In a small Ukrainian village, Tobias, the Jewish dairyman, known and respected as a sage and Talmud scholar, discovers that his independent-minded daughter Khavah is in love with Fedka, the son of Ivan, the Christian religious leader of the village. Tobias arranges for Khavah to marry the son of a Jewish merchant, and, when she runs off to marry Fedka, her family mourns her as if she were dead. Her life with Fedka is happy at first, but eventually the meanness and brutal actions of her mother-in-law Parasha drive her back to Tobias, who refuses to allow her back and leaves her crying in the dirt. After an order to Ivan from the Czar's officers banishing Tobias and his family, Khavah, despite Fedka's pleas, renounces the marriage and rejoins her family as they leave their village in exile.
