In the late 1940s in New York's Jewish community, cobbler Feld and his wife try to convince their daughter Miriam to go to college. She is reticent, thinking she can get all the education she needs from the classic novels recommended by Feld's assistant, Sobel. Feld tries to fix Miriam up with neighborhood college boy Max. Sobel is angered and storms out -- does he have feelings for Miriam despite the fact he has worked for Feld for five years without revealing them?