For Gitelle the tension created by the gathering clouds of war is the race against time to extricate her family from Lithuania before the opportunity for flight is closed. For Hugo the tension is whether the war, with the associated opportunity for profiteering from the scarcity of metal, will come before Hugo has exhausted his resources and self destructs. Isaac similarly was concerned whether his enterprise with Hugo could stay afloat until the war began. In addition, Isaac was deeply troubled by the political environment in South Africa leading up to the war, specifically whether his country would ally itself with Great Britain or with Germany.
As for Meyer's loathing of Isaac, volumes have been written regarding the complex causes of anti-semitism. In short, though, there likely was an element of learned behavior in Meyer's prejudice. Meyer probably was raised in a home and community where expressions of anti-semitism were pervasive. This prejudice allowed Meyer to blame the drudgery of his life on the Jews and to elevate himself using the Jews as a scapegoat. While Meyer singled out Isaac for a special vendetta because of Isaac's actions surrounding the move of the dresser Meyer may very well have focused on any one of his new neighbors for"special treatment" in any event because of his virulent anti-semitism. I do not blame Isaac for Meyer's behavior.