Sh’Chur

Cheli learns that her father has died and must return to her childhood home for the funeral. She travels with her young daughter Ruth and plans to fetch her sister Pnina from the institution along the way. The journey unsettles her and opens a door to the family's long-suppressed history.

Cheli completes retrieving Pnina from the institution and the three of them begin the return to Cheli's youth. Ruth watches as the sisters navigate old tensions and renewed loyalties in cramped, uncertain confines. The road trip becomes a fragile test of their bond.

As they drive, Cheli's mind drifts to her 1970s childhood when she was known as Rachel. She recalls a Moroccan immigrant family dealing with dysfunction and the weight of traditional expectations. The memories hint at the forces that shaped her later life.

Young Rachel is ambitious and unsettled by the roles assigned to her in a traditional immigrant household. She battles the limits imposed by culture and family while trying to chart her own path. The tension sets the stage for the later family crises.

The family decides that Zohara should marry their uncle Moshe, twenty years her senior. Zohara is distraught by the arrangement, but the plan moves forward despite her protests. The marriage is framed as a remedy for the family’s troubles.

Zohara attempts suicide by drinking kerosene, a desperate act born of despair and fear. The family intervenes in time, saving her life but exposing the fragility of their bonds. The incident casts a shadow over the upcoming wedding.

Shlomo is pressured by Dede, Denise's brother, to marry Denise as part of alliance-building. He refuses, resisting the manipulative family dynamics. The tension reveals competing loyalties within the household.

Dede rapes Pnina in revenge, and she becomes pregnant as a result. The assault compounds the trauma within the family and alters the course of Pnina’s life. The event intensifies the already volatile environment.

A sh'chur ritual performed by their mother is followed by Pnina miscarrying. The ritual is meant to fix problems but ends in tragedy, highlighting the perilous methods the family uses to cope. The loss deepens the family rift.

The family gathers for Zohara and Moshe’s wedding, and tensions simmer beneath the surface. Pnina grows upset, and a freak storm drives the guests indoors for safety. The weather mirrors the chaos inside the household.

During the storm, Rachel follows Pnina and harshly berates her, even wishing she would be hit by a car. The outburst exposes the depth of Rachel's anger and the unresolved wounds of their past. The moment seals Pnina’s further isolation.

Pnina flees into heavy traffic, causing a crash that results in serious consequences. She is subsequently institutionalized, removed from the family turmoil she cannot escape. The incident marks a turning point that disperses the siblings.

After the chaos, the siblings scatter and Rachel is sent to boarding school. There she abandons her old name and identity, choosing to introduce herself as 'Cheli, from somewhere in Israel.' The transformation foreshadows her future career in television and the persona she will become.

In the present, Cheli wears Pnina’s childhood amulet and telepathically communicates with her daughter Ruth. The past and present collide as Cheli embraces the role of sh'chur in her own life and forms a stronger bond with Ruth for the first time. The ritual imagery ties the sisters across time.