Safo

Act I. A sparsely furnished but clean room at the Fingerhuts on the eve of Sofia Fingerhut’s wedding. Sofia, upon seeing her wedding gown, remarks, “A wedding dress! A dress you try on joyfully, put on tearfully, and take off fearfully.” Her apprehension mounts when she sees her groom, photographer Boris Stavropolsky, courting her younger sister Lise. Guests arrive, among them Cherna’s brother Shtempl, a wealthy fishmonger, and his daughter Manichka. Shtempl and Fingerhut argue, then settle down to a game of cards while Sofia’s girlfriends enter. The fathers fight over cards as well, so Boris takes out his guitar. Soon after he starts playing, Lise cries and runs out. Boris brings her back, and while the others try to calm Lise, Sofia declares, “You don’t know why she’s crying? I know. Lise is crying because she knows that tomorrow will not be my wedding day. She will not dance at my wedding.” Since Boris loves Lise, Sofia says will not stand in their way. When Boris tries to appease her, she further discloses that she is pregnant.

Act II. Five years later, in a room in Shtempl’s house, with a piano and expensive furniture, but decorated without taste. Manichka’s fiancé, Apollo Sonnenschein, has just returned to Odessa after years in St. Petersburg, and the Shtempls bring him up to date on the Fingerhuts: Sofia has a daughter (whom she calls her niece), and Lise is married to Boris, who has given up photography. Though Apollo at first refuses to play for the guests, he does play when Sofia arrives, and then escorts her home. The scene changes to an Odessa street at night. Boris with Tseyner, to whom he has just lost a lot of money. Boris expresses his undiminished ardor for Sofia. They exit; Sofia and Apollo enter. Apollo tells her that he no longer loves Manichka; the best he can hope for is to elevate her to his level. Back at the Fingerhuts’, Sofia refuses to answer her parents’ queries. She tells Boris to take Lise away and nurse her back to health. Left alone, Sofia consults a book of ancient history to clarify a remark Apollo made comparing her to Sappho. Legend holds that Sappho, in drowning herself, declared, “I give myself as an offering to the almighty Apollo, the god of beauty and poetry.” Apollo Sonnenschein arrives, and as Sofia wrestles with her emotions, a child’s voice summons her.

Act III. A hut. Apollo has married Manichka, and taken Sofia as his mistress. Fingerhut introduces Tseyner to Sofia, hoping to get rich by having them marry. When Apollo arrives, Sofia’s seven year-old daughter, Zhenichka, who dislikes him, leaves. He tells Sofia of two Apollos: one who loves her recklessly, and the other who worries about his reputation. Boris arrives with the sad news that Lise has died. Manichka goes, and Apollo emerges to see Boris, Sofia, and the child comforting each other—a scene that brings out his hatred toward his rivals for Sofia’s affection. Fingerhut arrives, and when the Shtempls arrive to retrieve Apollo, the in-laws exchange insults. Apollo, appalled by the attention from curious neighbors, forsakes Sofia and goes home with his wife, as a brawl erupts among the remaining family members.

Act IV. Sofia’s room, as in Act II. Sofia and Zheni pack to resettle in Sevastopol. Boris apologizes for the past, then tells Sofia he still wants to be with her to heal her wounds and help raise Zheni, but she rejects the proposal. Shtempl and Manichka enter, imploring Sofia for a way to make Apollo come back to them. She has no such power, she says, and they leave. Apollo enters, pleading to go with her, or for her to stay. But this is too little too late; she insists that he must go back to his wife and child. Zheni and Boris return, and the child reveals that she has long known the identity of her mother and father. This changes the plans; Sofia will bring Boris along to make the family officially “legitimate,” and devote the rest of her life to her daughter.


Article Author(s)

Joel Berkowitz

Joel is Professor of English and Director of the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Shulamis, oder, bas yerusholayim

Act I. Jews with packs on their backs and sticks in their hands, on a pilgrimage from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, sing about the journey. Manoyekh, an old shepherd, sends his daughter Shulamis home to tend the flock, and moves on with the group. Shulamis gets lost, and grows desperately thirsty. She sees a well, but the bucket is missing, so she ties the rope around herself and descends. An Arab melody is heard, and Avisholem appears in military dress, accompanied by his wild servant Tsingitang. Avisholem sends Tsingitang to fetch food, goes to the well for a drink, hears Shulamis, and rescues her. They praise God for arranging this encounter and swear their eternal love for each other. They sing their vow (“Di shvue”), invoking the well and a wildcat as witnesses. Tsingitang returns, and searches for a girl for himself in the well. He will bring Shulamis home, for Avisholem is expected in Jerusalem for Sukkot, and will return to Shulamis later.

