The Rise of David Levinsky

David makes the voyage across the Atlantic. He performs his devotional prayers three times a day as well as performs blessings before he eats or drinks, after every meal, and before bed. David finds deep comfort in reading the Psalms over and over, especially Psalm 104. He thinks of Matilda often, even as he knows it is a sin to do so. He makes a comparison between the new born babe and the immigrant:

Imagine a new-born babe in possession of a fully developed intellect. Would it ever forget its entry into the world? Neither does the immigrant ever forget his entry into a country which is, to him, a new world in the profoundest sense of the term and in which he expects to pass the rest of his life (108).

David feels reborn into a new land, full of awe and ignorance. He has no idea where to go for shelter or food. He and another solo Orthodox traveler, Gitelson, make their way out of Sandy Hook together. They take a ferry to Castle Garden and ask a uniformed man where they should go; the man shakes them off and points them through Immigrant Station across Battery Park to State Street.