A Price Above Rubies

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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 lmma.

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!

Is finished.

Is the Word of God and thas 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?

Thas 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.

Is fake!

Is 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 whas the point?

You'll know.

Yossi!

Yossi!

Yossi!

Good job.

Okay, very good. Thas 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, ill 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.

Is okay? You checked?

Is sharp, no nicks or anything?

- You checked?

- Trust me.

Okay, double check. Check again

to make sure everything's okay.

Oh, is hot.

Is 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. Is 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.

Thas 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.

Is easier if you don't watch.

If they can do it,

I can watch it.

Amen.

Is fantastic!

So many different kinds of people.

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