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A CRITICAL STUDY OF HABIMA PLAYS AS AN EXPRESSION

OF ISRAELI NATIONALISM FROM 1948 TO 1968

Sam Levy

A Dissertation

Submitted to the Graduate School of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

June 1972

Approved by Doctoral Committee B

© 1972

Samuel Levy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED II

, ABSTRACT

Hebrew plays produced by Habima between 1948 and 1968 were examined to determine the extent to which they gave expression to Israeli nationalism.

Twenty-five scripts, comprising the complete Hebrew repertory of Habima within the twenty years scope of the study, were evaluated by means of descriptive analysis. Theme, setting, plot, and language were examined, and related professional critiques were reported. A survey of Habima*s origins as a Soviet State Theatre (1918-26) indicated the thread of continuity linking Zionist aims of the past with those of the present in Israel: a national home and a national language. Eight dominating themes were discovered in the twenty-five plays: (1) Abandon­ ment of the kibbutz and couhtry are national disasters. (2) Unity is strength, (3) Collective life is superior to city life. (4) Conser­ vative fathers against liberal sons. (5) Isolation is hazardous to the state. (6) Duty is of higher priority than personal freedom or comfort. (7) Free press is destructive to the state. (8) Coming of the Messiah necessitates the destruction of Jewish history.

Designated as the Israeli National Theatre by the state in 1958, Habima is comparable to some national theatres end is unlike others. Habima responded to the needs of the Israelis by developing Hebrew as a theatrical language, producing the best of world drama, mirroring the national reality as it is and as it could be, but at the same time never becoming a tool of the government. Again, in memory of cousin Yehuda. Note on translations:

Wherever a non-dramatic source is cited from an English edition, the title is given, in notes and text, in English. Wherever I have translated from a Hebrew text, the title is given in Hebrew transliteration. All Habima plays discussed are Hebrew texts; titles and quotations are my translation. Any exceptions to the above are noted. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF HABIMA...... 9

III. ANALYSIS OF TWENTY FIVE ISRAELI PLAYS AT HABIMA...... 24

ABANDONMENT OF THE KIBBUTZ AND COUNTRY ARE NATIONAL DISASTERS...... 27

UNITY IS STRENGTH...... 47

COLLECTIVE LIFE IS SUPERIOR TO CITY LIFE...... 61

CONSERVATIVE FATHERS AGAINST LIBERAL SONS ...... 66

ISOLATION IS HAZARDOUS TO THE STATE...... 72

DUTY IS OF HIGHER PRIORITY THAN PERSONAL FREEDOM OR COMFORT 77

FREE PRESS IS DESTRUCTIVE TO THE STATE ...... 90

COMING OF THE MESSIAH NECESSITATES THE DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH HISTORY ...... 91

IV. HABIMA PLAYS AS AN EXPRESSION OF ISRAELI NATIONALISM .... 96

V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS...... 126

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 131

A. ENGLISH BOOKS...... 132

B. ENGLISH ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS...... 133

C. ENGLISH UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL ...... 134

D. HEBREW BOOKS...... 135

E. HEBREW ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS...... 137 The theatre is not a game. It is a spiritual compulsion. Once it celebrated the gods. Now it broods over the fate of man.

Ludwig Lewisohn 1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Hebrew is the official, national language of Israel. It is spoken in the streets, in schools, in Parliament; it serves Israeli life at home and abroad in speech and literature, newspapers and television, markets and theatres. The ancient tongue was the voice of Zionism, the late nineteenth century movement, which encouraged Jews to return and rebuild their historic homeland in order to live as an autonomous, secure nation among nations. Zionism also gave birth to the first Hebrew theatre,

Habima, in Bolshevist Moscow in 1918. Being a studio of the Moscow Art

Theatre, Habima (Hebrew for "the stage") meant to express the Jewish renaissance in the historical, national tongue. The significance of

Hebrew for Habima is stated by the founder of the theatre, Nachum Zemach:

