Wealthy American Jew Jeremiah Mendelsztrum decides to donate funds for the construction of a ritual bath—a mikveh—in the City of the Righteous in the Holy Land in memory of his deceased wife. A suitable location is found only in a neighborhood populated by immigrants from Russia, who don't know what a mikveh is and sincerely believe the municipality is building a chess club for them. The bath-club will, in the most incredible way, change the lives of many of its visitors.