THE DETROIT JEW ISH NEW S — Friday, May 15, 1959-2
Purely Commentary
Fortieth Anniversary of Israel's Habimah Theater
Forty years ago, the Habimah Theater came into being as a
Hebrew actors' troupe in Russia. It functioned in Moscow for
10 years and then moved to Palestine.
Habimah traveled to many lands. It was a sensation in this
•
country a number of years ago.
In honor of its fortieth anniversary, Habimah was de-
clared the national theater of Israel by the Israeli government.
Habimah's story has been told in several ways in recent
years. Special articles and books have been written about this
great troupe, whose theater in Tel AViv is part of Israel's pride
in its artists. Perhaps the most notable tribute to Habimah
was the address that was delivered before the Habimah Circle,
in Jerusalem, in April of 1933, by the great Hebrew poet, Hayyim
Nahman Bialik. Prof. Maurice M. Shudofsky, of the English
department of Wayne State University, who is completing a
translation into English of Bialik's Hebrew essays—the book to
be published by the Jewish Publication Society—has translated
this speech and the essay, "A Hebrew Theater in the Making,"
appeared in the Jewish Frontier. It is a revealing statement,
and we quote from it the following paragraphs which we con-
sider especially noteworthy as a tribute to the Habimah:
Fortieth Year of
Bialik's
Habimah
Tribute Recalled
By Philip
Slomovitz
sengers and literature, is nothing in comparison with one
appearance abroad of Habimah. From time to time I watched
the work of some emissaries from Eretz Yisrael who had come
on behalf of the Land. For months they would stay in a par-
ticular country accomplishing next to nothing. Then Habimah
arrived and played there. On the following day these emissaries
renewed their efforts, and this time they succeeded; their work
now rolled along as on railroad tracks. The principal repre-
sentatives of Eretz Yisrael who were present in a number of
cities in the Diaspora when Habimah was playing there will
attest to this.
"Habimah will also be assigned a number of additional
roles in Eretz Yisrael. They will have to teach us how to speak
Hebrew. They themselves, as a matter of fact, have yet to
master it; and when they do, they will become our teachers.
They have to teach us a Hebrew style in our speech and in our
dress; how to stand, how to sit, how to greet one another. They
will have to teach us Hebrew gestures along with Hebrew
speech, for we have forgotten them. There is no speech without
gesture, just as there is no gesture without speech. Gesture is
part of the language. Obvisously we cannot have one without
the other; and it is equally obvious that it is necessary to fuse
the two."
Allied Campaign
to Conduct Cash
Collection Drive
Allied Jewish Campaign work-
ers have secured more than 88
per cent of all Campaign con-
tributors. and are rapidly com-
pleting the remainder.
Detroit will launch an inten-
sive cash collection -effort as
part of a nation-wide drive to
bring in the large sums neces-
sary to finance the current mul-
ti-million dollar humanitarian
programs of the UJA.
"We will conduct this special
cash drive to realize maximum
amounts on pledges already
made to the Allied Jewish Cam-
paign so that the UJA may
promptly meet the needs of re-
cent immigrants to Israel, and
carry on vital aid programs
affecting some immigrants of
earlier years, and Jews in need
outside of Israel," Irwin L
Cohn, campaign chairman, said.
The $40,000,000 sought by the
1959 United Jewish Appeal dur-
ing its current nationwide cash
drive is part of a $100,000,000
Special Fund which the UJA
seeks for aid to this year's im-
"The members of Habimah had indeed something special,
This is a remarkable tribute to a great theater and its mag.
something marvelous. By instinct they caught the difference
between a general and a Hebrew theater. I do not recall one nificent actors. Fortunately, one of the greatest poets of all time
fit to evaluate the remarkable art theater, and we are in-
moment of levity among them, As you know levity is common saw
among artists and theatrical people, but in the ranks of Habimah debted to Prof. Shudofsky for having made the Bialik statement
to the English reader in a splendid translation.
the theater of entertainment, mockery and levity were prac- available
Habimah is part of the pride of Israel that inspires the
tically 'forgotten. True, they discussed the need for Hebrew Jewish
communities whose links with Israel are primarily cul-
comedy, but by that they meant a completely different kind
of comedy. The comedy they had in mind and -dreamt about tural. It is a joy to join in greetings to Habimah on its fortieth migrants.
was related to their total philosophy—a glowing comedy of anniversary.
