Community . • And Reyna
Captain: I should say not! Not
until I am paid in full.
Barsimson: Don't they want to
pay?
Captain: They say they haven't
the money.
Barsimson: Is that true?
Captain: I suppose so. When
my ship picked them up they had
been picked clean by pirates.
Barsimson: Are they many?
Captain: Twenty-three men,
women and children.
Barsimson: How many grown
men, Captain?
Captain: About eleven, or
twelve maybe.
Barsimson: More than enough
for a Minyan. More than enough to
form a congregation! Captain de la
Motthe .. .
Captain: Yes, Monsieur?
Barsimson; If you'll permit me
... You are not being very wise in
keeping these people on board your
ship.
Captain: But they haven't paid
their passage money!
Barsimson: True! But in the
meantime you have to feed them.
Isn't that true, Captain?
Captain: True.
Barsimson: Governor
Stuyvesant has not yet heard about
your passengers.
Captain: He has not.
Barsimson: When he hears he
will not permit them to land.
Captain: Why?
Barsimson: He does not want
Jews to settle in New Amsterdam.
What will you do then, Captain?
Captain: Why, I don't know.
Barsimson: Take them to a
British port?
Captain: Why, would that be
safe?
Barsimson: Of course not. You
are French. They would confiscate
your ship, no doubt. May I offer
some advice, Captain?
Captain: Of course.
Barsimson: Land your
passengers.
Captain: But the passage
money ...!
Barsimson: Land your
passengers before Governor
Stuyvesant gets wind about them.
As for your passage money .. .
Captain: Yes, Monsieur ...?
Barsimson: They must have
some property — clothes, books
perhaps. Sell them at auction.
Captain: Their things will bring
very little, not nearly enough to
cover the money they owe me.
Barsimson: Perhaps not. Still,
half a loaf is better than ... Before
another hour, Peter Stuyvesant will
hear about the twenty-three Jews on
board your ship. Better land them
quickly. Shall I tell them to get
ready, Captain?
Captain: I suppose so. Tell them
also to take nothing with them
except the clothes on their backs.
(Curtain)
Narrator: In the hold of the St.
Charles, Jacob Barsimson, the first
Jew to settle in New Amsterdam,
brought the welcome news to the
twenty-three passengers. (Curtain
opens).
SCENE 2: (In the hold of the St.
Charles. A number of Jewish men,
women, and children are seated on
'Now we've come to
New Amsterdam. Here
we will be able to have
the freedom which your
father wanted so much
for you. Isn't that worth
more than even Reyna?'
and near the bundles of their
belongings. Asher Levy is talking to
Barsimson.)
Asher Levy: Your news is
welcome, Mynheer.
Barsimson: Barsimson, Jacob
Barsimson, from Amsterdam in
Holland.
Asher Levy: And I am Asher
Levy van Swellem, recently from
Recife where we all came from.
Before that, too, lived in Amsterdam.
My wife, Miriam. These are
Mynheers David Israel, David Frera,
Moses Ambrosius .. .
Barsimson: Forgive me,
Mynheer van Swellem. We must
leave the introductions for a while. It
is imperative that you land at once.
Asher Levy: As you say.
Mynheer. Miriam, get the children.
Miriam: Come children! Get
your things together!
Barsimson: I am sorry. Your
things remain here.
Miriam: All of them?
Barsimson: Yes. That was the
agreement with the Captain.
Miriam: But it is September
now, Mynheer. The nights are cool
With what will I cover my children
when they sleep?
Barsimson: I'm sorry, but, this
was agreed .. .
Asher Levy: Never mind,
Miriam. God will help.
Miriam: Yes, Asher Levy.
Asher levy: Our belongings
aren't important, Miriam. What is
important is that we are about to
settle in a land where we can once
again live openly as Jews, without
fear of death at the hands of the
Inquisition.
Miriam: Of course.' Asher Levy.
We'll manage — somehow. Come,
children! Rebecca, hold on to your
brother's hand. Hannah, stay close
to your father. Rachel . .. Rachel
Pinto! Where is that girl?