I summoned up all my courage and found an opportunity to tell Stanislavsky about Hebrew culture and our Qiabima'sJ struggle to create an original Hebrew theatre. I went to him in awe, as one goes to a holy man. I sat in his reception room and spoke to him about the fate of the Jewish people and their longing for Palestine. I explained to him that the Hebrew language, which had for centuries been considered dead, like Latin, in fact never lost its continuity from the Bible until our modern Hebrew literature. I told him that the language is in the heart of the people, that in Hebrew the Jews have expressed and continue^to express their longings and desires [""for a national homeland^,

Since its inception Habima has produced plays exclusively in Hebrew, expressing Jewish culture and Zionist attitudes. In 1931 the theatre established its permanent home in Tel Aviv, Israel. The repertory included

'------1------Isaac, Norman (ed.) Bereshith Habima (Jerusalem: Hasifria HaZionith, 1966), 157. 2 fifteen plays,none of which was originally in Hebrew, none about renewed

Jewish life in Palestine. In 1933 Habima staged Bialik's Short Friday, its first adapted offering from Hebrew material. Next was Seckler's

Rahab, an original Hebrew play about the most famous Biblical woman in

Jericho. Bistritzky's This Night, produced three years later, was also a

Hebrew play, and like Bialik's it dealt with the Jewish ghetto in Russia at the turn of the century. Not until 1937 was Habima able to stage its first Hebrew play about the renewed life in Palestine, Watchmen »by Ever

Hadani. The play ran for only twenty-two performances. The playwright returned to fiction. The early 1940's boasted new Hebrew plays. Ashman's

This Earth, about life in the Palestinian country, proved a popular success in 1942, It was revived in the 1960's. Yet the new era for Israeli play­ writing begins, no doubt, with Mossinson's Sands of the Negev, which Habima commissioned as its ninetieth play. Dealing with the War of Independence

(May, 1948), it opened on February 10, 1949 and ran for 188 performances.

Mossinson contributed several other plays which were followed by an ever increasing number of Israeli plays and playwrights.

It is these plays which Habima produced between 1948 and 1968 in its theatre in Tel Aviv that are the concern of this research. Because Habima is one of the cultural manifestations of the newly formed nation in Israel, as well as a representative of Israel in the international world, the study will concentrate on Habima's repertory as a possible expression of Israeli nationalism. 3

Justification. Whereas some material in English is available about

Habima's repertory prior to Israel's War of Independence, the original

Hebrew scripts produced in this theatre after 1948 are largely unknown

in English, as are the Hebrew books, newspapers, periodicals, and lesser

material which provide critical commentary on these scripts. In addition,

this research will be the first detailed study of Habima's Israeli

repertory in either Hebrew or English.

Limitations■ This research will focus upon Habima's Israeli repertory

since the War of Independence in 1948. Although Habima performs exclusive­

ly in Hebrew, Israeli scripts constitute only one-fourth of its total

repertory; however, it is the goal of this research to study these Hebrew

plays as an expression of Israeli nationalism. The theatre's Jewish and

foreign plays will not be examined because they have been studied in

English elsewhere. Because the Israeli audience has responded to some

more than others, only original plays receiving fifty performances will

be examined. Ten representative plays will be analyzed in detail, while

others will be reviewed briefly. The concluding date of 1968 is a further

limitation, since Habima is an ongoing producing organization meriting

continued attention by scholars and the theatre public. Yet the period of

the study (1948-68) is a natural step in the development of Israel as an autonomous state from the War of Independence until the Seven Day War in

1968.

Definitions. Certain terms frequently occurring in this study are of significance to the subject matter involved. Therefore, they are defined: 4

(1) "Israeli" plays are original Hebrew scripts by writers born or bred in Israel. (2) "Jewish” plays are scripts originally written in Yiddish or in any other language except Hebrew; dramatizing Jewish life outside

Israel, these plays were written by Jews. (3) "Foreign" plays are scripts by non-Jewish writers, in languages other than Hebrew and Yiddish regard­ less of subject matter. (4) "Habima" is the foremost Israeli theatre presenting plays in Hebrew; it is a permanent cultural institution.

