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Why was Rachel excited to meet Chaya in The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen?

Rachel is excited because Chaya is from Lublin, a big city.


Chaya was Hannah’s Aunt Eva’s friend, and Hannah was named after her for her Hebrew name.  When Hannah first experiences her vision or dream, she hears someone calling her Chaya and remembers that she was named after someone.



Chaya. But that's my Hebrew name, Hannah thought. The one I was given to honor Aunt Eva's dead friend. Weird. She wondered how the woman knew that name, then laughed under her breath at her own foolishness. (Ch. 4) 



In the dream or time travel, Hannah is Chaya.  She has traveled back to World War II, and taken her Aunt Eva’s friend’s place.  Hannah does not know what is going on, but since she is there she just becomes Chaya. 


Gitl tells Hannah that her clothes had to be burned due to illness.  She gives her own of her old dresses to wear, and it fits perfectly.  When Hannah looks in a mirror, she sees Chaya.  It is unsettling, but again she goes with it.  


Outside near the barn, Hannah meets another girl named Rachel.  Rachel calls her “Lublin Chaya.”  She is very excited to meet someone from Lublin.  She is also very chatty. 



"You see, we have all been waiting to meet you," the startled-looking girl explained, the breathiness in her voice more pronounced. "Ever since we heard you were coming. Imagine, someone from Lublin living in our shtetl. (Ch. 6) 



When Hannah meets Rachel, she is happy because “the dream—or whatever it was—would be more interesting with girls her own age in it.”  Rachel tells Hannah/Chaya that they are going to be best friends.  Hannah tells her she already has a best friend named Rosemary, and Rachel is shocked that Hannah’s best friend is Catholic.

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