After Sara refuses Max, she wants to speak with her father. She feels that Reb Smolinsky would understand her choosing education over Max, just like Reb Smolinsky chooses the Torah over his own family. Suddenly, Reb Smolinsky comes into her room. Before Sara can speak, Reb Smolinsky asks her why she refused Max’s offer of marriage. Sara tells him that she does not love him, which aggravates Reb Smolinsky. Reb Smolinsky says that she should stop studying because women should not receive an education. Reb Smolinsky tells her that God planned for women to marry men and have children.

Sara tries to make her father understand that she wants to marry someone who loves her and treats her equally. Reb Smolinsky does not understand what she means, and she realizes that it is useless to try to explain herself to him because he is part of “the Old World” (207). Reb Smolinsky disowns her for turning her back on her religion and calls her selfish for not wanting to help her family by marrying someone wealthy like Max. Sara tells him that she gets her selfishness from him. Reb Smolinsky curses her and slams the door as he leaves, and Sara realizes that she is truly alone in the world.