Review of Literature. There are no extensive English studies on

Habima. The beginnings of the theatre’s Russian history may be found 2 as early as 1937 in Yiddish. Twenty years later this publication be- 4 came available in Hebrew. This outline consists of the backgrounds and achievements of Habima actors, pictures of productions, of indivi­ dual playars, of posters, and a short list of the repertory.

Some theatre historians have mentioned Habima's contributions to 5 the theatre, but all have been brief. Using no Hebrew material,Lipsey

2 Raikin Ben-Ari, Habima (Chicago: Verlog Stern, 1937).

3 ______, Habima (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1.957).

4 Gershon Hanoch, Kaf He Shanim LeHabima (Tel Aviv: Albom, 1946).

5 For example, see Nikolai Gorchakov, The Theatre in Soviet Russia (New York: Columbia University Press, 1957). Also John Gassner, Masters of the Drama. 3rd ed. (New York: Dover Press, 1954). Also George Freedly and John A. Reeves, The History of the Theatre (New York: Crown Publication, 1941). 5

composed a Master of Arts thesis, "The History of the Habimah Theatre," 6 in 1949.

Perhaps the richest Hebrew source about the theatre’s beginnings 7 appeared as late as 1966, Norman's Bereshith Habima (The Birth of Habima).

The book consists of four parts, concentrating on Habima leaders,

particularly Zemach. Part One provides a collection of essays about Zemach

and the early days of the Hebrew theatre in Russia. Part Two concentrates

on Zemach’s writings, speeches, and struggle for Habima. Earlier

experiments in Bialistock and Warsaw are related in Part Three. A survey

of Habima’s achievements in Russia is offered in Part Four. This

publication is richly documented with stage designs, pictures of players

and productions, critiques, relevant poems, opinions and feelings about

Habima in its Soviet years. Relevant material from Norman’s book will be

translated for this study.

Additional material in English is provided in Kohansky's The Hebrew

Theatre, a new, general survey, tracing the development of Hebrew theatres 8 from the first production in Jerusalem (1890) until 1968. There are

three parts in the book. (1) The beginnings (1890-1930). (2) The

promised land (1931-1960). (3) The theatre explosion of the sixties

6 Alfred Lipsey, "The History of the Habimah Theatre." Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Southern California, 1949.

7 Isaac Norman (ed.) Bereshith Habima.

8 Mendel Kohansky, The Hebrew Theatre: Its First Fifty Years (Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, 1969). 6

(1960-1968). The late Tyrone Guthrie, who staged Oedipus Rex (1947) and

The Merchant of Venice (1959) in Habima, prefaced the book with an

observation:

There begins to exist in Israel a tradition which is, as Mr. Kohansky rightly maintains, European rather than Levantine. But to this, the climate, the political, social, economic and religious vicissitudes of the still new state of Israel are already giving a richness ^nd an individuality over and above the original European influences.

It is helpful to keep this observation in mind while studying Israeli 10 nationalism as described by Amos Elon. The latter compares two genera­

tions of Israelis in the newly born state. Israeli nationalism is also

expressed in the Hebrew plays produced by Habima between 1948-68. There

are twenty five plays: Mossinson's Sands of the Negev and Ashman's Young

Love (1949); Hazaz's End of Days and Shamir's House of Hi 11e1 (1950);

On the Way to Eilat by Megged (1951); I, the Captain by Yosh J/1952);

Kishon's His Friend at Court and Aloni's Most Cruel of All--The King

(1953); Stormy Night by Shamir and Megged's Hedva and £ (1954); £ Like

Mike by Megged and Kishon's Black on White (1956); C/S "Swallow" on

Maymba's Shore by Yosh (1957); Mossinson's Throw Him to the Dogs, Megged's

Hanna Szenes, Bartov's Each Had Six Wings, and Handel's Street of Stairs

(1958); The Emperor's Clothes by Aloni (1961); Megged's Genesis and Tomer's

Children of the Shadows (1962); Journey to Nineveh by Amichai (1964);

9 Kohansky, vi-vii.

10 Amos Elon, The Israelis: Founders and Sons (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971). 7

Alterman’s Tale of Pythagoras, and The Neighborhood by Bar-Nathan (1965);

Megged's The Busy Season and Ashman's revival of This Earth (1967).