Rebecca: She was here a little
while ago.
Barsimson: Your children?
Asher Levy: Yes — Rebecca,
Hannah, and Mordechai, that is.
Rachel is an orphan. We are taking
care of her. Her father was Captain
Pinto. A brave man! When the
Portuguese besieged Recife, he
defended a fort single-handed until
he was overwhelmed by the enemy.
Rebecca: Here she is, Mamma
— asleep behind the bale.
Miriam: Come, Rachel. Wake
up.
Rachel, (comes out from behind
the bale. She is holding a doll): I'm
up, Aunt Miriam.
Miriam: Come. We are landing.
Rachel: I'm coming, Aunt
Miriam.
Barsimson: Rachel ..
Rachel: Yes, Mynheer?
Barsimson: This doll in your
hand . . .
Rachel: Isn't she beautiful?
Barsimson: Yes. She's beautiful.
Rachel: Her name is Reyna.
Barsimson: That's a lovely
name.
Rachel: That was my mother's
name too . .. Reyna .
Barsimson: I'm sorry, Rachel.
You can't take your doll with you.
Rachel: Why? She's mine. Isn't
she Aunt Miriam?
Miriam: Yes, Rachel .. .
Rachel: My father bought her
for me. She's all mind, Mynheer. Tell
him Reyna is mine, Aunt Miriam.
Barsimson: I'm sorry, Rachel, I
know she is yours. But you'll have
to leave her here.
Rachel: I won't! - Reyna is mine,
I tell you! My father gave her to me.
Please. Aunt Miriam . . . Please
don't let him take Reyna . . . Please
Miriam: Mynheer .
Barsimson: I'm sorry . . . Truly
... We promised . . . Only the
clothes on your backs . . . I wish I
could help you . . . I'm a poor man
myself . . . recently come . . . not _
even four weeks . . . please .. .
Miriam: Of course, Mynheer,
Rachel.
Rachel: Yes, Aunt Miriam?
Miriam: Do you know what your
father wanted most for you?
Rachel: No, Aunt Miriam.
Miriam: He wanted you to grow
up in a land where you can pray to
God unafraid, where you can be a
Jew without hiding. Recife was such
a land before the Portuguese came.
Rachel: Yes, Aunt Miriam.
Miriam: That is why your father
fought against them — to keep
Recife free. He died in that fight
and freedom was lost and we had
to run away. You remember, don't
you?
Rachel: I remember.
Miriam: Now, we've come to
New Amsterdam. Here we will be
able to have the freedom which
your father wanted so much for you.
Isn't that worth more than even
Reyna?
Rachel: I suppose so ...
Miriam: Good. Now put your
doll over there with the other things.
Rachel: Yes, Aunt Miriam. (She
puts the doll down.)
Miriam: Now, give me your
hand, Rachel. And you mustn't cry.
Rachel: I won't cry.
Miriam: Good. Come!
Rachel: Mynheer .. .
Barsimson: Yes, Rachel . . .?
Rachel: Will you tell them .. .
to be careful with Reyna . . . Not to
break her? Please .. .
Barsimson: I'll tell them.
Rachel: Thank you, Mynheer.
(They begin to leave. Curtain.)
Narrator: In a settlement of
eight hundred souls, news travels
swiftly. From the Bowling Green,
near where the Jewish refugees
landed, to the Bowery where the
Governor's mansion stood, the word
was passed from mouth to ear.
Governor Peter Stuyvesant heard!
Stamping his silver banded wooden
leg, his face livid with rage, the
Governor of New Amsterdam
confronted the new arrivals. (Curtain
opens.)
SCENE 3: (The wharf in New
Amsterdam. The Jews are standing
to one side. Stuyvesant is
addressing Asher Levy angrily.)
Stuyvesant: Who gave you
permission to land here?
Asher Levy: Since when do
Dutch Burghers need permission to
settle in a Dutch colony?
Stuyvesant: Since when are
Jews Burghers?
Asher Levy: I had Burgher
rights in Amsterdam. So did others
here, and in Recife as well.
Continued on Page L-8
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
L-7