Jake Lever is a successful cardiologist living in the upscale Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) neighborhood of Washington, D.C. When he dozes off at the hospital where he works, he dreams that his brother, Benjamin, tells him that they are okay. Jake is confused and is baffled after receiving a phone call later that day from his mother informing him that his brother has died suddenly. He feels guilty for not having kept in touch with his brother for several years. After Ben's funeral held in Brooklyn, Jake finds out that because his brother's wife Leah has been left without children, they must perform a ceremony called ''halizah'' in order not to conduct a levirate marriage.