on doing it.
- His mom takes him to a different art museum and they look at pictures of Jesus on the cross. They also look at pictures of nudes. Both of these sorts of images are forbidden by the Torah, but Asher doesn't understand how it could be against the Torah to paint beautiful things. Rivkeh doesn't have an answer for him, and wishes that his father was home.
- When Aryeh does come home to visit, he's basically wasting away and is really stressed out about anti-Semitism in Europe. He is also super not thrilled with his son's non-studiousness.
- Eventually, Rivkeh decides to spend a summer with her husband in Vienna so she can help him regain his strength. They let Asher stay with his Uncle Yitzchok for a few months, and Asher continues to paint.