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.

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.