What are the foremost hardships that Levinsky experiences as an immigrant in America? How do these compare to the hardships he experienced growing up in Russia?

In addition to arriving in New York alone and in abject poverty, with four cents in his pocket, David Levinsky has to completely adjust to new ways of life and learn English. Beginning with trying to sleep in a synagogue, where back home he would have been welcomed, he has to establish entire social networks from nothing. Because he is Jewish, however, other Jews do come to his assistance, beginning with helping with finances and even giving him clothing. David’s initial efforts to establish himself as a peddler are failures. Although he begins to succeed in business, he loses much of his religious practice, ultimately shaving his beard.
Back in Russia, however, his life had long been bleak. After his father died, David grew up in a small town with his mother. Anti-Semitism claimed her life, however, when she intervened to try to stop other boys from beating David up. Pursuing religious studies at Yeshiva was another disrupted aspect of the orphaned David's life. Deciding first to leave town, he later embarked for America.