When ARI’s father, a respected rug merchant, dies unexpectedly, his mother, YASMINA, struggles to protect her family.  Just as their hopes fail, a messenger arrives with astounding news. A wealthy relative in Egypt has left them a fortune if someone can swiftly claim it in faraway Cairo!

Ari, the oldest, decides he will undertake the perilous and urgent journey. On the advice of their friend ISMAIL, he hires MUSTAFA, a caravan driver notorious for speed and ruthlessness.  Boldly, Ari approaches him and offers to pay him double – if he will stop the caravan for Ari’s Sabbath observance and still get him to Cairo in time.

But at the oasis, Mustafa finds the tracks of a monstrous beast, breaks his promise, and abandons Ari in the desolate waste on the eve of the Sabbath.  Despairing, Ari lights the Shabbat candles and hears -- a huge ROAR.  Framed in unearthly fog and light, an immense lion emerges!  Horrified, Ari prepares to be attacked. But the lion tumbles to the ground, starving and thirsty.

Ari must choose between his own fears and the lion’s life.  His decision will shape the success or failure of his journey…