Content Warning: This guide contains discussion of antisemitism and pogroms. It also references misogynistic views. This novel sometimes uses language that is offensive to people with mental health concerns and contains a depiction of sexual assault.

The Rise of David Levinsky begins with David discussing the nature of memory and history. He was born in Russia in 1865. His father died when he was three. His mother performs odd jobs to make enough money to feed herself and David. She struggles to make a meager sum; they are often hungry. David and his mother share a single room apartment with three other families in the Jewish settlement of Antomir. His mother calls him a poor orphan but makes sure he goes to school. He plays toy soldiers and lives an Orthodox lifestyle. His mother always covers her hair. Most of the people in Antomir live on less than 25 cents per day. David’s mother does not beat him like other parents beat their children. She tells him he has enough suffering as his father is dead.

David describes his roommates, particularly a soldier and the bookbinder’s daughter, Red Esther. Esther and David constantly goad each other to sin; he says, “she would press her freckled cheek against my lips and then dodge back, shouting, gloatingly: ‘He has kissed a girl!’” (18).