Secondary sources include the Hebrew newspapers Paver and HaAretz, the

Hebrew periodicals Bama, Molad, Gazith, and Moznayim, leading theatre

magazines in English, articles from American and international writers,

critiques of Habima productions published in newspapers, and criticisms

of Hebrew playscripts as they appeared in Hebrew publications. Additional

material concerning other national theatres is available in several

unpublished theses and dissertations. These will also help to determine

the extent to which Habima fulfilled its goal as the Israeli National 11 Theatre.

Data for this study was collected from the Hebrew Union College of

Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, New York Public Library, Harvard

University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Zionist Archives and

Library of New York City, and Habima theatre of Tel Aviv.

~------n------See James Peter Coulson, "The Development of the American National Theatre Concept" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Kansas, 1965); Kathleen Edgerton, "A Study of Selected National Theatres as Related to a Possible National Theatre in the United States" (unpublished Master's thesis, Mississippi Southern College, 1962); Pridad Guinto, "The Organization of a National Theatre in the Phillipines" (unpublished Master's thesis, Catholic University of America, 1957); Errol Hill, "The Trinidad Carnival--A True National Theatre" (unpublished D.F.A. dissertation, Yale University, 1966); Constance, Ruys, "The Netherlands National Theatre: 1945-55" (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1956); Sherry Selfore, "The National Theatre and the Icelandic Way of Life" (unpublished Master's thesis, University of Washington, 1954); L. L. Zimmerman, "The Federal Theatre: An Evaluation and Comparison with Foreign National Theatres” (unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1957), 8

Methodology. The research will cover twenty years beginning in

1948 and ending in 1968, During this period twenty five original plays

were produced by Habima. Those plays which remained in repertory more

than two months will be analyzed according to theme, setting, plot,

language, and reviews--traditional standards for evaluating scripts

in production.

The dissertation will be organized into five chapters. Chapter

One serves as an introduction to the study, providing a review of relevant

literature, explaining the purpose, methodology and source-material to be examined. Chapter Two will provide a brief history of Habima's repertory, organization and leaders since its inception in Moscow in

1918 in order to provide the historical background of Habima as a Russian

State Theatre initially, and its eventual designation as the Israeli

National Theatre. Ten Israeli plays from the theatre's repertory will be analyzed in detail in Chapter Three. Chapter Four will evaluate the selected plays in terms of Israeli nationalism. Some effort will be made to relate the concept of Israeli nationalism as expressed by the plays to concepts of nationalism as described by political and socio­ logical writers. Moreover, Habima will be briefly examined in light of other national theatres to determine the extent to which it has met its responsibilities as the Israeli National Theatre. Chapter Five will present summary, conclusions, and suggestions for further study. 9

CHAPTER II

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HABIMA

Habima is a theatre which the Jews can be proud of. This tender and pretty child promises to be great in days to come.

Maxim Gorky

Habima is rooted in the Jewish national revival, or Zionism, and in the Bolshevist revolution. The Jews in Czerist Russia were perse­ cuted and their culture was on its way to perishing with them. But by the end of the nineteenth century Zionism was flourishing in Eastern

Europe, pressing the Jews to revive Hebrew, their national tongue, and to return to Biblical Israel, their historical homeland. This renaiss­ ance was inspired by the Bolshevist revolution which shattered the ra­ cial and religious superstitions of the Czarist regime. Of all places,

Moscow, a mixture of European and Tatar traditions, a Pravoslavic city with hundreds of Christian churches, became the cradle of the first He­ brew theatre, Habima. Despite a climate of destruction and despair, Ha­ bima was born in the heart of Russia. In 1917 Nachum Zemach (1887-1939), a Zionist and a Hebrew teacher from Bialistock, came to the Russian capi­ tal with three Jews. They hired an unheated room on Kameny Most, oppo­ site the Kremlin, where, until then, Jews would have hardly dreamed of walking. Zemach placed a sign on the door bearing the word "Habima" in both Hebrew and Russian. Devoted to the Biblical language and to Zion­ ism, they planned to fuse both in the theatre. 10

