A hundred years ago in a shelter near Pinsk...
a young girl ran off into the woods.
Her father wanted her to marry a scholar from the Pinsker yeshiva...
but for some reason, maybe she was a little crazy, who knows?
She didn't want to. Anyhow, she ran away.
- She ran away from home? - Yeah.
It was in the middle of winter.
She wandered into the forest.
At first, no one at home even knew she ran away.
They thought she got lost in the snow somewhere and died.
They looked and looked for her, but they never found her body.
They decided the wolves ate her up.
Shh, Yossi, they'll hear us.
Yossi, they'll kill us if they find you here.
No, they'll just kill me. I'm your older brother so it falls on me.
I'm the only one around here gettin' killed.
But, Yossi, I love you more than anything.
More than Papa or Imma. More than anything.
- More than God? - A million times more.
You're a sinner! You're supposed to love God above everything.
And after that, your father and mother.
The Torah doesn't even say anything about brothers and sisters.
- Then we'll add it in. - You can't add anything to the Torah, dunce!
It's finished. It's the Word of God and that's that.
Not even the greatest scholar can change a letter of it.
Then we'll write our own Torah.
It was the longest, hardest winter anyone could remember.
They sat shiva in Pinsk for the girl who had disappeared.
And everyone went on with their business until one day...
just as suddenly as she had disappeared, the girl came back into town.
She was also, you know, carrying a baby in her stomach.
She was pregnant.
In Pinsk, they said, she got lost in the snow...
and was saved by a demon who made her his wife.
That spring the woman had a baby, a baby girl.
- They called her Yitta. - Baba Yitta?
That's right. Our whole family's descended from Baba Yitta.
If you don't watch out, you're gonna end up just like her.
Like how?
When she was real old and finally died, Baba Yitta went up to heaven.
But God didn't want her, so He sent her down to hell.
But when she got there, Satan recognized her as his niece.
He couldn't bring himself to make her suffer in hell...
so he sent her back up here to our world...
where she wanders the earth like Cain, alone forever.
Poor Baba Yitta.
Don't cry. Remember what day it is?
Happy birthday.
A ruby!
I bought it from Papa's shop with my savings.
It's fake!
It's the fake one Papa took out of that ring. He was gonna throw it away.
- Hey, what are you doing? - I'm going out to the lake.
But, Yossi, you're not supposed to.
Imma says with your asthma you could choke up and-
I'm the only boy around here who can't swim.
I've been watching everybody else, and I know what to do.
No one's even gonna be there to see you swim.
They won't know you did it anyway, so what's the point?
You'll know.
Yossi!
Good job.
Okay, very good. That's it. Come on.
Wonderful job, dear.
We'll take care of him.
You have a beautiful baby.
You were calling out the name "Yossi," Mrs. Horowitz.
Is that the name you'd like to give your son?
Sonia, it'll be all right.
Sonia, where are you going?
Easy, Sonia. You're turning my only grandchild into a tube of toothpaste.
He's like a sacrifice. They're gonna sacrifice my baby.
If your father, olov hasholem, wasn't already in his grave...
you would put him in it with the spectacle you're making of yourself.
Shimmie's gonna be just fine. Look at those men.
Every one of them had the same thing, and they're perfectly normal.
Well, not my baby, not today.
Hey, hey, where are you going?
My brother told me he married a smart girl, he married a pretty girl...
but he never told me he married such a chicken.
Be proud, Sonia. This is the moment your son becomes a Jew.
- Bring up the boy, please. - No, wait.
It's okay? You checked? It's sharp, no nicks or anything?
- You checked? - Trust me.
Okay, double check. Check again to make sure everything's okay.
Oh, it's hot. It's like an oven in here.
I don't want my son cooking in this oven. Can somebody open a window, please?
You've been coming to this shul for 23 years. When was the last time you saw an open window?
- What kind of building for people doesn't have an open window? - When was the last time?
Sonia, come on.
Come on.
Shh.
Don't you drop him.
Careful.
Don't any one of you dare drop him.
Nice girl you married.
How about the doors? Maybe somebody could open the door.
Maybe we could get a draft. Baruch, maybe you could get us a draft.
- A draft of what? - Air, Baruch! So my son doesn't choke to death in this.
I'm looking forward to knowing her better now that we're going to be neighbors.
I talked to Reb Fedder. You got the job teaching at the yeshiva in Boro Park.
I already found you an apartment on 45th Street. It's a stone's throw from by me.
And the Rebbe? I'm going to be close to the Rebbe?
Three blocks from the Rebbe's house. That's where you're gonna be.
You'll pray with the Rebbe, you'll hear the Rebbe's fabrengen every shabbes.
- You'll be up to your ears with the Rebbe. - I, I don't know what to say.
Only that Sender Horowitz always looks out for his family...
especially his favorite kid brother.
Mendel.
It's easier if you don't watch.
If they can do it, I can watch it.
Amen.
It's fantastic!
So many different kinds of people.
- Fantastic and not so fantastic. - Why not fantastic?
- Lots of people, lots of influences. - They could be good influences.
Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.
Go around, nu.
- There's no room for a car to pass. - There's plenty of room for a car.
Unfortunately we're not in a car. We're in this ridiculous boat.
- It's a station wagon. - Whoever heard of a station wagon for three people?
- You could fit a family of 12 in this thing. - God willing.
Sonia, I know you're still mad at me because I named Shimmie after the Rebbe.
But he's our first son...
and I feel he should be invested with the highest level of spirituality.
We can name our next boy Yossi.
Hmm?
The Rebbe.
A few pennies, young rebbe. A little change for a woman...
who's been too long on her tired feet.
- But my wife has all our money. - It's been such a long time.
Four years.
Such a long time.
A thousand blessings on your house.
Don't worry, bubbie, it won't bite.
Bless you.
For what?
It's the Rebbe.
And so God picked that humble, little mountain...
on which to present His greatest gift.
The gift of His Torah.
But the question still remained: To who was He going to give such a gift?
