2 Motif sentences in chapter 1

Shlomo is telling a story on an especially holy night for the Jewish people.  One motif is that these people have a long tradition of story telling; when his story is interrupted, the reader knows that the Jews are being crushed by the Nazis to no longer have such a tradition.  (Sentence quoted in an earlier answer about foreshadowing.)

Another motif would be the way in which the Jews adhere rigidly to their beliefs about their important religious observances.  The early part of the story, before they are transported, focuses on the fact of their great religious faith.