In the limbo of Yiddishland, two men share with us fragments of their lives. Mendele grew up in a shtetl. Shedding the yoke of tradition and yearning for freedom, he discovers socialist ideas in which he sees as a new messianism. Young Yitskhok lives in the Vilnius ghetto. He rebels against his miserable condition and makes his life a hymn to hope. Shot in striking black-and-white, Oylem is a poetic Yiddish-language journey into the heart of Ashkenazi history and soul.