So God set out on a journey to find which amongst the nations of the earth...
was worthy of receiving His Torah.
God went to the Goyim in Canaan and he asked them...
"Look what I have for you.
It's the Torah.
- Do you want my Torah?" - No!
No, of course not. No, no, not this.
Maybe something lighter like this sweet floral pattern here, or this nice blue chiffon look.
Personally, I'd recommend something light and airy...
to complement the charming atmosphere of your home.
Charming means "small," right?
I assume you'll be hanging curtains in the living room as well as in the kitchen...
which opens up a whole range of choices.
For instance, you could decide on an atmosphere of integration...
and unify the space with a single theme...
or you could separate the rooms visually.
Different looks, different atmospheres, different states of mind.
America!
Yes, God came to America.
And also he asked the American Goyim, "Do you want my Torah?"
And also they asked, "Tell us what is in it first. "
"Honor thy father and thy mother. "
"Nah! Respect our parents? I don't think so.
Get that thing. What do you call it? Torah? Get it out of here?"
So, God came...
to Israel.
"Israel," He asked us...
"Jews, do you want my Torah?"
And what did they answer?
"Naaseh ve nishmah!"
Quiet down. You're wrecking your aunt's new apartment before she's moved into it.
In one case, the apartment is a whole, unified.
In the other, the living room is the living room, the kitchen is the kitchen.
You're cooking all day. You're exhausted.
You walk out of the kitchen and presto, it's like you're in another world.
One of us here is completely insane and I think it's you.
But you're gonna have company real soon if I have to listen...
to one more word of this meshugas.
- Aunt Sonia, I think the baby's hungry. - Come here, sweetheart.
Shh, shh.
Listen to me. Sit down!
Are you all right? I know it can hurt sometimes.
It doesn't hurt.
Here. It's too, um-
Mendel?
Didn't you pray already?
I wasn't praying.
I was learning a little Mishnah.
- Anything good? - Yes, it's all good.
- Can't we leave it on? Just for a while? - Sonia.
Enough, Sonia.
Enough!
Sonia, enough!
- Enough what? - Just enough.
- It's indecent. - Making love to your wife is indecent?
Making love to your wife like that is.
We're not alone, Sonia.
We're under the eyes of God.
The Talmud teaches a man to love his wife, and I try. God knows I try.
But for a man it's supposed to be different. It's supposed to be a mitzvah, a holy act.
And I'm supposed to think exalted thoughts in order to sanctify it.
And I'm supposed to enjoy this, I'm supposed to enjoy myself knowing...
you're up there thinking about Abraham and Isaac and the Rebbe while-
God forbid! God forbid you talk that way about the Rebbe!
Sonia, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry I raised my voice to you.
I'm sorry.
Can I play a little?
Of course. A little's okay.
Amen.
You don't have to eat it. Just put it in your mouth and chew a little.
- He's not hungry. - Are you his mother? No.
So how do you know he's not hungry?
So God spared the Moabites. The reason being...
- Mendel. - that Ruth's family was living among them.
Wait. He's giving a dvar Torah. It's nice. Please listen.
- It's just a story. - It's still a dvar Torah.
Why didn't God allow Ruth's family to survive an attack? He could've done that.
The answer to the question is of course God could've done it.
But a young girl needs a mother. And a mother needs a husband.
- And a family needs a house. - What else? Maybe a VCR and a video recorder?
And they need someone to make their clothes.
Why don't you shush everyone up so your son can finish?
- He's a man. He can make himself heard. - But nobody's listening.
- He won't eat. - Who are you to tell me what to do?
- He's not gonna eat. - Obviously you're a better mother than I am.
It shows us how family is so important, even the evil Moabites were spared by God...
because they were needed in order to bring up Ruth.
- Yasher. - Yasher coach.
Yasher coach.
Keep it up and you'll be a great scholar like your Uncle Mendel.
Please, I'm not so great just yet.
Modesty is becoming unless it's false.
All I hear at the yeshiva these days is "Mendel said this, Mendel said that. "
Like the Rambam came to learn by them.
While we're on the subject of the yeshiva...
the other day a young boy, one of my students...
asked me a question I couldn't really answer.
His father says it's okay to steal as long as you steal from Goyim.
His teacher tells him stealing from anyone is a sin.
So if he agrees with his teacher, he's disrespecting his father.
But if he agrees with his father, he's honoring a thief...
and in danger of becoming one himself.
- It's a tough question. Only because you're a scholar.
If it's just an opinion and the boy disagrees with it, that's all right.
You can respect those you disagree with.
But if his father really is a thief...
then the boy should keep his nose in his own business...
so he doesn't have to judge what he doesn't know about.
Hey, those little fingers are gonna get chopped off...
if they wander where they don't belong.
Tsipi, please take care of your brother.
- Here. - Oh, please, Sonia, tonight you don't need to work.
- You should be inside with Mendel and the baby. - No, it's okay, it's okay.
It's such a wonderful meal. I have to do something.
And you have such a beautiful home. Thank you.
Baruch haShem. The kids are healthy, they have what to eat.
That's what's important.
Here.
Do you have a second?
Relax.
It's not for you. I just want your opinion.
My principal buyer came across it.
It's an antique brooch from Paris, circa 1880, from Querelle.
That's an eight-carat emerald set in gold.
My wife's birthday is coming up, so I thought I'd surprise her.
- It's beautiful! - Five thousand bucks! What a bargain, huh?
Yeah.
- You did great. - Bullshit.
I understand your father, may his memory be a blessing...
was the finest gemologist in the state.
I also understand you picked up a thing or two from him.
Querelle never designed a base like this.
I can't tell you what the date on it is, but it is not 1880.
I also think if you check on this stone, you'll find it's just a composite...
a layer of emerald fused with glass and then backed by foil to give it all that brilliance.
It's excellent work.
But I wouldn't price it at a dime over 800 bucks.
Why didn't you go into the business?
Because my parents didn't want me mixing with unsavory characters.
They wanted me to marry a great scholar, and live a decent, spiritual Jewish life.
