At the leather coat store Becker & Caplan, co-owner Saul Caplan is murdered during a robbery. Forensics show it was an inside job by someone with a key to the basement. One of the store's employees, Sal Bonafiglio, has a rap sheet for burglary. He turns out to have hired an accomplice named Eddie Novello to kill Caplan and rob the store. Eddie has learning difficulties and won't be a credible witness, so Briscoe and Green investigate further. They discover that Eli Becker, the son of the store's other owner Nathan Becker, has been stealing coats from the store and selling them on. If Caplan found out, it would be a motive for Eli to have him killed.
Eli flees to Israel, citing Israel's Law of Return
(which allows Jews worldwide to claim citizenship of Israel) to fight extradition back to New York. Carmichael discovers Eli is adopted and his birth mother was Catholic. He may not be considered Jewish under the Law of Return, which requires that the person be born Jewish or have converted. While Eli was raised as Jewish, a rabbinical court finds that he does not meet the standard of conversion; there is no evidence he took a ritual bath (mikvah) or follows a Jewish lifestyle.
Eli is extradited back to New York. McCoy calls Sal and other witnesses who all testify to Eli stealing to fund his drug habit. Under cross-examination, Eli admits that he won't inherit his father's share of the store because Caplan did not see him as the Beckers' real son, and refused to have him as a business partner. Ultimately, his lawyer convinces Lewin to offer a plea whereby Eli will serve his sentence in an Israeli prison. Against his father's wishes, Eli accepts the plea rather than risk facing the death penalty if he's convicted.
- Adoption Angst: Eli was self-conscious about being adopted, and his adoption means he won't inherit a share of the store (whereas Caplan's grandson did,) and ultimately that he's not considered Jewish under the Law of Return.
- Culturally Religious: Eli has never converted to Judaism and does not follow what the rabbis consider to be an appropriate religious lifestyle, therefore they rule that he is not Jewish. But he sees himself as Jewish because he was raised in a Jewish family, and it's evidently an important part of his identity.
- Crusading Lawyer: Eli's lawyer supports a political movement for a more liberal application of the Law of Return, which would include people like Eli who were raised as Jewish. He's sympathetic to Eli for this reason, and ultimately convinces Lewin to allow Eli to serve his sentence in Israel.
- Villainous Breakdown: Nathan Becker is a downplayed example, as he is just protecting his son, but when the rabbis announce their decision, he is furious at them for questioning his son's Jewish identity.
- We Used to Be Friends: Caplan's grandson used to be good friends with Eli when they were younger, and regrets that the friendship didn't last due to Eli's drug abuse and other problems.
