"The book tells the story of a family and a rabbinical court (Bet Din); the two were so interconnected that it was difficult to say where one ended and the other began [...]
"Bet Din was simultaneously a court, a synagogue, a reading room, and, if you will, the office of the psychoanalyst where people came with their troubled spirits and found solace".
Isaac Bashevis Singer reminisces about the warmth and security of his paternal home, the allure of the court cases, the closed and faithful Jewish community in Poland, as well as the echoes of distant social conflicts and new ideas on the eve of World War I.