Did you?
Did you marry a great scholar?
Well, that I'm not qualified to answer.
But I know I married a tzaddik.
A holy man? Don't you think our Mendel's a little young for such distinction?
Age has nothing to do with it.
Either you're born with the heart of a tzaddik or you're not.
And your heart?
Is it in your heart to be the wife of a tzaddik?
All right, dessert's on the table.
Sonia.
Sonia?
Gottenyu! You're red as a beet.
And hot like an oven. You're burning with fever, poor thing.
Why didn't you say something?
Sit, sit on the bed.
You're having a panic attack.
Breathe. Slowly breathe.
Your muscles are like iron knots.
Just relax and breathe.
Good.
It must be overwhelming for you.
A new city, a new family, all these new pressures.
You're just wound up too tight.
Just relax and breathe.
Relax.
I know it can be hard sometimes.
It's a new neighborhood, new people.
You'll be all right.
You just need to breathe. Just relax and breathe.
Sonia, my God!
What's gotten into you? You need help.
The Rebbe will see you now.
You know, some of these others have been waiting longer. Maybe another day might be-
Sonia, don't make a scene, please. Okay?
Go on.
Come on in, Mrs. Horowitz.
Take a seat.
I understand your husband is a truly inspired teacher...
as well as a great scholar.
Filling the hearts of our children with a love of Torah...
is the greatest mitzvah of all in God's eyes.
He's making you nervous?
Get my wife right away.
I understand you're troubled.
I don't know what to say.
I can't find the words.
The Almighty gave you a soul to nurture.
He gave you a body in which to house it.
He gave you a mind in order to understand your soul's needs.
And He gave you a tongue in order to express them.
If the desire to hear your soul is strong enough...
you'll find the words.
I don't even know where my body ends and my soul begins.
I felt, ever since I was a very young girl...
like there was a fire...
inside of me.
It used to be nice. It kept me warm.
But it's been getting hotter.
It-
It makes my stomach burn...
and my nerves and my skin.
I can hardly put on a shirt.
I can't even breast feed my child.
It's too hot!
Everything is too hot.
Every touch burns me.
I have no soul.
The Almighty gave every one of us a soul!
Whatever torment you are suffering, you must always remember that.
You have a soul!
Maybe. But if I do, it wasn't God who gave it to me.
"In defiance of Biblical prophesy...
and the holy redemption of the Jewish people...
through God's grace alone, Boro Park's Rebbe Moishe Myerson...
has demonstrated that he is little more than a gentile heretic...
in the guise of a Jew. "
Who do these people think they are?
They've gone too far this time, these fanatics.
Rebbe, please tell us you won't let this attack go without a stinging rebuttal.
Rebbe?
If you prefer, we can compose a letter.
- Tomorrow. - But, Rebbe, if we wait till tomorrow, this article-
I said tomorrow!
Guess who!
Have you gone crazy? You could give a person a heart attack.
Ah. Something smells good!
- It's the cholent. I'm making it special for- - No, no, it's not that.
It's you that smells so good.
God forgive me.
But I think it's 20 years since I told you how beautiful you look.
It's been 20 years since I looked beautiful.
Moishe! You've heard too many evil stories today.
Sometimes it's the exposure to evil that brings out our best side.
Look, you shouldn't get so excited.
The doctor says you can't allow yourself to get-
Oh, what doctor? What do doctors know about love?
When the Rebbe's heart stopped beating last night...
we lost more than just a man.
For his was a heart that beat not only to maintain the life of one man...
it beat to maintain the vital circulation of the entire nation of Israel.
And who can even begin to understand...
what force could be strong enough to still such a heart?
What kind of a terrible power...
could have caused such a tragedy?
When the Rebbe's heart stopped beating last night...
we lost our own Moishe Rebbenu...
who led us from the depths of the holocaust and reinvigorated an entire-
Sonia, what did she say?
Sonia?
Shh.
Shh. I know.
Oh. Shh.
Shh.
Why are you hiding?
There's nobody here but you.
Who are you hiding from?
Are you cold?
Mendel isn't home.
I know. Can I come in?
Actually it was you I came for.
I want to offer you a job.
Your analysis of the brooch I showed you last shabbes was right on the money.
I want you to run my store here in Boro Park.
I thought you worked in Manhattan.
I didn't know you had a store here in the neighborhood.
That's because I don't.
At least not officially.
It's a basement a few blocks away.
From there, I see a select variety of jewelry, only the very finest pieces.
My buyer Heschel has impeccable taste, but he's getting old.
I want you to take over for him.
Hmm? Go into the city three days a week...
and pick out only the best pieces you come across.
There should be no more than 30 or 40 pieces in the store at any given time.
Three days a week, you stay in the store to sell...
but the other three you'll be in the city...
on 47th street, all over.
Sometimes even out of state for a few days on a special buy.
What do you say?
Ah, oh, well-
Well, I'm a mother now.
Half the mothers in Boro Park are running cash businesses out of their own basements.
The days that you're in the city, you can leave Shimmie by my wife or by Rachel.
- The other days you keep him with you in the store. - Oh, what does Mendel say?
Does it matter?
Does he even know about it?
I thought I'd let you tell him.
A cash business means no taxes paid, and no taxes paid means theft.
Even if it is from the government, it's a sin.
Once when I was a boy...
I stole the answers to a test from my teacher's drawer.
I copied them and put them back before he noticed.
I got 100 on the test, and I felt terrific.
I was dancing for a week like Gene Kelly.
I knew then that my conscience would be useless to me.
So, without telling him why, I asked my father to teach me how to avoid sin.
He told me about his teacher...
a tzaddik who kept a notebook in which he recorded all his sins...
from the day of his bar mitzvah onward.
One day when he was 93 years old...
the tzaddik forgot his notebook on his desk at the yeshiva.
Just one notebook. Most people would have a library full.
My father and some of the other boys ran over...
to see what sins the great rebbe had committed.
But when they opened the notebook, they couldn't believe their eyes.
The first page had not yet even been completely filled up.
