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After Monica leaves Gloria alone at a Portland bus stop, Gloria
learns about the Jewish people…from 3 skinheads. A short time
after that, Gloria meets Sam Silverstein. Sam is a sofer, a
Jewish man who hand-makes the Torah, the holy scripture. Sam is
amazed that Gloria does not know the truth about the holocaust and
encourages her to learn about it. Monica gets a job at the
Portland Daily News as an editorial writer, where she works with
Sam’s daughter, Rachel “Silver.” Rachel is the paper’s editorial
cartoonist but her job is in jeopardy because it isn’t edgy
enough. Monica also notices Rachel’s extensive “personal
collection” of cartoons depicting her father and the Jewish faith
in unflattering light. When Rachel invites Monica over to the
family dinner to be her “human shield” Monica quickly learns how
deep the wounds are between Sam and Rachel. The next day, Rachel
puts one of the “personal jabs” in the paper and immediately her
panel, “Chutzpah!” is the hit of Portland. She is thrilled that
now she even receives fan mail. However, as her popularity grows,
so do the number of Jewish people she offends. Monica writes an
editorial criticizing her cartoon and the local rabbi asks Sam to
stop Rachel. God reveals to Monica the key turning point in Sam
and Rachel’s relationship: when Rachel was 9 years old, she wrote
and colored a Torah on construction paper and presented it to her
father. Sam, being determined to follow the letter of the law,
chastised Rachel by saying “There are no pictures in the Torah,
and besides, girls are not allowed make them.” Now, the rift has
gotten so deep between them that Sam leads a protest of
“Chutzpah!” in front of The Portland Daily News and disowns his
daughter on the evening news. The next day, Gloria goes to the
holocaust museum and discovers the truth of the atrocity. She is
humbled that Sam did not get angry at her ignorance, but
encouraged her to seek the truth. She goes to Sam to make a
personal apology to him for the offensive things she said to him
at the bus stop. At the same time, Rachel receives a call from a
reader who tells her that she “won’t have to worry about that
protester” after tonight. When Sam and Gloria arrive at the
synagogue, they discover the three skinheads vandalizing the
place. Then the vandals turn their bats and knives on Sam and
Gloria, however, Gloria reveals herself as an angel, “God made me,
He made you, He made Sam. He made us all, He’s the Father of us
all…that makes this man your brother, not your enemy!” The
skinheads are incredulous and then threaten Gloria, but at that
moment Andrew appears among them and addresses the skinheads. He
tells them to turn from their anger before it’s too late. He also
tells them that they will get caught and pay the price for their
crimes. As they try and escape, the police arrive and arrest
them, but the damage has been done; they destroyed the synagogue’s
Torah and have beaten Sam, breaking both of his hands. Monica and
Rachel arrive and find Sam crumpled on the floor. Rachel realizes
that her personal attacks on him and the Jewish people was the
catalyst for these attacks. She and Sam reconcile and ask
forgiveness for the years of hostile pride. Sam, with his hands
still bandaged, happily lets Rachel help him complete the family
Torah in the front of everyone in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
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