This is the story of Jewish youth in upstate New York during the fin-de-si cledecade of the nineteenth century. Ginsburg details periods of transition for these youths, such as exploring life at various Jewish orphanages, where children were sheltered, educated, and taught trade skills to support themselves thereafter. He profiles The Jewish Tidings, a weekly journal that ran from 1887 to 1897, which heralded itself as "A Fearless Exponent of Progressive Judaism " and polarized Eastern European Jewish immigrants from the predominantly German-Jewish brethren. Ginsburg rounds out his examination of Jewish life during the fin-de-si cle era by profiling figures such as a rabbi and a Jewish match peddler in Syracuse, as well as the Young Men's Hebrew Association and the Jewish Chautauqua Association. Ginsburg, a native of Syracuse, New York, delves into the history of Jewish youths during this era with interest and enthusiasm.