If we all wrote down our sins, my father said...
we'd be more careful about committing them.
We sin because we're careless and we don't think about it.
My father was an idiot.
The tzaddik kept his book of sins for his students to discover.
But his other sins he kept in his heart...
for they were dearer to him even than was God...
and he couldn't bear to part with them.
Piety is the standard by which we are judged.
But it's the quality of our sins which sets us apart.
You'll start on Monday.
Good morning, Mr. Kapoor. I'm Sonia Horowitz, Sender Horowitz's new buyer.
Good morning, Miss Horowitz. But I'm not-
Actually it's Mrs. Horowitz. And there's something I'd like to show you.
You recognize this? No?
You can't remember an antique brooch designed by Querelle worth 30,000 bucks...
which you parted with for only five, but it's really worth nothing because it's a fake?
- Is that what you can't remember? - I can hardly remember my name-
- Ramon. - This is Mr. Kapoor. I just work here.
I'm Hrundi Kapoor.
I've never seen that piece before.
You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Kapoor.
Mr. Horowitz's previous buyer may have been too old...
or just too trusting to detect this fake, but he can remember where he bought it from.
As I said, I've never seen that piece before.
We have one of two possibilities here, Mr. Kapoor.
One, you yourself didn't know it was a fake and unwittingly passed it on.
Two, you knew. Either way, you're doing dishonorable business.
And as I understand it, if Mr. Horowitz so desired...
he could tarnish your reputation so thoroughly that within a week...
you would be out on the street corner hawking watches out of a suitcase.
Normally, Mr. Horowitz would have come down here and told you all this himself.
But I think he was a little concerned with losing his temper.
So here I am. And although I happen to have a temper myself...
I have no particular emotional investment in this unfortunate transaction.
So it might be possible for you and I to start on a fresh page...
and embark on a relationship that would better profit both yourself and Mr. Horowitz.
The emphasis, of course, being on Mr. Horowitz. What do you say?
- What can I say? - How about...
"Good morning, Mrs. Horowitz. Welcome to 47th Street.
From now on, I'll be selling to you at 80°/ below retail.
Is there anything I can interest you in today?"
Good morning, Mrs. Horowitz. Welcome to 47th Street.
Mr. and Mrs. Mizrachi, Mrs. Horowitz is my new buyer.
- Hello. - Hello.
I'm sure Heschel will be missed.
But whatever she lacks in experience, she'll make up for with a superb taste.
That's nice. Any relations?
- Excuse me? - She's my sister-in-law.
I'm keeping things in the family so she can put my brother through yeshiva.
You like them, Mrs. Gelbart?
What I'd really like is for my husband, God bless him...
to get off his fat ass, surprise me with something...
instead of handing me a wad of cash...
and telling me, "Go make yourself happy. "
I understand, Mrs. Gelbart.
But the joy of the surprise lasts only a few moments...
and then you're at the mercy of his taste.
At least this way you can choose something for yourself...
that will give you naches for the rest of your life.
You've got excellent taste, Mr. Sugarman.
That ring was designed by Eddie Sakamoto.
A beautiful combination of cobachon and diamonds laid in a platinum band.
That design won first prize in the Spectrum competition last fall.
So, uh, what range are we talking about here?
Mr. Sugarman, I'm not going to pretend to give you some kind of fancy bargain.
I'll sell it to you for what it's worth.
It's so nice to see a new face here.
It's very inspirational.
It just makes me want to... buy something.
Well, since it's your wife's birthday, Mr. Fishbein...
I recommend this bracelet.
It's silver inlaid with ruby. It's her birthstone, and mine.
Could you model it for me?
Ahh. That looks fabulous.
But such a lovely wrist, I imagine anything would.
The question is, Mr. Fishbein...
whether you think your wife, Mrs. Fishbein, will like it.
The question is, Mrs. Horowitz...
why a woman as lovely as you...
is not wearing any jewelry of her own.
Well?
Mmm, it's good.
But what?
- But nothing. It's good. I didn't say "but. " - But you thought it.
I could see it there over your head like a little gray cloud.
A little "but" something. But what?
I understand most of the nutrients that can be found in freshly-cooked foods...
are absent in microwaveable products.
Sounds like you've been reading articles...
on a rather wide variety of subjects.
Or else you've been getting an earful from your sister Rachel.
In which case, I'd thank her to keep her nose out of my affairs.
Do you know what today is, Mendel?
No, I don't.
It's my birthday.
Sonia.
Sonia...
I know that you're working now.
And I know that you like it, so I'm glad for you.
But you run out of the house at the crack of dawn. I hardly ever see you.
And when I do it's to get a microwave dinner tossed at me like I'm some charity case.
I know I spend my day with my nose stuck in a book...
but I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to these things.
It's clear that something's missing. What is it?
What is what?
- What is it that you want? - I don't know.
Mendel, if I knew-
Mendel, I just want something beautiful.
Sonia, you have it right here. You have a home, a child...
and a husband who loves you more than anything in the whole world.
Yes, in this world, maybe.
But what about the other world?
The world of the spirit and the Torah and the Talmud?
What about that world? Do you love me more than that, Mendel?
What about God?
Do you love me more than you love God, Mendel?
Sonia, that's a terrible thing to ask.
I'm sorry, Mendel.
You're a good man.
And this life is good, but it's not beautiful.
But... goodness is beauty.
No!
Beauty has goodness in it, but it can also be terrible.
Is that what you want?
That, that things should be terrible?
Is that what would make you happy?
Whoa, whoa. It's too early. You come back in a half hour. Sorry.
Just for a moment.
"A woman of fortitude, who can find?
For her price is far above rubies.
When her husband relies on her, he shall lack no fortune.
She rises in the morning to feed her household.
Strength and majesty are her raiment...
and joyfully she can anticipate the day of judgment.
False is grandeur and vain is beauty.
Only a God-fearing woman deserves praise.
Give her the fruits of her handiwork...
and let her be praised at the gates of heaven for her countless deeds. "
Sometimes I look at men and wonder...
how could God have created...
so ugly a creature for woman to cling to.