Hanna Rovina, now the first lady of the Israeli theatre and a

charter member of Habima, relates how the company was assembled in

1917:

First, Zemach himself, the founder, a man of extraordinary energy, fanatically, almost insanely, devoted to the ruling passion of his life, his burning desire to realize his vision of a Hebrew theatre; an ascetic and dauntless pioneer, he was bound to only two things in the world--his family . . . and his dominating idea, the creation of the Hebrew theatre. Secondly, there were the young men and women he gathered around himself and infused with his spirit, those first twelve including £in addition to himself^ Gnessin rom Palestine^] , Vardi, Avivit, Elias, Robins, and others [Jialevy, Gruber, Viniar, Persitz, Starovinitz, Cohen, and, of course, Rovina herself^] --all of them ardently concerned not with individual careers but with the project as a whole.

Because the company was amateurish and Zemach’s goal seemed impractical, training began immediately. According to Rovina,

Zemach knew how to influence people, to inspire them, to "poison’ them, I would say, with the idea of Habima. All the world con­ sidered us a group of lunatics. No wonder they did. There we were, in the very shadow of the Kremlin, completely absorbed in the creation of a Hebrew theatre, while a bloody revolution changed the face of Russia.

Because Zemach was persistent and exciting in his enthusiasm, Habima won many friends, among them Bialik, the national Hebrew poet, who observed :

From the very beginning Habima has had functions other than the purely dramatic. It serves us as an artistic ambassador to the outside world. The living truth of a Habima performance is far more effective Zionist propaganda even among Jews than any number of speeches and articles and pleas. Art has its own language

12 Shulamith Schwartz and Gershon Hanoch (ed.), Habimah. (Tel Aviv: Cooperative Press Ltd., 1939), 6.

13 Ibid., 7. 11

that every human being understands, and Habima from the very sta^t has stirred even those who do not understand a word of Hebrew.

Shoshana Avivit also recalls Zemach's enthusiasm for Zionism and theatre:

I want to bring the future closer ... to revive the dry bones of the people on the boards of the stage ... We will appear in all countries, before all nations, we will sail the seven seas, we will carry out what is extremely difficult, we will throw a bridge across an abyss . ^ . we will eventually arrive in our safe harbor-- Jerusalem.

In materializing his goal Zemach faced three very important problems

First, there was opposition to a theatre in Hebrew. Second, the young

Jewish actors who joined the company had no background in Zionism and did not speak Hebrew. Third, a few newcomers spoke Hebrew, yet they were not trained actors. According to Hanoch and Schwartz, Zemach was 16 able to fuse these people into a producing company.

Indeed, Habima was a success, as attested by Bialik:

In those days the idea of a living Hebrew theatre began to kindle in the minds of the members of Habima. They thought it was essential that a Hebrew theatre should be a theatre of prophetic pathos and sanctity. If you had seen those Jews j2”in Moscow, you would have been astonished!Even a non-Jew coming among them became transformed . . . There was something wonderful about them. I cannot remember a single moment of frivolity among them, so common among artists and theatrical people. In their circle and in their atmosphere you scarcely thought of the theatre as a place of entertainment and lighthearted amusement. They spoke among themselves of the need for Hebrew comedy. But even when they used the word "comedy" they meant a different kind of comedy altogether,

14 Schwartz and Hanoch, 12-13.

15 Isaac Norman, 60-61.

16 Schwartz and Hanoch, 7. 12

a comedy of fire, pathos and enthusiasm. That is the type of comedy that is suited to Jewish talent. Jews could transform the very laws into hymns, prayers, poetry. That is just what the Habimah people did. They transformed the theatre into an exalted vision, a hymn and a prayer.

