Rebecca Rubin dreams of being an actress. Growing up in a big Jewish family, Rebecca has never been outside her immigrant neighborhood in new York city. As her world expands and she sees the plight of new immigrant, Rebecca decides that acting means not just performing, but also taking a stand against injustice. Rebecca's parents and grandparents came to America before Rececca was born, along with millions of other Jewish immigrants from different parts of the world. These immigrants brought with them many different traditions and ways of being Jewish. Practices varied widely between families, and difference among Jewish families were just as common in Rebecca's time as they are today. Rebecca's stories show the way one Jewish family could have lived in 1914 and 1915. Rececca's grandparents spoke mostly Yiddish, a language that was common among Jews from Eastern Europe.