Men are ugly!
But you...
Sender Horowitz...
you are the ugliest man of all.
That's a flawless brilliant cut stone from South Africa. Top of the line.
Hmm. How's business, Mr. Kapoor?
Business? The rich are buying at Tiffany's and Saks. The poor are carjacking the rich ones...
and everybody else is sitting on their couches watching the Home Shopping Network.
Not surprising if this is the kind of merchandise you showcase.
Listen here, Mrs. Horowitz, I triple check everything I show you.
That's a perfectly sound diamond in a perfectly sound ring.
Mm-hmm. It's perfectly sound. And perfectly boring.
Hey, back me up here. Boring or not?
Boring.
Ramon, isn't today your-
Half day? Yeah. Today I'm outta here at- Right now.
I'm outta here now. Thank you, Mr. Kapoor.
It's a classic, Mrs. Horowitz.
And the point of a classic is its steadfastness.
There are some things nobody wants to change.
I was holding this one just for you, but I'll be more than happy-
No, no, no, no. I'll take it.
The sad fact is, it's probably the best piece I've seen all week.
Lucky for me, it's on an 80°/ discount rate.
Good choice, Mrs. Horowitz.
I like this one.
And since when are you an expert?
I didn't say I was an expert. I just like this one.
That one?
What is this?
Just some free-floating junk that came in with a batch of useless gold items.
I'll sell it to the melters at cost.
- Where did you find this? - Somewhere. Chinatown. I don't know.
You look at this...
and call it a piece of junk from Chinatown...
and you wonder why your business is bad?
What? Did God put you on this earth for the purpose of busting my chops?
If you like it, I'll throw it in with the other one. All right?
Okay.
- You like that piece? - Yeah, I like it.
I'm asking you about it. I like it.
Then it came from my store.
- Anything you like, this is where it came from. - Oh, no, no.
If this piece is hot or something, I've got nothing to do with it.
- You cops have got to stop hassling me. - Cops?
Maybe the guy before me had some kind of shady business.
I'm clean as a whistle, you understand me?
I've got receipts. You want to see? Everything.
Excuse me.
Could you- Excuse me.
You're going to hell.
For eating an egg roll?
For eating pig.
Mmm, it's delicious!
- You're going to hell. - Really?
And yesterday...
when I was lying on a desk getting shtupped by my brother-in-law...
yesterday I wasn't going to hell?
I'm sorry.
Yossi, I'm sorry. I'll shut up, okay?
Little boys always hate any noise they're not making themselves.
Something sweet with which to coat the world's bitter pill, tataleh.
What are you doing so far from home?
I might ask you the same question.
Spare some change for a woman who's been walking too long on her tired feet?
I'm sorry.
Nice earrings.
Excuse me. Those earrings are beautiful.
Thanks.
Do you mind if I take a closer look?
Where did you get these?
Listen, lady, I'm glad you like them, but they're not valuable or nothing!
There's this guy who makes them in my neighborhood.
- Just some neighborhood guy who makes nice stuff. - What neighborhood?
Buenos dias.
Hello. Um, I'm looking for a jeweler.
I was given this address. Jeweler?
- Jewelry maker? - Ah, si.
Si. Entra, por favor.
Mi hijo.
- My son. - Oh!
Venga.
Pase. Down. Down the stairs.
Those the ones that I wanted?
- Yeah, it's the same ones. - They don't look like it.
- It's the ones. I'm telling you. - They don't look like Charlene's.
This is better.
Suits your face.
You getting picky now? You know mine are sold. Yours can never be like this.
Whatever, girl. How much you want for it?
The reward is seeing it on such a lovely ear. That's all I could ask for.
Yo, Ramon.
I've been posin' my naked ass over here for three weekends in a row.
You ain't paid me jack, and now you're turning down her dollars?
Shut up. That's 'cause your fat ass ain't worth my dollars, homegirl.
The hell with this, all right?
Come on. What's up with acting like this? All right?
Come on. Whatcha doin'?
Here.
Take this for now. Talk to her, all right?
- It's cold in here, man. - I need you guys. I know.
One more time, all right?
Let me guess.
You didn't quite succeed at getting my ass fired at work today...
so you decided to follow me home...
and make sure my life is a living hell here as well?
Not exactly.
You're quite a collector.
You mean these? Not exactly.
I mean, I make them.
Nobody buys any, so I guess I'm collecting them.
What about these?
It's just stuff I sell to the neighborhood girls for some pocket money.
You know? Mostly metal shavings from my sculptures.
- It's worthless. - Worthless?
This is art.
- Yo, Ray. Peace. - Yo. Peace, Ty.
- Later. All right? - Yeah, all right.
You have an interesting style, Ramon.
It's not really no style. It's mostly unfinished. But thanks.
So, what brings you to my neck of the woods, Miss, uh, Horowitz?
I found it in a pile of junk Kapoor was gonna sell to the melters.
It's yours, isn't it?
How did that get in- It must've fell in there somehow. Jesus!
Twenty-two carat gold.
Whatever stone you had in it is gone. I'm sorry.
It was never there.
- I made this for my muse. - For who?
My muse. My inspiration.
Who is that?
I don't know.
But... when I meet her, I'll know what stone to put in there.
Hmm.
Hey, Ramon...
Kapoor doesn't have a clue, does he?
Does anyone in the trade know?
- Know what? - Know what you can do.
Listen, I got a job.
You know, this is a hobby, a distraction. That's all. It's not-
I want to commission your designs.
And I don't know from sculpture...
but other than a few Florentine antiques that passed through my father's store...
I've never seen any jewelry as beautiful as yours in my life.
I am very moved, Mrs. -
Sonia.
I am moved, Sonia.
But we don't know each other.
Do you want this for me, or do you want this... for you?
Does it matter?
Sonia?
Mendel?
What are you doing lurking out here in the dark?
- Where's Shimmie? - He's by Rachel.
- Oy gevalt. I better go get him. - He'll be all right.