The third problem which Zemach also solved was presented by the

Yevsektzia, or the Jewish communists, who fought against Jewish culture,

Hebrew, Zionism, and Habima. However, in Zemach's archives are documents

proclaiming that in November of 1919 the Tsentro-Teatr (Bolshevist

Government Theatre Center) recognized Habima officially as a Russian 18 State Theatre, allowing a yearly subsidy of 100,000 rubles.

Resistance to this government subsidy of a Zionist organization

persisted, for three months later, on February 16, 1920, the Tsentro-

Teatr was called to hear Diamantstein, Commissar of the Yevsektzia,

condemn the government support of Habima:

I learned of the subsidy to Habima by accident. There is no Jewish organization, even the smallest one, which does not complain about Habima. Its existence is a cinder in the eyes of not only communists but all Jewish democrats, because Habima is a caprice of the Jewish bourgeoisie. It should not be allowed that the funds of a revolut­ ionary regime, ("public^ funds in a democracy of workers and peasants, should support a theatre which is not needed by workers and peasants. Even if we admit that the theatre is of high artistic merit, this is an enterprise needed by no one except a handful of a nationalistic bourgeoisie who wants forcibly to revive a dead language, to thrust the Jews back into religious superstitions, to separate them from the masses, to prevent their class progress. Supporting such a theatre means helping the development of Jewish chauvinism, helping a bourgeois group par excellence. . . In fact, Hebrew is a dead language. Like an unburied corpse, it stinks. If the bourgeoisie

17 "Chaim Bialik on Habimah," American Fund News, IV (May, 1948), 2.

18 Norman, 393, In 1922 this fact and others concerning Habima first appeared in Swedish in Stockholm's Tribunen in an article entitled "The Struggle Around Habima." 13

is determined l_to keep this corpse,J let them do it with their own money. They should be thankful to the Cheka ^secret police^} for not closing their institution. We have no time for further dis­ cussion. I believe that subsidy for Habima must be stopped.

Diamantstein's speech must have been effective for two months la­ ter, on March 2, 1920, the subsidy to Habima was discontinued. Zemach requested Anatoli Lunacharsky, the Bolshevist Commissar of Culture, to call a meeting of the Tsentro-Teatr. On this occasion Zemach said:

After generations of inquisitions, of pogroms, tortures and mass murder, no one succeeded in depriving this persecuted people and its twenty-two square lettersQlebrew alphabet^the heritage of its anrcoeesf-tAores , givv/eon it-oo thoermn Kbyxr Ff ao tea 4t-on anll lloe^vni' aoteo thoeii r* nnvopove rr-ft- yw and suffering. With the power of these letters generations after gen­ erations of the Jewish people created great literature, and with this power a new era of creation is dawning . . . Hebrew came to a new flowering in Spain, when great works were written by a bril­ liant galaxy of poets and philosophers . . . Centuries passed, and a new Hassidic literature appeared ... a life-giving force for the benefit of the masses ... In the past two generations Hebrew literature has been like an overflowing well . . . Our great poet Bialik ... is admired not only by Jews but in the entire world. Are the eyes of our opponents blind, or do they intentionally avoid seeing the light ... the culture on which they draw?

In a later paragraph Zemach defended Hebrew actors and Habima:

For many generations we remained speechless. Now, when the entire world re-awakens, we desire to say something to ourselves and to the world, to make the world listen to us. The coming of the Mess­ iah involves entire mankind, the dream of freedom belongs to us too Our desire is to renew and purify Hebrew theatre art ... we have to create our own art, to cease picking crumbs from under the ta­ bles of others . . . £taT| lay the foundation for a Hebrew theatre which will be the property of all mankind.

19 Norman, 393-94.

20 Ibid., 172.

21 Ibid., 174-75. 14

Finally, Zemach summarized his arguments:

(1) The repertory of Habima reflects the revolutionary aspirations of the Jewish people.

(2) The battle against Hebrew is a cultural problem. Each nation is free to choose its language. The government must be neutral in this matter.

