THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Roots of Ancient Jewish Theater Are Traced
ONE MAN
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By ALLEN A. WARSEN
It is generally accepted
that the history of the Jew-
ish theater began with
Herod the Great - (37-34
BCE): However, some schol-
ars believe that dramatic ac-
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tivity preceded the 'Hero-
Josephus describes the
dian period. They cite as Herodian theaters in his
evidence, the profound liter-
classic works "The Anti-
ary compositions inter- . quities of the Jews" and
twined with powerful dra- "The Wars of the Jews."
matic elements, "Job" and-- In these volumes he deli-
"The Song of Songs," and neates the theaters and
assume that they were "util- -amphitheaters Herod built
ized for dramatic expres- in Caesarea (its ruins are
sion.
still extant) and else-
Other scholars reject this where; and relates that ev-
assumption stating that ery fifth year Herod would
"Job" and "The Song of sponsor games he called
Songs" were not intended
"Caesars -games; and he
for acting; and there is no
first himself proposed the
proof that they were ever
largest prizes upon the
used-as acting material.
192nd olympiad, - in which
In any case, we will as-
not only the victors, but
sume that Herod introduced
those that came next to
the theater in Judea. The
them, and even those that
principal source of our in-
came in the third place,
formation is the great histo-
were partakers of his royal
rian Flavius Josephus (37
bounty."
CE-100 CE?)
The theater at Caesarea
as depicted by Josephus was
built of stone; on its "south
quarter, behind the port, he
erected an amphitheater,
capable of holding a vast
number of men, and conven-
iently situated for a pros-
pect of the sea."
Herod also erected a thea.-
ter in Jerusalem and amphi-
theaters "in the adjoining
plain" and in Jericho.
Herod invited as perform-
ers native and foreign wres-
tlers, and all "those that
strove for the prizes ... and
the glory of victory." He also
welcomed musicians, called
Thymelici, to play at the
performances, and chariot
racers:
IN THE EAST MALL 'TM DEC. 24th -
Greek plays were never
performed, probably. be-
cause they were pagan in
character. Neither were
bloody gladiatorial con-
tests held.
Still they caused conster-
nation as proven by Jose-
phus' remarks:- "On this ac-
count Herod revolted from
the laws of his country, and
corrupted their ancient con-
stitution, by the introduc-
tion of foreign prac-
tices . . ."
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December 19, 1975 37
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NEW YORK — The
1975-76 winter Torah Lead-
ership Seminars, offering"a
total experience in Jewish
living," will attract more
than 1,000 teenagers to
.three sites around the
United States and Canada
for a program of instruction
and discussion of Jewish
heritage and leadership
skills in an informal retreat
setting.
The seminar program,
now in its 21st year, is spon
sored by the Youth Bureau
of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan
Theological Seminary, of-
fering sessions .during the
winter' and summer school
vacations for high school
and college age youth in the
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The seminars will include
sessions on such subjects as
essentials of Judaism, festi-
vals, highlights of Jewish
history, Israeli song and
dance, leadership tech-
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nars consists of Yeshiva
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The sages bitterly - ob-
jected to the shows. It is told
of a sage who, each time he
left-the house of worship,
prayed: "I give thanks unto
thee, Lord, my God and God
of my fathers, for granting
me the privilege of associat-
ing with those who dwell in
the houses of worship and
assembly (synagogue), and
not with those who frequent
theaters and circuses."
The theater was never
fully accepted in Judea.
while the theater proVoked
bitterness in Judea, it flour-
ished in Alexandria, Egypt.
There it served as a means
to promote the Jewish reli-
gion and to gain converts to
Judaism.
In Alexandria in the Sec-
ond Century BCE, a Jewish
dramatist named Ezekiel
wrote plays in _Greek that
dramatized the past of the
Jewish people.
A century later, the ca-
balist Moses Ben Mordecai
Zacuto wrote the first He-
brew drama "Yesod Olam"
(the "Foundation of the
Universe"), and Joseph
Penso wrote the first.He-
brew printed drama "-Asire
Hatikvah" ("Prisoners of
Hope"). He also authored
three novels "Los Rumbos
Poligrassos" ("Dangerous
Journeys").
Zacuto and Penso were
followed by the Hebrew
writer and dramatist Moses
Hayim Luzzatto, and oth-
ers.
.
Spanish and POrtuguese
Marranos and native Italian
Jews, because they were not
welcome in local theaters,
founded theaters of their
own. However, the plays
were thematically non-Jew-
ish.
PARTY?
With the cessation of the
Judean state in 70 CE,
Jewish - theater, for all
practical purposes, ceased
to exist. It w-as not until
the Fifth Century CE that
a new dramatic genre, the
"Purimspiel" began to
appear. It, undoubtedly,
originated in the "Beth
Hamidrash" (house of
worship and study), and
was played only on Purim.
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