Shalom, a young Israeli at the outset of his life, was born into a bourgeois family in Tel-Aviv. His parents wish he would go to college, but Shalom doesn't feel like studying. His father isn't quite convinced his beloved son is doing the best he can when not doing anything at all.
The film tells the story of a Sephardi family of Egyptian Jewish immigrants from Alexandria that settle in 1947 Tel Aviv. The family consists of a 33-year-old widowed wife, Clara, (played by Gila Almagor, one of the most prominent actresses in Israel for the last three decades) and her four children. They live in a working-class neighborhood surrounded by their extended family, including Clara's mother Mazal, Clara's uncle Rafael, and Sultana, his wife. The plot centers on the firstborn, Sami, his transition from a shy 15-year-old to a working man and an activist in the "Irgun" (a resistance movement that acted mainly against the military forces of the British), and the romantic attachment he develops with a 25-year-old Russian immigrant librarian (Michal Bat Adam, now a director). In addition to this, Clara struggles between social pressure to take a husband and her own complex feelings surrounding this, complicated by another Sephardi Egyptian, played by Yosef Shiloach, who has strong feelings for her.
Gote and Eli are two aging friends who dont want to age. Gote is a lifeguard who's fighting peepers on the Tel-Aviv beach. Eli is a guitar player who dreams of building a night club in altman's restaurant.
Officer Avraham Azoulay is a patrolman in Tel-Aviv's district of Jaffa. He is an honest man, though extremely naive, and because of his character, has never been promoted during his twenty years in the force. He is married to a dull woman (played by veteran actress Zaharira Harifai); the couple have no children.
His home slated to be torn down, his business in serious financial trouble and his only daughter poised to leave the nest with her wealthy fiancé, small-time Tel Aviv second hand store owner Lupo (Yehuda Barkan) still finds the strength to keep his life, and his pride, together. But as he fights overeager housing authorities and charms his daughter's future in-laws, he finds himself the romantic target of a loud local widow.
A lunatic with a digging compulsion (Blaumilch) escapes from an asylum, steals a jackhammer and proceeds to open up a main street and traffic artery in Tel Aviv (Allenby Street). Rather than question his actions, the police, as well as city officials, assume he is operating under the municipality’s orders and aid him as much as they can. Complaints from local residents, whose lives become a living hell due to the noise and traffic jams, lead to infighting amongst city departments. To speed up the work, so that it would be completed before the start of the municipal elections, the city sends armies of construction workers and heavy equipment to help the lone compressor, turning a mere annoyance into a full blown disaster.