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.

Di bobe mitn eynikl

Act I. A room in the house of Bontsye, a 70-year-old Jewish woman, at the end of the Sabbath. Tuvye Shmaye, the matchmaker, is preparing to go to Sadigora to find a boy from a rabbinic family for Bontsye’s 18-year-old granddaughter, Odele, whom she has been raising since Odele’s mother died prematurely. He leaves, and Odele enters to see her grandmother plucking feathers for Odele’s marriage bedding. Odele reminds her how much she dislikes hearing about marriage, which prompts Bontsye’s song describing how she dreamt that she died and went to heaven. There she witnessed punishments meted out to acculturated Jews, such as having their heads and feet cut off and being thrown into a river, turning it bloody. Odele suggests that Bontsye’s dream is only a projection of her waking thoughts; it all comes from having chopped potatoes for borscht. Odele’s German teacher, Ignatz arrives, and they woo each other in German. Odele deliberately mistranslates for her grandmother, who is sitting nearby, turning language about courtship into professions of piety. Her grandmother goes to kiss her, but accidentally kisses the teacher. An appalled Bontsye starts spitting–straight into the beard of Tuvye Shmaye, who has just returned. When he announces that he has found a match for Odele, she faints.

Act II. A large room divided in half. Odele, on one side of the room, complains about her grandmother’s selfishness. To console herself, she reads a letter from Ignatz. Meanwhile, Bontsye enters on the other side of the room and reads the Tsene-rene aloud. Bontsye hears Odele sighing on the other side of the wall, and goes to comfort her. Each problem Odele describes meets with a superstitious explanation, including spirit possession. When Odele confesses that she is in love with Ignatz, Bontsye is horrified. A few moments later, Ignatz arrives to take Odele away. Bontsye hears her leaving, returns to find her gone, and falls powerless to the ground.

Act III. Bontsye lies in her sickbed, a glass of water and the Tsene-rene on the table next to her. She worries about meeting her deceased daughter in heaven, and having to account for the fact that Odele has run off. She regrets having been so strict, and now says that if her granddaughter would only come back, she would let her marry according to her own wishes. Then we hear a heavenly voice tell Bontsye that “Because you have sinned in this world, you will not be able to see the Land of Israel during your lifetime, nor will you see your granddaughter again. But an hour before your death, you will see a vision: first the Land of Israel, and then, Odele and her husband.” She dozes off, and a wall opens up to reveal Reb Meyer Bal Nes’ grave. The picture then changes to an image of Odele and Ignatz in wedding clothes. With the little strength she has left, Bontsye cries out, “Odele!” and dies.

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.

Iks Miks Driks

Act I. Borekh’s three daughters, Dina, Mina, and Tsina, complain that they have to stay home with their father rather than go out and find husbands, and Borekh laments about having to care for three daughters. His one son is so much easier to deal with, but where can one find husbands for three daughters? When the matchmaker, Reb Shimen, arrives, Borekh berates him for not having found matches for his daughters. But Shimen complains that it’s almost impossible to find three candidates at once. He has found a nice, wealthy young man passing through town, and he can go bring him to be checked out; let him marry one of the daughters while the others are still hunting. But after Reb Shimen goes, Borekh’s daughters insist that they must all get married at the same time. They are getting on in years, and no one wants to have to go second. Shimen returns with Yozef, the young traveler. When Borekh asks whether he has two eligible friends like him who can marry the other two daughters so there won’t be a fight, Yozef tells his story. His mother died young, and he decided to go off and make his fortune. He has done so over the past decade, but is now returning to Lublin to see whether his father is alive, and to help his sisters. It turns out that he is Borekh’s long-lost son, and the family happily reunites. The daughters decide that they will go to the masked ball and see if they can arrange matches with Herren Iks, Miks, and Driks.

Act II. A masked ball. Iks, Miks, and Driks sing about the importance of noses. Iks and Dina meet, and he correctly guesses her identity. He says that he and his friends want just what she and her sisters want: to marry. She goes to discuss it with them and their father and brother, and the girls dance off. Scene change to Borekh’s house. Yozef has received a letter offering him his old job in America, and he’d like to go, but not before taking care of his sisters. The girls bring in Iks, Miks, and Driks, who take off their noses and say that now that the daughters have nice dowries, they’re willing to marry them. Yozef sings that his arrival seems to have brought the family good luck.

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.

Dos kol fun yisroel

Prologue. (The Book of the Diaspora) Israel’s historic enemies, beginning with Pharoah, appear one after another in their respective periods, and each briefly recites the story of his attempt to annihilate Israel.