fire, of inspiration and pathos. This, too, is a characteristic trait
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of the Jew. Can a Gentile understand, for example, how we Ehrenburg Considers
study mathematics, biology, chemistry, or similar subjects and
Boris Smolar's
become inspired, singing and swaying, as if we were at prayer? Self Jew Because of
What is 'an ox that gored a cow'? Is it a legal matter? A Soviet Anti-Semitism
rational one like arithmetic and science? Just come into a
Direct JTA Teletype Wire
yeshivah and hear 300 young men at their study. It is a kind
To The Jewish News
of orchestra composed of 300 instruments, in which each plays
PARIS, (JTA) — Ilya Ehren-
its own peculiar melody but they all combine to make up a burg, well-known Soviet novel-
(Copyright, 1959
syniphony. You will find men there making devout gestures ist who is now visiting Paris,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
as they do at prayer, as if they were intoning, 'We will cele- was reported here Tuesday as
brate the mighty holiness of this day' or 'Say unto the Lord,' and admitting that anti - Semitism The Miami Story
There are about 100,000 Jews in Greater Miami, which in;
the like. Here are men studying a "rational" subject and they still exists in the Soviet Union.
He said that he considers him- eludes the beautiful Miami Beach resort city . . . But ask the
are all aglow. They learn and sing. As the Psalmist says, 'Thy
laws are hymns unto me.' Jews were able to turn laws into self a Jew only because there Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and you will be told that
hymns, into prayers, into liturgical poetry. And that is what is still anti-Semitism in his only about 60,000 Jews are affiliated with Jewish organizations
Habimah did also. They transformed the theater into a lofty_ country and once anti-Jewish and institutions ... These include also those registered as mem-
vision, a hymn, a prayer. For them the theater was almost feelings disappeared in the bers of the 36 synagogues . . . What is the matter with the
USSR, he would see no reason 40,000 other Jewish residents of Greater Miami? . . . Most of
prophecy and divine revelation.
them are escapists who simply do not want to be known as Jews
to call himself a Jew.
cOnception
this
"I am certain that there is a great truth in
Discussing the possibility of • . . They manage to avoid anything that is Jewish, and even
of the Habimah. I do not know whether every actor succeeds
shun contact with their Jewsih neighbors for fear that the
in realizing this conception in his playing. The company will Jewish emigration from the latter
may pressure them into participation in organized Jewish
Soviet
Union,
Ehrenburg
is
re-
certainly have its regressions—it has already had them—and
life . . The remainder are also escapists, but of a different
ported
to
have
said
that
the
they will be deflected by various influences. For they are flesh
will not allow its citizens kind . . . They make no secret of their Jewishness, but maintain
and blood, and cannot be expected to travel this road in a USSR
depart for countries with that they are "tired" of Jewish activities.
straight line. But if in general they remain true to themselves, to
regimes. He expressed
to their Hebrew instinct and to their original conception which capitalist
Segregation Issue
the
belief
the great masses The The
Greater Miami Jewish Federation is only about 20 years
consecrated them .to sorrow and, pain—they will achieve _some- of Russian that
Jews had no wish to old . . . When it was organized in 1938, there were only about
thing. I say that men have strength to suffer only for a sacred emigrate and
estimated that of 20,000 Jews in Greater Miami .. . At that time the Federation
and exalted and moral idea. For a theater of mere entertain- the more than 2,000,000
Jews in raised about $82,000 a year for philanthropic purposes .. .
ment they could not have st000d the test.
the Soviet Union only 100,000 Today its Combined Jewish Appeal raises more than $2,000,000
"I know that this spark is still alive in_them and, notwith- would be willing to emigrate if
a year .. . About half of this sum goes to the United -Jewish
standing all their deviations, they are still striving for the true permitted to do so.
Hebrew theater. This, in my opinion, must be prophetic in its - The 100,000 Russian Jews who Appeal, the remainder is allocated to local agencies and to
foundation. And just as the prophets used theatrical means, so do want to leave, according to national and overseas Jewish organizations and institutions . .
must the theater have prophetic ends. The theater should try Ehrenburg, - would emigrate to The Federation has grown especially during the last few years,
and it is safe to predict that it will continue to grow . . . This
to uncover the truth - and- bring it before the people at the most Israel only as- a pretext, with despite the fact that the number of local Jewish residents evading
opportune time. It must remain art. But in Hebrew 'art' comes the United States, France or
from the same root as 'truth,' and the truth is always beauti- other countries as. their ultimate their Jewish obligations is comparatively large .. . At present,
there is practically no national Jewish organization — whether
ful as well as .moral and useful. Art must give expression to goal.