I said... he'll be all right.
- Where have you been? - Working.
- What is all this? - Oh, they're samples...
from a jeweler I'm going to be representing as part of my work for Sender.
- Look. - I told Sender you won't be working for him anymore.
I've asked him to replace you as soon as possible.
Well, what did, what did Sender say?
What did Sender say?
I'm your husband, Sonia. By you, Sender does what I ask.
I told him you were needed here at home and that was the end of it.
- Mendel, all the women around here work. - Yes, they work.
But their husbands don't get snickered at by everyone in the neighborhood...
as soon as his back is turned.
Why should they snicker?
If I knew that I wouldn't be standing here asking you about it.
Is that what you're doing? You're asking me about it?
Sonia- Sonia, I know that you've got-
We've got problems.
I- I talked to some people about it, some people who know about these things.
Please, Sonia.
I realize I've been too busy at the yeshiva with my own learning to do-
To give you the attention you deserve. I also realize...
that we are in desperate need of help right now.
What kind of help, Mendel?
I'd like for us to see a counselor.
A marriage counselor, a psychologist.
Someone who specializes in problems married people are having.
Do you pray every morning, Mrs. Horowitz?
Do you pray, Mrs. Horowitz?
You said-
I thought you were a psychologist.
I am a psychologist, Mrs. Horowitz, but I'm also a rabbi...
uniquely qualified to appreciate the problems afflicting the Jewish soul.
Which is unique in that it is directly connected to the spirit of the Holy One.
Blessed be His name.
Sonia, can we give the doctor a chance?
So? Hmm? Do you pray, Mrs. Horowitz?
No.
- Have you been to the mikveh? - Not this month.
- Are you lighting shabbes candles? - If I get in on time.
- Have you been keeping kosher? - At home.
- At home? - Now we're getting somewhere.
- Where exactly is it that we're getting? - Well, it's clear...
that you've been neglecting your relationship with the Almighty...
- which, in psychological terms, is translated into behavior- - I thought-
I thought that you said he was going to be impartial.
Whose side is he taking? I don't see.
He's taking God's side, Mendel. That's whose side he's taking.
You can't choose sides with the Lord, Mrs. Horowitz.
You don't tell me what I can and can't do.
I'm gonna pick whatever side I want.
And if God happens to be on the other end...
well that's just the way it's gonna be.
Sonia, sometimes the way you talk, I mean, don't you fear God?
I'm tired of being afraid.
If I'm so offensive in His eyes...
then let Him do what He wants to me.
- I really don't care anymore. - How can you be so blind?
Don't you see the kind of suffering that you're asking for?
Mendel, my learned husband...
we don't suffer because we ask for it.
We suffer because that's just the way it is.
There is no reason for it.
And if there is, then it's certainly something...
that neither you nor you knows anything about.
We bring suffering on ourselves, Mrs. Horowitz, when we sin against God.
Really.
And my, my aunts and uncles?
And all their children...
who were marched into the gas chambers at Treblinka?
My Aunt Chani who watched her son...
tortured in front of her eyes?
What the hell did they do to deserve that?
And Yossi.
He was only ten years old. What did he do?
We don't question the ways of God, Mrs. Horowitz.
- We just- - No!
You don't question...
Dr. Rabbi.
I'm gonna question whatever I want to.
But since I'm not likely to find any answers here-
Is Sender home?
- Mendel, are you all right? - Is my brother home?
Yes, of course. He's in his study.
Why don't you wait right over here? I'll go get him.
Shah! Everyone to your rooms.
On the double. Double time. March. Let's go, let's go.
Why?
Why what?
Why is this happening to me?
What's happening, Mendel?
Sonia's gone crazy.
- What do you mean "crazy"? - She's running around like a meshuggener thing.
Such things, I don't know where she gets them from.
About God. About-
I don't know. I-I, I don't know what she's talking about.
She just sounds a little wound up. I'm sure she'll calm down soon.
What have I done? What have I done wrong?
Nothing.
- You're a tzaddik, Mendel. - Then why is this happening to me?
Because you've never done anything wrong.
Sender...
I don't know what to do.
Please.
Help me.
This is an excellent representative selection...
of the designer's skill and versatility, Mr. Berman.
It's a little confusing.
I mean, to someone with a smidgen of taste, this work might border on kitsch.
But there's a purity to the classical influences.
And a boldness to the modern flourishes that totally belies that.
It also enhances the appearance of the wearer...
without drawing undue attention to itself.
I apologize for lack of a better model.
Uh, but with some imagination, I'm sure that you'll see...
- a world of possibilities. - Yes. And without as much imagination...
as you might think.
Uh, here's an example...
of the designer's work in fine metals.
It's 22-carat gold, hand-carved, one-of-a-kind, with an open setting...
for a gemstone.
The perfection of this piece is clear, even to the naked eye.
If you can bear to part with these samples, I'd like to show them to my partners.
- Of course. - I'd also like yourself and Mr. -
- Garcia. Ramon Garcia. - Yes.
I'd like you to meet my manufacturer.
He's in town every Thursday. We can make an appointment...
- in a couple of weeks. - This week.
This week would be best.
I'll see what I can do.
I'll just... hold on to this piece.
It's one of a kind, and I'm sure they'll be able to see...
what they need to see from the rest of the selection.
Damn! Can you believe this?
She bugged out on me. I can't find anybody to replace her.
I'm getting it.
It's nice.
Nice?
- You hear that, Ty? You look nice. - Yo, leave her alone, Ray.
- You're embarrassing her. - The sculpture- The sculpture looks nice.
Don't ask.
What's all this?
Gold chachkes. Junk.
I can see that. Why is it all over my table?
You can melt it all down and start to work on some pieces...
- to augment your portfolio. - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I got a job. A real fuckin' job to hold on to. I told you.
- This is all just a hobby. - You seem to be working on it awfully hard for just a hobby.
Hey! Who are you, lady?
I mean, I just met you.
And you come busting in here like your ass is on fire, telling me how to live my life?
