Finkle, after six years of study, was to be ordained in June and had been advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win a congregation if he were married.
This quote sums Leo up in one paragraph; he is not looking for love for its own sake. Leo views love as a neat career move. It is not that he is a cynic, exactly, but more that he has become so wrapped up in his studies that he has not had time to think about anything else. He hasn't even had time to think about being lonely. He is too preoccupied to be lonely. Because he does not realize that he is not particularly happy, Leo also does not see any reason for marriage, or for love, other than the furthering of his career. This shows how completely absorbed by his studies he has been, and how far he has to come in order to change this about himself.
His whole life stood starkly revealed and he saw himself for the first time as he truly was - unloved and loveless.
Leo has been lying to himself about the lack of romance and love in his life; he has not really considered it before and when he does, he sees love and marriage as something expected rather than something needed. When the scales fall from his eyes in this regard, he faces the stark reality of having no relationship that he can cling to. He has nobody to love, and nobody is in love with him.
However, there is also hope in this narration as well. For all that he is now rather depressed by his newly realized lonesomeness, Leo sees himself as unloved, and he sees himself as loveless, but he does not see himself as unloveable. This is very important in that it shows he still has the self esteem to embark upon a relationship, and to both give, and accept, love.
He hesitantly enquired, "Do you keep photographs of your clients on file?"
"First comes family, amount of dowry, also what kind of promises," Salzman replied, unbuttoning his tight coat and settling himself in the chair. "After that comes pictures, Rabbi."
This conversation is a good demonstration of what Leo is looking for in a girl, contrasted with what a matchmaker is looking for in a girl for him. Leo is concerned only with the superficial, especially as he is only embarking on this search for love out of concern for his career. The prettier the girl, the bigger the congregation, is the correlation in his mind.
Salzman, as a matchmaker, knows that there are many other things that go into making a match. Yes, he will show pictures, because attraction is important, but it is also important that Leo is attracted only to suitable girls. By looking at the other factors involved, he can find out whether or not a girl is a suitable match for the scholarly rabbi, and after she has passed this test, then she can be chosen by Leo on the basis of her appearance.