Act I. The British Office of Criminal Investigation in Jerusalem. Barzilai, an underground fighter, is being questioned by Major Henderson as to the whereabouts and identity of the Haganah and Irgun leaders, and the heads of the unauthorized immigration in a section of the Plain of Sharon. Captain Galski, a spy, informs Major Henderson that an American-born Jew, Nathan Ometz and his sons, Gabriel and Joseph, are the leaders of the “illicit traffic.” The Major, whose life was saved by Gabriel Ometz, at the battle of El-Alamein, would like to prevent the arrest of his friends by his vicious superior, Colonel Howler. When the Colonel arrives and finds out, he demands that Galski secure proof which would destroy the ringleaders and the band. Howler employs cruel methods to wrest information from Barzilai, but only succeeds in enraging him.

Outside the house of Nathan Ometz in Miklat Yom (Refuge by the Sea), a settlement in Sharon. The deranged Malka, rescued from Hitler’s gas chambers, urges orphaned Galela, similarly rescued, to write down Malka’s tragic experiences in Poland under Hitler. Malka symbolizes the horror of the destruction of European Jewry and the tragedy of the remnant.

Nathan’s younger son Gabriel and his fiancée, Zamira, are depressed by the interminable Lake Success deliberations over the Palestine issue. Gabriel’s endless rescue work and his war experiences have badly affected his heart. He is about to go on a mission. Aware of the gravity of his ailment, Zamira seeks to restrain him and pleads that they marry without further delay. A representative of the Associated Press arrives to interview Ometz. Two decades before he had turned his textile plant in New Jersey over to his workers settled in Palestine with his four sons. He lost two sons in the struggle for independence, but unshaken he carried on. He is now the mayor of Miklat Yom. Nathan opposes political terrorism and strives to live in peace with his Arab neighbors; Sheikh Khalil and his son Ragheb are among Nathan’s best friends, but politics and British propaganda makes friendship between Arabs and Jews difficult. When the news arrives that the UN has voted for a partition leading to a Jewish state, the great tidings are too much for Gabriel’s ailing heart and he succumbs as he dances. Nathan covers Gabriel’s body with a flag, and, suppressing his sorrow, asks the young pioneers to honor the hero with a salvo of guns.

Act II. Arab bands attack Jewish settlements and Sheikh Khalil’s younger son Jamal, a follower of the Mufti, attacks Miklat Yom. The attack is repelled. Zamira mourns Gabriel, and in her dreams he urges her to marry his brother and jointly continue to fight for liberation. Nathan, who fears losing his last son, pleads with Zamira to marry Joseph so that he might see at least one of his sons get married. Zamira agrees. Miklat Yom is cut off from all the surrounding settlements, the roads are mined and the telephone wires cut, Sheikh Khalil and his son Ragheb manage to reach the settlement to seek protection from their unfriendly compatriots who threaten their lives. Nathan receives them with open arms. Through a secret radio, news reaches the settlement that England is beginning to evacuate the country and that Moshe Shertok has flown to Tel Aviv with an important message from Secretary of State Marshall. Nathan encourages the defenders to stand fast and arranges a hurried wedding ceremony for Zamira and Joseph before they set out to fight against the Arab bands. During the ceremony, Colonel Howler, Major Henderson and Captain Galski, as well as Sheikh Khalil’s son Jamal, burst in. Colonel Howler demands the surrender of the hidden arms. Nathan refuses. He accuses Howler of trying to expose them to utter destruction by rendering them defenseless. Captain Galski suggests the smashing-up of the colony. Kalman, a young defender whose parents perished in the gas chambers, shoots Galski. Jamal promptly shoots Kalman and Colonel Howler approves. Howler orders that the settlers be arrested and sent to Latrun. Major Henderson accuses Howler of sadism and of disgracing the British uniform. He maintains that Lord Balfour was sincere when he issued his declaration for a Jewish National Home but due to the evil policies of the British Colonial Office and its faithful Howlers, England must now abandon Palestine in disgrace. Howler orders Henderson’s arrest and tells the arrested settlers to raise their hands or be shot. When they do not obey the order, Nathan urges his son and the others to obey because they can still use those hands for the liberation of the Jews. At this moment the zooming of an airplane is heard and leaflets begin to fall, proclaiming the creation of the state of Israel.

Synopsis adapted from a Yiddish Art Theater program by Sonia Gollance.

Article Author(s)

Sonia Gollance

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

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.

Bar Kokhba, der zun fun di shtern, oder, di letste teg fun yerusholayim

Prologue. Jews gather mournfully in a synagogue. Reb Elazar, an elderly scholar, reads aloud from a scroll and talks about on the Jews’ dissatisfaction with God. He concludes that they have only themselves to blame for their misfortunes, and must repent. But Bar Kokhba, a strapping 35-year-old, calls for action. Elazar warns against violence, while Bar Kokhba, reminding his audience of the biblical verse, “A star has come forth from Jacob,” swears them to loyalty.