Act II. Two months later, in Jerusalem. Avisholem, his friend Khananye, and Tsingitang, with other men, among a group of women. Foremost among the latter is Avigayil, crowned with pearls. Avisholem and Khananye both have their hearts set on Avigayil. During a dance to select mates, Tsingitang ambushes Khananye so Avisholem can reach her first. Duet between Avisholem and Avigayil, followed by Tsingitang’s comic imitation. The High Priest comes, the young men seat Avisholem on a chair, and the girls do the same to Avigayil. The High Priest blesses them, and the crowd rejoices.

Act III. Two years later, on a mountain near Bethlehem. A distracted Shulamis sings of her love, comparing it to a synagogue in which she is the only congregant. In a long soliloquy: she goes over the possible things that might have kept Avisholem from her, and concludes that she will feign madness to avoid having to marry anyone else. Scene change to a room at Manoyekh’s, where suitors pester him about Shulamis. Enter Yoav Gidoyni, dressed in military uniform, who sings of his triumphs and asks for Shulamis’ hand. His song is echoed by the tycoon Avinadav, and then by Nosn Ha-koyen, who sing of their respective assets. Manoyekh has them draw lots, and Gidoyni wins. He gloats until Shulamis’ voice is heard outside. Her father introduces her to Gidoyni. She congratulates her father, then dances and sings madly, echoing her vow to Avisholem, and cries on her father’s shoulder. She sings obliquely of her loss, and mocks Gidoyni and Nosn. Manoyekh repeatedly asks what happened; each time, she tells him to “ask the cat” or “ask the well.” Scene change to the beautiful home of Avisholem and Avigayil. They are quite happy, for though a cat stole their first-born from its cradle and killed it exactly a year ago today, they have had an even healthier, lovelier baby in the meantime. They send Tsingitang for the baby, and Avisholem laughingly recalls how he tricked Khananye out of winning Avigayil. This memory is interrupted by the wail of Tsingitang. The nurse says that as she was standing by the well, the baby jumped out of her arms to its death. The “Shvue” melody plays quietly, and the wall opens, revealing a tableau: moonlight, Shulamis by the well, the cat nearby. An angel above them points to the tableau; once Avisholem recognizes Shulamis, the wall closes. He takes this as a sign from God, and prepares to meet his judgment. He tells Avigayil that the tragedies have happened because he forsook his predestined match, and decides to atone to Shulamis. Avigayil doesn’t want him to go, but when he is about to stab himself, she stops him and sends him on his way with her blessing. The scene returns to the mountain near Bethlehem, where shepherds sit around a fire is burning singing about shepherds’ (and metaphorically, God’s) vigilant care for their flocks. Avisholem and Tsingitang enter. The shepherds tell Avisholem of Shulamis’ madness; he trembles and cries, and says he can cure her. They invite the travelers to rest overnight, and the shepherds sing, “Flicker, little flame.”

Act IV. Manoyekh’s house; Shulamis lies ill on the couch. Doctors stand around uselessly. Avisholem comes to the window but hesitates to enter. Shulamis sings the “Shvue” theme, and he answers, enters, and swears to be hers forever. As they embrace, Manoyekh enters; Avisholem says he can cure her, and sings “Di Shvue” with her. Manoyekh gives them his blessing. Scene change to the Temple in Jerusalem. The curtain rises, revealing the Temple in all its glory, with Jews, led by the Kohen, offering sacrifices to God as they sing his praises. Enter Manoyekh with Avisholem and Shulamis, who kneel before the High Priest. He blesses them, and the chorus sings praises to God.


Article Author(s)

Joel Berkowitz

Joel is Professor of English and Director of the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Grinbergs tekhter

