A Price Above Rubies is a 1998 British-American drama film written and directed by Boaz Yakin and starring Renée Zellweger.

The story centers on a young woman who finds it difficult to conform to the restrictions imposed on her by her community.

This chant traditionally is a prelude to the weekly toast (kiddush) which begins the Sabbath meal.

She is married, through an arranged marriage, to Mendel, a devout Hasidic Jew who is too repressed and immersed in his studies to give his wife the attention she craves.

Rachel persuades her to talk to the Rebbe but Sonia cannot truly articulate what is upsetting her, instead resorting to a metaphor of a fire burning her up.

On one occasion she buys a non-kosher egg roll whilst in Chinatown and her brother tells her off and an elderly street beggar-woman sees him and offers him candy.

She comments on another woman's earrings and this leads Sonia to track down the maker of a ring she had discovered earlier that day.

Her husband insists they see a marriage counsellor (their rabbi) but the man decides Sonia is not being a good enough Jew.

The woman refers to an old legend (one her brother spoke of at the start of the film), to encourage Sonia.

(It is unclear if the necklace is of religious significance or if he means the need to have financial security through jewellery is a chain or restriction).

[3] Entertainment Weekly reported that a group of onlookers, upset over the film's depiction of Judaism, got in the way of shooting one day.

The Jews that worked on this film knew less about the Hasidic lifestyle than Renee did after reading 10 books about it.

It was more important for each actor and actress to find the emotional light of their character and learn to wear it like a second skin.

While impressed by Zellweger's "ferociously strong performance", he found the film did not teach us "much about her society", and that the Hasidic community could have been treated in greater depth.

[5] Charles Taylor of Salon likewise appreciated Zellweger's performance, while also finding the cultural aspect treated too superficially.