Ruben Blum (aka Ruvn ben Alter) is a retired professor of American history at Corbin University in Corbindale, New York. He begins relating aspects of his past, especially his time as a professor. He is an accomplished academic, specializing in American tax history. As an historian, he reflects back on how he grew up with antisemitism, the “uselessness” (15) of Jewish history and compares that to the “culture of grievance” (19) of contemporary students. He then goes on to consider more of his Jewishness and then relates a relevant story.

It is 1959. The head of the History Department, Dr. Morse, calls Ruben into his office. After some light banter, Dr. Morse informs Ruben that the department will need to hire a new professor to keep their budget. He asks Ruben to escort a possible new-hire around. The man is a Medievalist specializing in 15th century Iberian history. His name is Ben-Zion Netanyahu. Dr. Morse asks Ruben for help because Ruben is also a Jewish person.

Ruben recalls aspects of his childhood. The old synagogue of his youth, called Young Israel, became The Church of Assumption. He always recalls the