Shabtai Alfandari (Shaike Ophir) is a pure Sephardic Jerusalemite, father to nine daughters, who yearns for a son who will one day say Kaddish for him after his death. Alfandari dreams about the son and plays with him in his dreams. He consults with sorcerers to remove the curse that prevents him from having a son. He arranges for his eldest daughter to marry his assistant in hopes that a male child will be born into the family, but another daughter is born instead.
The film premiered a week before the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, during which it achieved significant success, attracting approximately 50,000 viewers in its first week. However, the war's onset led to a sharp decline in audience numbers. In August 1974, the film returned to theaters but failed to replicate its initial success.
In the spring of 1974, the film competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where audiences voted it the festival's most popular film.
