It's 1923, and Bill Waite is on the run from a cruel Montana parole boss.
Arriving in New York City, he needs a hideout and someone to trust.
He finds both working on the Holland Tunnel as a sandhog laborer with Virgil Pushkin Shulman, the first Jew he's ever known.
Virgil guides him into a new life and helps him develop a false identity.
Through this friendship Bill learns about Jewish history and Yiddish culture.
He shelters a six-year old slum-child, takes her to bal.