Act I. In Elazar’s room, his daughter Dinah and other young women sing a lament. But left alone, she expresses hope. She sees her beloved Bar Kokhba as the Jews’ savior, while Elazar takes the opposite view. Enter Bar Kokhba, elated that he has gathered a large following. After he leaves, Pappus arrives: a lame, half-blind, wealthy jeweler, carrying diamonds in one hand and pearls in the other. When Dinah realizes that he is trying to buy her affection, she rebuffs him and leaves. He sings of revenge. Meanwhile, on Mount Moriah, Bar Kokhba is carried on a golden wagon to the High Priest, who anoints him as the Jews’ leader.

Act II. The home of Turnus Rufus, Roman governor of Jerusalem. He and his wife, Serafina, sit side by side on golden chairs. Pappus arrives with jewels, tells of an imminent Jewish uprising, and suggests a trap for Bar Kokhba. If they invite Elazar to the palace, he will surely bring Dinah, whom the Romans can hold hostage until Bar Kokhba comes for her. Elazar and Dinah arrive, and Rufus debates with the old man, suggesting that the Torah calls for the Jews to hate other peoples. Elazar insists that all he wants is peace, so Rufus sends him to bring back a sign of peace while the Romans hold Dinah as a pledge. Pappus, alone, gloats. He has already told Bar Kokhba what has happened. Rufus returns to his throne and learns of Bar Kokhba’s arrival. Bar Kokhba demands Dinah’s release. Rufus puts him in chains, but Bar Kokhba breaks them and runs out. Scene change: an amphitheatre, with Rufus and Serafina in attendance. He calls in Bar Kokhba, who tames a lion. He promises to kill Rufus, then hops on the lion and rides through the arena’s iron gate. An angel appears, holding a flaming sword.

Act III. In a darkened room, Dinah prays and mourns. Laundresses enter and set upon Dinah when they find her resting. Dinah appeals to their humanity: “I know some of you love me deep down. We’re from different religions, but from one Father…” After they leave, she prays some more, and then falls asleep. Enter Pappus, who goes to kiss her, but she suddenly awakens. He tells her that she will surely die unless she goes with him; when she spurns him, he angrily predicts that she will never see any of her loved ones again. He leaves, and Rufus enters, drunk. He tries to seduce Dinah; she takes advantage by having him hand over his armor and sword, and nearly kills him. Pappus shows Serafina in; she angrily sends her husband home, exchanges bitter words with Dinah, and leaves. Rufus brings the news that Bar Kokhba has surrounded the fortress. He offers Dinah the chance to save herself by having Bar Kokhba call off his forces; then, Rufus says, he’ll give the Jews whatever they want. He goes. Serafina returns and sings a duet with the defiant Dinah, then has soldiers take her away. Scene change to the Jewish camp outside the fortress. Bar Kokhba’s general, Azariah, reports that the troops are ready to attack. Bar Kokhba wants to see if Rufus will let Dinah go peacefully. A messenger brings an arrow from Pappus wrapped with a note reading just one word: “Hitboneynu” (consider us). Pappus tells Bar Kokhba of Rufus’s plan regarding Dinah, who appears atop the fortress and commands Bar Kokhba not to give in. She leaps from the fortress and dies; Bar Kokhba kneels over her body as Azariah and his troops storm the gates.

Act IV. A royal hall. Bar Kokhba tells Pappus that in spite of having driven the Romans from Jerusalem, he cannot be happy without Dinah. Pappus, pretending pity, tells Bar Kokhba that Elazar sold Dinah out to the Romans. Bar Kokhba summons the Sanhedrin to bring Elazar to judgment. The Sanhedrin enter with Elazar, whom Bar Kokhba accuses of selling out both his daughter and the Jews. Enter Azariah, who announces that the Romans have surrounded and burned Jerusalem. Bar Kokhba goes to gather his troops. Elazar calls him a false messiah, and insists on his innocence just before he dies. Scene change to the Beitar fortress. Pappus shows the Roman army the way. Bar Kokhba, disheveled and tired, sees the ghost of Elazar, who tells him that all is lost. We hear Roman trumpets as Bar Kokhba declares that he will take his own life. In the final tableau, Bar Kokhba stabs himself. Azariah stabs Pappus. Jews and Romans fight atop the walls. The fortress burns as we see a Roman soldier killing a child in its mother’s hands, another Roman killing an old man, a third stepping on a Jew as he runs him through with a spear. Fires burn as the curtain falls. 

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.