Tzaddhik, the eternal laughingstock, was born before the Jews sat down to chronicle, in the first book, the mistakes – wars – made by humanity.

The first book was of course the Bible. Since its writing, humanity has gone on to commit even more wars, and Tzaddhik, too foolish to prosper and die, has witnessed them all. Aided by the members of his memory, Tzaddhik reprises the rhythms of human violence: "kill the living, forget the dead", "fear, fight and forget" and "two more names for fear and hope".

These performances of the post-biblical Bible occur on a decade-by-decade basis, and whenever Tzaddhik can attract the attention of passersby for a few moments. The decade presented in Tzaddhik is 1850-1860. The members of the memory gang are the Kibbitzers, the Crier and the Pedant.