Is this how you want to go on?
Wasting your talent?
Working for some cheap junk macher day in, day out...
just so you can hold on to, what, some lousy job?
I don't know where you come from.
But around here, that's a hell of a lot more than most people got.
So don't go laughing it off like it ain't shit, all right?
This shit's gettin' too deep for my shiverin' ass.
- I'm gonna leave you- - Yo, stay right there. We not done yet.
Ramon, you're an artist. I just wanna help you.
Do you wanna help me? Come here. Come over here.
- What? - Come here.
Oh, no. No, Ramon.
- No, come on. Just so I can get this angle, okay? - Ramon.
- Come on. - I, I shouldn't be so close.
No. Hey, it's okay. You know?
- It isn't really you. - Ramon.
Just use your imagination, okay? This is art. Remember?
This is the Garden of Eden. Right? There's no shame here.
This is Adam, and you're Eve.
- And I suppose that makes you the snake? - The devil in disguise.
Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Snake. I hate to tell you, but this Eve is keeping her clothes on.
- No, no, it's okay. Just put your hand like this. - No.
- Come on, Ray- - Put it right there. All right?
No!
Smooth, homes.
Sonia. Sonia!
I can't believe I did that to you, man.
Just, uh-
You fuckin' scared me, all right?
My father used to say that a jeweler's work is the expression of his soul.
Your work is beautiful, Ramon. But what's the point if nobody's going to know about it?
You'll know.
Seems like you had a wise old man.
I never knew mine.
My mother, she' ain't got nobody in this whole world but me and Jesus Christ.
And He don't seem to be makin' no grocery runs these days.
Know what I'm sayin'?
How do I know you're gonna come through for me?
You don't. But that's life, isn't it?
Just give me a little time.
I'm running out of time.
Mendel?
The locks to my house have been changed.
Your house? You've hardly set foot in that door for months.
- Now suddenly it's your house. - Where's Shimmie?
He's sleeping.
- Don't get between me and my baby. - Your baby.
You've hardly seen hide nor hair of him for months. Now suddenly he's your baby.
- You sound like a broken record, Rachel. - Sit down!
Um, ladies, I think it might be a good idea-
Grab your coat, round up the kids and take them to daven maariv up at shul.
Right. That's what I was gonna do. Shul.
I think you'd better sit down.
It's over.
Mendel will be granting you a divorce at the earliest possible moment.
He's going to stay in the house. And Sender has agreed...
to let you use an apartment he's been keeping for business on the Lower East Side.
You are not welcome here anymore.
Is this coming from Mendel, or is this coming from you?
What do you think?
Where is Mendel? I want to hear this from his mouth.
Haven't you put him through enough already?
I'll just take Shimmie and be on my way.
Shimmie stays here.
How dare you!
Shimmie's gonna stay here by us where he can live in a healthy environment.
And who's the expert fit to judge what's a healthy environment all of a sudden?
Certainly not a woman who leaves her husband and baby at home...
while she runs around town having affairs with Puerto Ricans.
Is that what this is all about? Who said this?
It doesn't matter. What's done is done.
And what's said is said, and the truth doesn't matter anymore. Does it?
If you don't get out of my way, I'm gonna call the cops.
I'm taking Shimmie and I'm going back to Muncie to stay by my mother.
We already spoke to your mother.
She begged us not to let you go back there and ruin your sisters' chances...
of making decent matches.
We have a fine life here, Sonia.
A decent life.
And you are not gonna be allowed to destroy it for everyone around you.
For the good of all concerned, you've gotta be cut off.
You can't cut a mother off from her child.
No. You've already taken care of that yourself.
I don't know where you're headed, Sonia.
But wherever it is, you're going alone.
Excuse me.
Is Mendel here?
Mendel Horowitz. Do me a favor.
Go and find him for me. Tell him his wife wants to talk to him.
Excuse me. I think you should find another time for this.
- Is he here? - Like I said, I think perhaps another time would be pref-
Mendel?
Listen, Mrs. Horowitz-
Is this it, Mendel?
Is this how you want to handle things?
- Hi, Nelson. - Sorry, Mrs. Horowitz.
- The store's off-limits. - Excuse me?
Mr. Sender's orders. Can't let you in.
Listen to me, Nelson. There are things in there that belong to me.
They are mine. I will go in, I'll get them. I'll be out in ten minutes.
Can't do it. Good night, Mrs. Horowitz.
Welcome home.
"An apartment he keeps for business," his sister says.
I wonder what she'd say...
if she knew what kind of transactions occurred here.
Make yourself comfortable.
A bed.
I would've expected a desk or a table...
or maybe just the wall.
Who'd have thought you'd have time for a bed?
Your bitter tone strikes me as inappropriate...
considering I've given you exactly what you want.
And what is that?
Your freedom.
You're free of Mendel.
You're free of all the everyday responsibilities that you hate.
You're free to work at a trade you enjoy, and live in any manner you wish.
Free.
And you?
Am I free of you, Sender?
Freedom always comes with a price.
And... what's your price?
A price above that of your virtue...
but a price far below rubies.
You'll have nothing, Sonia.
Not even this room. Nothing.
I'm not paying anymore.
Yeah, sh-she told me, Imma. Rachel told me that she talked to you.
But, um, I-I just wanted to call...
and, uh, a-and make sure that, um-
No, don't worry.
No, I-I, I won't be coming home.
Don't worry.
What's the rush? You're late for a party?
I'm lost.
You're in the middle of Manhattan. 2nd Avenue and 3rd Street.
The "J" train, three blocks east. The I. R. T.'s just around the corner.
- Nobody's lost here. - Who are you?
I'm just a woman who's been too long on her tired feet.
Now I'm gonna rest. You want to join me?
You've been following me ever since I moved to Boro Park.
Who's been following who?
A little manners wouldn't kill you.
I'm not taking from a woman who has nothing.
Actually, I have very little. You're the one who has nothing.
How would you know that?
We have a mutual acquaintance.
She's old.
As old as God Himself.
