On a flat roof in the midst of New York's sea of buildings, on a clear, cold November day in the 1950s, a woman practices vigorous jump rope barefoot and in a short-sleeved dress. Chenia is 45, the mother of two teenagers, and always short on household money; and she only agrees with her charming but good-for-nothing husband on one thing: absolutely no third child! However, all attempts to induce a miscarriage fail, and eventually, Devorah is born as the youngest member of this Russian-Jewish immigrant family, igniting a true blaze of emotions in her mother.