Act I. Zalmon Greenberg is a prosperous butcher on the Lower East Side. His world consists of his unlettered, simple-minded, and devoted wife, Sarah; of his two children, Esther and Bessie, the former a shy, modest, dutiful homebody, the latter a jazz-baby and frequenter of cabarets and dancehalls; of his pious and learned uncle Aaron, and his shrewd, sharp-tongued, yet kindly aunt Hennie, whom he has brought over from Europe, given a home and set up in business in his own house; of his customers and neighbors and, finally, of his daughters’ lovers: Dave Levinson, who has been in love with Esther since childhood, to the great chagrin of his father, who keeps a dry-goods store across the street from the Greenbergs and ranks butchers rather low in the scale of social and matrimonial merit; and last, but not least, Bessie’s beau, Max Bernstein, a prize-fighter, who attributes his recent knockout at the hands of Kid Bushie to the fact that the trunks he wore for the fight did not have a Star of David sewn on them. Though somewhat Americanized, Zalmon retains the psychology and general views of the Old World. He refuses his daughters’ plea that the family join in the general exodus from the Lower East Side; and in order to silence their complaints, he takes advantage of their absence in the country, where they are spending their vacation, to beautify his house by having it painted and installing modern improvements and new furniture, including a radio, so as to surprise the girls upon their return. As the play opens, a painter is seen at work in the butcher-shop, while an expressman delivers new furniture. A letter arrives from Bessie in which she informs her parents that Esther has shed her customary shyness and modesty in the country and is carrying on “high and mighty” with a traveling salesman who is stopping at the same hotel; she even suggests that it would be advisable for her and Esther to return home at once. Bessie’s remarks fill Zalmon with indignation and attributes them to jealousy, but Sarah has some misgivings. At this point Aaron rushes in terror-stricken and reports that his bookstore is being raided by the police who are falsely charging him with being a bootlegger. While Zalmon and Aaron hasten to the latter’s store, Sarah asks Dave to come in. No sooner does he enter than Max Bernstein arrives. Sarah shows them a picture of her daughters that Bessie enclosed in her letter, and the two young men are discussing plans for spending the week-end with the girls, when the elder Levinson enters and summons his son back to his work at the dry-goods store. Left alone with Sarah, Max tells her that he is giving up pugilism and opening a poolroom. He has already invested a thousand dollars and needs a hundred dollars more. Sarah lends him a hundred and fifty, and he departs. Zalmon and Aaron return, the misunderstanding with the police having been satisfactorily cleared up, and the two go upstairs to try out Zalmon’s new radio, only to discover that a radio is not all it is cracked up to be. Max comes back to report that he has just signed a contract for a return match with Kid Bushie and so isn’t going into the poolroom business after all. He returns the money he borrowed from Sarah and declares his intention of going to Bessie in the country and establishing his training quarters there. No sooner does he leave than Bessie suddenly arrives–alone, Esther having eloped with the traveling salesman the day before.

Act II. Three weeks have passed and still no trace of Esther. From a conversation between Bessie and Max, we learn that the latter is through with prize-fights, Kid Bushie having knocked him out again, though this time he was careful to have a Star of David sewn on his fighting trunks. The two discuss plans for their forthcoming marriage and for settling in California, where Max is sure a fortune is awaiting him. He expresses surprise that so quiet and modest a girl as Esther should have yielded so soon to temptation. Bessie attributes her sister’s fall to the fact that she had never associated with men and so fallen an easy prey to the first one who whispered sweet lies into her ears. Aaron, Hennie and Sarah try to dissuade the two from getting married at this time, but they are adamant, and find an unexpected ally in Zalmon. The latter then sends for Dave and tells him the truth about Esther’s absence from him. Dave staggers out of the house, and Aaron and Hennie rush in to scold their nephew for what he has done. Presently a young woman enters and announces herself as Lena Becker, wife of Esther’s seducer. She relates the circumstances under which she found Esther, whom she absolves of all blame in the matter, and who, she says, bitterly repents her mistake and above all the wrong she has done to her by betraying his great trust in her. Mrs. Becker adds that she has brought Esther with her and left her at Aaron’s store. While Sarah and Hennie run to fetch her, Aaron pleads with Zalmon to be kind to his erring daughter, because a sinner who truly repents is, according to the Talmud, superior to a person who has never sinned. Esther is brought in and is greeted by her faltering father with: “How are you, Esther?”

Act III. Hennie remonstrates with Sarah for keeping the butcher-shop closed now that Esther is back home and Dave has given her an engagement ring. She threatens to take matters in her own hands and hire a butcher to run her nephew’s shop. Aaron comes in with the startling news that Zalmon has sold the house, and that he is now showing the premises to the new proprietor. Presently Zalmon and Mr. Lefkowitz, the new owner, enter and take an inventory of the contents of the house. Hennie shrewdly tries to frighten away Lefkowitz by telling him that Zalmon is insane; she also threatens to smack his face if he does not give up the idea of buying the house. Her brave threats are in vain; Zalmon insists on the sale. Esther and Dave return from a walk and learn of the sale of the house. Esther blames herself for her father’s action in thus uprooting his existence and undoing the work of a lifetime. Dave comforts her, vows his everlasting love for her, suggests an early marriage and urges her to talk the matter over with her father. Max and Bessie arrive and announce that they have just got married in court and that they are leaving forthwith for Atlantic City. When Esther pleads with Bessie not to go away like this and break their mother’s heart, Bessie, who has adopted a “holier-than-thou” attitude towards her unhappy sister, merely scoffs at her. Sarah is disconsolate, but Zalmon gives them his blessing. The latter tells his uncle why he has sold his house and given up his business. “A building,” he says, “holds fast as long as the foundation endures. Esther was the foundation that held me up.” Dave rushes in to tell them that his father has learned of his secret engagement to Esther. Presently the terrible Mr. Levinson himself comes in to voice his objection to the marriage of his only son to a butcher’s daughter; but Zalmon argues with him with such dignity, restraint, and sweet-reasonableness that he half wins him over to the match, and Dave and Esther prepare to leave at once for another city to get married there.

Adapted from Maximilian Hurwitz’s synopsis for the Yiddish Art Theater by Sonia Gollance


Article Author(s)

Sonia Gollance

Sonia Gollance is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Yiddish at University College London.