The daugh­ter of a Torah schol­ar in eigh­teenth-cen­tu­ry Ukraine, Git­tel has always accept­ed her place in a fam­i­ly steeped in reli­gion. Mar­ried at age twelve to a cold and reclu­sive rab­bi, the young bride gives birth to two sons des­tined to fol­low their father’s path. Find­ing very lit­tle com­fort in fam­i­ly life, Git­tel shares her dreams visions and a close spir­i­tu­al under­stand­ing with her only con­fi­dant: her father-in-law the Mag­gid of Mezer­itch. When Git­tel los­es those close to her one by one she decides to leave her old life behind, includ­ing her sons to set out on a lone­some and per­ilous jour­ney to Jerusalem. Will she sac­ri­fice every­thing in pur­suit of the dream of her youth?