She's beautiful and very wise.
But we hate and fear her...
when we should be making her our trusted ally.
This makes her bitter and vengeful.
And she burns us in the flames of her spite.
She's sensitive.
Not very forgiving.
But if you learn to embrace her, you will have made a valuable friend.
And what's God got to say about all that?
Hmph. Better to stay on His good side too.
It's a little late for that in my case.
Aah! He's an old bully.
Best to keep bullies in their place, I say.
Even the big ones?
Especially the big ones.
Bubbie?
- Where's Shimmie? - Shimmie? It's 3:00 a. m.
- He's sleeping in the kids' room. - Thank you.
- Mendel, are you all right? - Yes.
Mendel? Mendel, what are you doing?
I'm taking my son home.
Mendel, listen to me. I understand how you feel.
- But Shimmie needs to stay- - Shimmie's my son.
And from now on, Shimmie's gonna sleep by me.
I'll appreciate your help during the days while I'm teaching.
But from this moment on, every night I'm gonna do my own learning at home...
instead of the beit midrash.
And when I'm home, Shimmie's gonna sleep by me.
Mendel, this is not just about what you want.
- Shimmie needs- - That's enough, Rachel!
I'll get together a couple guys from the beit midrash.
We'll be happy to come over nights and learn at your house.
We'll learn by you.
Jesus.
Ramon, I'm sorry to wake you up like this.
I wasn't sleeping.
After you, uh, took off down the street, you know, the other day...
the way you was talking, I thought I was never gonna see you again.
I cleaned off my table, you know.
I ain't stopped working since.
I mean, the whole time I was thinking about the way you was walking, you know...
with your back held up all straight like you was cracking, but you wouldn't break.
They are so beautiful.
All my life...
I've been trying to make up for my old man splitting, you know...
by looking out for my mom.
It ain't been easy, but... I don't mind.
Then you walk in.
And I think, "Here's another desperate woman that needs something from me. "
But I was wrong.
I need you.
No.
You were right to be afraid of me.
I have destroyed every good thing I have ever known!
But I won't destroy you.
Sometimes a thing has to be destroyed.
Walls got to be broke down so you can see what they've been hiding inside all along.
You can't even see yourself, can you?
Look!
This is nice.
I agree.
It's nice.
But it's a chachka.
A nice little chachka.
This, look.
It's a chain, Sonia.
That's all it is, a chain.
Now look at yourself.
Look at you.
Sonia?
Yossi.
I swam.
Me too.
- Yes? - Is the Rebbitzn home?
What can I do for you?
I'd like to see the Rebbitzn, please.
The Rebbitzn is still in mourning. She doesn't grant audience to strangers.
My name is Sonia. Please tell her...
that I am respectfully requesting a moment of her time.
I'm sorry, but like I said, the Rebbitzn won't-
Make yourself decent...
before you come in.
If you don't like the way I look, then look at your shoes.
Or stick your nose in a book. It's your problem, not mine.
I'm sorry, Rebbitzn, but this woman...
- wouldn't listen- - Yakov.
At the Rebbe's eulogy...
may his memory be a blessing, you came to me.
You said-
Thank you.
Why?
I was here when you spoke to Moishe on that day.
Your words rekindled a fire...
in a body too old to contain it.
Like a flash he was consumed.
His eyes were looking into mine.
And the last words to pass his lips...
before he left this world...
were, "I love you. "
It was the first time in 20 years...
that he spoke those words to me.
You took a man away from his people forever.
But for one night, you gave a wife back her husband.
Perhaps I sound selfish to you...
but you are still young.
I am very old.
Someday...
you might understand me.
I understand you.
But with all due respect...
I'm not planning on waiting for someday.
I don't belong here.
I know that now...
and I've paid a heavy price for it.
I'm leaving my child here.
It's for the best, until I do know where I belong.
I accept your gratitude...
for returning to you what should have always been yours.
But now I'm asking you to help me reclaim what's mine.
What's the meaning of this?
- You Sender's new guy? - Mrs. Horowitz.
You look absolutely fantastic, if I may say so.
- Sit down, Mr. Fishbein. I'm, I'm not in the mood.
I assume the combination to the safe has been changed.
Would you be so kind as to open it for me?
All these men were gabbaim to the Rebbe.
They'll be witnesses to the fact that I will take only what's mine and nothing more.
This is a joke?
Now I'm free.
I couldn't bear the thought of your muse going empty-handed.
I hope she'll be as inspiring to you as you've been to me.
She already has been.
Hold on to it for me.
Just for a little while. Okay?
Sonia?
Where are you going?
I don't know.
If you need a place to-
Stay here with me.
Ramon.
- There's someone upstairs who wants to see you.
He says he's your husband.
I'm gonna talk to him.
Hey, you've got a life, you know.
Do what you gotta do.
I ain't going anywhere.
Mendel?
Sonia.
You look nice.
You too.
Sender told me where I could find you, in case you were wondering.
I wasn't.
How's Shimmie?
He's good. He stays by me now.
Oh, that's good.
I'm sure he misses you.
And you?
Do you miss me?
And you?
I- I came to tell you...
I'm sorry I forgot your birthday.
My birthday?
Do you think that's what all this was about?
Of course not.
I've been doing a lot of thinking...
about things I never really understood how to think about before.
I know that the pain we caused each other couldn't be helped.
I am who I am and you are who you are.
And we just weren't meant to be together.
There was nothing we could've done other than what we did.
But I was wrong to have forgotten your birthday.
Mendel, you know I, I can't accept-
Please, if not for yourself, then for me.
Yom Kippur is coming up and I would like to face God...
knowing I tried to do right by you.
A ruby.
It's your birthstone. I looked it up. I bought it loose.
I figured finding the right setting for it is your specialty, so why interfere.
Please...
come by and visit...
on evenings or shabbes.
Shimmie should know he has a mother who loves him.
- What would the others say? - What others?
As far as Shimmie is concerned...
the only voices that matter belong to his mother...
and his father.
Mendel?
God bless you.