THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, January 5, 1962

tO

THEATER

`The - Dybbuk' of A nsky's Tradition Sensationalized in 'T

All of this develops out of exor-
cising a dybbuk. In "The Tenth
Man” it is a thoroughly modern
farce. It is a diversion from "The
Dybbuk" of Habimah's interpreta-
tion.

"The Dybbuk," as depicted in plaining of background, etc., it
the famous play by Ansky, loses its power, just as a joke,
could not have been challenged when it calls for explanations,
as much as'the man who makes ceases to be humor.
• • •
That was said upon reading
up the minyan in "The Tenth
In
his
review
of the book the play in book form. On the
Man" by Paddy Chayefsky. In "The Tenth Man,"
(published stage, the negation of the syna-
"The Dybbuk," the superstitious
House), in the June gogue atmosphere e m e r g es
fanticism is in a proper set- by Random
ting, with an understandably 17, 1960, Jewish News, this re- much more objectionable. The
stated:
-
play reads better than seen.
revived background that be- viewer
It is an American play, the set- We
can't help feeling that the
longs to the past. But "The ting
being in an Orthodox syna-
gogue in New York. The theme,
transfusing of a medieval exor-
Tenth Man" takes us right into however,
based on an old su-
cizing ceremony into a modern
the present. It plants the psy- perstition, is and
deals with the ex-
orcizing of an evil spirit from the
synagogue setting is harmful
choses in a synagogue, it body
of a young girl.
to the mind of an uninf or
thrusts upon the audience the
The role of the girl in the play,
keeps shouting that she is the
viewer.
strangest types of people. who
whom her , grandfather had
Therefore, it is no wonder that girl
defiled in Europe, is played by
many in the audience are Risa Schwartz, adopted daughter of
ish actor, Maurice
famous Yidd
squeamish about the play and the
Schwartz, whose death occurred
wonder whether it is in good May 10 while he was on a visit in
Israel. , Together with the rest of
taste.
cast, she is credited with ex-
There is no doubt that there the
cellent portrayal of an old theme
that
was seen years ago during
is much truth in the manner in the appearances
of the Hebrew
which Cheyefsky portrays the Habimah players in "The Dybbuk."
In "The Tenth Man," we see t
search for the tenth man needed struggle
of a declining congre
for a synagogue quorum, in the tion to secure
a minyan. I
the
difficulty
play now at the Cass. For many ten men that of is gathering
part of the
years, synagogues in this coun- lem. But the major
issue
try have had the problem of of the Dybbuk. What is a d
Alper,
one
of
the
men
finding "dem zehnten" — the up the minyan, explains:
Risa Sch
-"A dybbuk is a migrator
tenth man—to make up the
ere has
possesses the body of a
minyan. Many synagogues today that
human being in order to retu
Schwartz,
have been forced to abandon heaven. It is a Lucian doct
late Maurice
tracing back to the
daily services because their sex- actually
senes, I suppose, but popularize
great artist of
tons have gotten tired of search- during the 13th century by the
dish state, do
the
Spanish Cabalists. I wrote several
ing for "dem • zehnten."
articles on the matter for Yiddish
• •
lrl•
tionally
well as
periodicals . . ."
play who i
ossess•y a
It is a rather lame excuse for
With all its realism, the sen- a dybbuk.
the old and original
demon.
sationalizing of the "dybbuk" play, "The In
Dybbuk," no such at-
The eteran Yi t sh actor,
tempt
is
made
to rationalize, and
creates doubts as to the pro-
was no need in the Habimah
en-Ami, pl s the role
Jac
priety of the play. From a front there
production to go in search for a
e girl's grandfather, whose
row at the Cass, on opening tenth man. Perhaps that's the ma- 0
weakness in the play, which is
yhood indiscretion appears to
night of the play here at the jor
being hailed so widely and which
ave been responsible for the
Cass, on Tuesday, this reviewer is attracting so much attention
dubiousness of the transferr
emon in the grandd ght
heard a comment: "Es passt nit the
an old superstition, now pr
Anatol Winogradoff is
far Goyim." Translated in sim- of
tically non-existent, to an Amer
an
ther Yiddish ge
plest terms, it means, "it is not setting.
my
Perhaps the criticism come
abb ist
suitable for non-Jews." What from
in- plays the ro
those who are so fu
that
In th play
the dybbu
the man meant, in its more bru- formed about
also
they need not be confus
commend
tal translation, is that "it is with
and
the decline of minya
ur
role of
the difficulty of th minya eekers. portray :
not nice for non-Jews."
issue:
is another point
was
anda he y ng man
If that comment is to be in There
only
our day the dybbuk
m the
ogue as
draggy. into the
taken seriously, it can be ap- be portrayed as a relic ibly
to
not as something p
ho
finally
"the
tenth
man,"
plied primarily to the strange- past,
'n
our
be found in Williamsbur
accepting her
ness of the play's environment own time.
escued the gir
It is Alper again wh
e: David Vardi,
and the fact that a synagogue "God
oul. Othe
manifests Himself in
was transformed into a psychi- tie synagogue, and we can't
son, Maurice Shrog,
arti
ten Jews to say hello."
atric ward. There can be no ob- find
n Gaige, Morris Strass-
That's how the minyan and the
jection to a dance in the syna- synagogue
berg, Gene Gross, Stephen Gard-
are treated on Broad-
way.
Divorced
from
tradition
and
gogue—it has happened before, from interpretation of fanaticism of
and many a wedding "sherele" old, the comedy turns into a farce.
There is an issue over exorcism,
is as well performed as the one which
practiced by Cabalists.
done in "The. Tenth Man." The Arthur, was
who falls in love with the
girl
in
the
play,
who 'knows little
negative factor is,•however, that
synagogue or minyan but is
the theme of Chayefsky's play about
dragged in to make up a minyan
may have _to be interpreted fqr and who thereupon meets the girl,
says to her: "This exorcism might
the average viewer.
be a good form of shock treatment
Even "The Dybbuk" needed that will make you more responsive
psychiatric therapy and open - the
explaining, but it- was simpler— to
door to an eventual- cure."
as a theme dealing with an old
Here you have it: it is a psy-
approach. Arthur was him-
superstition about a demon chiatric
self on his way to his psychiatrist
that pcissesses the body of the when he was diverted to the Min-
yan. That's how the dybbuk sud-
victim in theplay. But in a mod- denly
came to Broadway.
ern setting it is not so easily
At any rate, the synagogue
come off well in the play.
understood. The young Jew doesn't
sexton refers to the rabbi as
who witnesses the play' will The
"something of a press agent."
Before the curtain falls, as Arthur
wonder: is the setting really a leaves,
Alper says to him: "Come
synogogue, even if there is so back and
make a tenth for us
sometime." Thereupon, another
much jesting about godliness member
of the minyan, Schlissel,
and atheism. And non-Jews may says: "An hour ago, he didn't be-
get the wrong impression about lieve in God;. now he's exorcising
dybbuks." That prompts Alper to
Jews: if they do not delve into make
the concluding speech:
the actual facts, the effects of
"He still doesn't believe in God.
He
simply
wants to love. And when
the play may be disastrous.
you stop and think about it, gen-
When a play calls for ex- tlemen, is there any difference?"

