Rabbi Hillel Feldman returns to Sparta to open a new temple in the old Methodist church, a gift to the Jewish community. The temple is vandalized by two teenagers, Kevin Powell and Pete Retson. Chief Hampton Forbes and Harriet DeLong, a high school friend of the rabbi, offer help, which Feldman accepts. However, he eschews calling in Sheriff Bill Gillespie because of old anti-Semitic feelings. The Sparta City Council are generally opposed to the temple's existence.