Zionist or non-Zionist — which has no branch in Miami__ . .
the truth of life—to moral, esthetic, and logical truth; and,
Departure from the Soviet
active now are the branches of the organizations engaged
like prophecy, it must reveal itself also in the most important Union of 100,000 JeWs, Ehren- Very
the fight for civil rights . . American Jewish Committee, -
moments in the life of the nation. It must be national, serving burg contended, would prove in
Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League of Bnai
the interests of the whole nation in the same degree and with harmful to Soviet Jewry be- American
Brith — all have local offices in Miami . . . There is no anti
the same devotion as the prophets served the people. This art cause it would contribute to the Semitism in Miami, but the segregation issue keeps Jewish groups
theater of, for, and by the people must become full of national growth of anti-Semitism in the very much on the alert . . . Jewish community leaders in Miami
Hebrew content in the loftiest sense of these words.
USSR.
are reluctant to discuss this issue openly, but they have not as
"The question is how to fulfill this role, how to make the
* * *-
yet forgotten the bombing last year of a local synagogue .
theater a sublime tool which is to serve the national conscience
And the fact that the terrorists who committed this shameful
Khrushchev
Suggests
in all its forms. This service should not be limited to moments
act have not as yet been apprehended has also not been for-
of obvious external danger—there are moments of danger even Easing of Emigration
gotten . . . There is less segregation now in Miami than there
Soviet Prime Minister Nikita was several years ago, when no colored man or woman was
in times of peace and quiet. There is a moral awakening in
the nation especially during times of danger when its moral Khrushchev was reported in permitted to appear on the streets of Miami Beach after 10
sense becomes sharp. In peacetime this sense becomes blunted Paris as having stated to a dele- o'clock in the evening . . . But there is still segregation in the
and impaired. The theater should aim at awakening this moral gation of American War Veter- schools, although in one school an "experiment" is being made
sense, this sense of national truth during peace and prosperity. ans that the Soviet Government by permitting five Negro pupils to attend classes . . . The Jew-
It should stand guard - against the torpor of the national con- is "toying with the idea" of al- ish population is not happy about segregation, but Miami is a
science; stir, goad 1 reprove, and even strike it, and at the same lowing Jewish emigration from a part of the South where not everybody is in a position to
time sow the good, the beautiful and the sublime. If our sages the Soviet Union "at some fu- openly join the fight against segregation.
dubbed the theater. 'the seat of scoffers,' they were referring ture time." He was quoted here
to the debased theater, that which. proclaims an alleged art for to this effect by Harry Lieb, of Jewish Reflections
Unlike any other Jewish community in the United States,
art's sake and lowers itself to the level of a barroom and a Encino, Calif., who was a mem-
outside New York, the Jews in Miami can boast of the fact
bawdy-house. But of the theater as foreshadowed by Habimah ber of the AWV delegation.
Lieb, who arrived here from that every important personality in Jewish life comes sooner or
our sages said: 'The princes of Judah are destined to teach
Moscow
en route back to the later to Miami . . . This is because a substantial number of
the nations Torah in their theaters.'
United
States,
was one of the national conventions of Jewish organizations take place in Miami
"I shall not conclude before touching on another important
four
members
of
the delegation Beach each year .. . The place has the most beautiful hotels in
matter which adds to the special value of Habimah for the
like
Eretz Yisrael of our time. I was an eyewitness to a real kid- who had a 90;minute talk with the world, most of them built by Jews, some of wham —
Martinique Hotel —
dush ha-shem (Sanctification of the Divine Name) performed Khrushchev. During the talk, William Fisher, owner of the very dignified to
the United Jewish
contributors
by this -theater abroad before Gentiles as well as alienated said Lieb, he asked the Russian are among the country's largest
have played in- building
role
Jews
Appeal
.
.
.
Because
of
the
leader
why
the
Soviet
Union
Jews. Nothing can give non-Jews a better idea of what we
and Miami Beach, they enjoy a good deal of respect on the
are now creating culturally in the Land of Israel than the play- does not allow its Jews to leave Miami
part
of
the non-Jewish population . . . Miami has had several
ing of Habimah. I was present in London when Bernard Shaw for Israel or for other destina- Jewish mayors, and anti-Jewish elements abstain from showing
tions.
According
to
Mr.
Lieb,
and
said
to
the
actors
of
Habimah:
'Flee
came upon the stage
their ugly heads, because they realize that anti-Semitism can
from England, lest you learn to act like our performers and Khrushchev replied: "We are bring nothing but harm to the growth of the city .. . Quietly,
toying
with
the
idea
that,
at
you will be ruined. It is better for our players to come to you'
however, there are some hotels where Jews are not wanted, and
Wherever I happened to be with them I saw this unmistakable some future time, we will allow one can find sections along the seashore where: it would be dif-
kiddush ha-shem. And this is especially true with respect to any national to leave Russia at
ficult for a Jew to buy a house, no matter how wealthy he is.
Jews: all our propaganda, oral and written, by means of mes- any time."
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Between You
and Me
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