Tenth

larence H o f;
1 Pollack.
• • •
e chants in
onations of
the To
gush, w
eme additio
ry natur
otal
glicizat
d
he puz-
• factors
play.
Man". remains
he
eek at the

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69.-

Search for More Dead Sea Scrolls;
Dr. Sandmel Cites 'Exaggeration'

*sh
LONDON, (
— A
team of ar ' logists, led
of Manches
Dr. John
Universit has gun a sear
Sea scrolls
for mor
area ofo
the Q
• r d
s w
first s
whereD
m
fund, 'i was rep
Amm
the
All
ities
inter
ound
who
ave in
by a
47. The
the Ju
Semitic
Manches

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languages was reported as being
hopeful that the new excavations,
taking place west of the Dead
Sea, would find documents writ-
ten soon after the death of Christ
when Jewish Christians fled to
the wilderness from Jerusalem.
The new excavations are ex-
pected to last a month.
(Dr. Samuel Sandmel, president
of the Society of Biblical Liter-
ature and Exegesis and provost
of the Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion, the
American Reform rabbinical sem-
inary, said in his presidential
address to the Society that the
scrolls represented "the greatest
exaggeration in the history of
Biblican scholarship." While
agreeing that the scrolls were
historically useful, Sandmel said
he would deny "the high im-
portance attached to them and
the specific connection seen by
some scholars between the scrolls
and early Christianity.")

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