(3) Habima was accepted by the Soviet theatres as a worthy institution of culture and art. As a State Theatre Habima earned its subsidy. 22 Hebrew has nothing to do with this decision. Hebrew is the actors' tool

All lovers of Hebrew culture in Moscow and many Soviet artists

sided with Zemach. Such luminaries as Stanislavsky, Nemirovitz-

Danchenko, Chaliapin, and Tairov joined in the defence of the Hebrew

theatre. After four months of unofficial status Habima regained its 23 status and yearly subsidy on July 8, 1920.

With the help of Stanislavsky, Vakhtangov, and other prominent directors from the Moscow Art Theatre, Habima created its repertory

of Jewish plays. In 1918 four Jewish playlets were billed as Evening of Beginnings. The Eterna1 Jew followed in 1919. Vakhtangov directed his swan song, The Dybbuk, in 1922. A new, longer version of The

Eternal Jew was presented in 1923. In 1925 Habima gained further success and popularity with The Golem, Jacob's Dream, and its first foreign play, The Flood by Berger.

Although Bialik translated The Dybbuk for Habima--the play was originally in Yiddish--and became an enthusiastic supporter of the

22 Norman, 397-98.

23 Ibid., 399. 15

Hebrew theatre, his views concerning repertory were not entirely

persuasive. Bialik maintained that

the Hebrew theatre should be a theatre of prophetic pathos, of the pathos of holiness and an urge toward sanctity. . Art conveys the very essence of truth in life, of truth in tradition, history and reason, and it has to shape the innate feeling of the people into a congenial form. One of the everlasting forms found by Jewry for its urge towards salvation and liberation was the prophetism; ther^ore, a Hebrew stage should try and bring it to life again.

On the other hand the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber suggested

that

pre-conceived opinions and pre-set aims and theories alone do not create art; subjects from Jewish history, etc., and plays written by Jewish playwrights alone do not make Jewish Theatre. Cultural achievements are not brought about by a conscious attempt or desire but only a natural process of development can provide them. We have to be open to every influence of great foreign art, poetry and drama; only in this way shall we succeed in the course of time, in finding the synthesis between what has been created b^us in the country and the spiritual heritage of the centuries.

Habima followed Buber's advice. In 1968 the repertory listed more than 200 Jewish, Israeli, and foreign plays, many of which are the steady diet of other theatres in the world.

As a prominent Russian State Theatre in 1925 Habima was invited to tour many countries in Asia, Europe, and America. The Jewish actors looked forward to contacting their brothers in faith. Here

24 "The Hebrew Theate Habimah," Youth and Nation, XV (March, 1947), 15

25 Ibid. 16 was a lifetime chance to spread the philosophy of the Hebrew

Renaissance. Indeed, the tour proved a success. On January 26,

1926 the company left freezing Moscow,and for the next six years it toured extensively, visiting eighteen countries in which it played to 107 cities in 150 playhouses. The largest was a 6000 seat auditorium in Philadelphia; the smallest was "Reclama" in Vienna. Habima played in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, even late at night..

Extreme examples Include those of Düsseldorf, West Germany, where performances began at 10:00 A.M., and midnight shows which started at 26 12:30 A.M. , usually for an audience of actors. In 1928 Habima visited Tel Aviv for the first time. During the next year and a half

Sholem Aleichem's The Treasure and David's Crown by Calderon were added to the repertory. These attractions were popular in Palestine, and later were favorably received abroad. From 1930 to 1931 Habima rehearsed two scripts in Berlin. The noted director and actor, Michael Chekhov, produced Habima's first Shakespearean play--Twelfth Night—with the

Hebrew actors. Uriel Acosta was added in 1931. Finally, in the spring of 1931, Habima decided to settle permanently in Tel Aviv, thus achieving for herself what she had inspired others to do. Habima returned in its prime to Palestine not only as an ambassador of Zionism, a teacher of Hebrew, and a delegate of Slavic theatrical training, but also as an autonomous producing organization.

26 Bama, No. 47 (January, 1946), 37. 17

To achieve its artistic tradition, Habima cultivated the Hebrew

language. The translations into Hebrew were creative, providing

substantial literature for reading long after the plays completed

their run at the theatre. Hence the reputation of Habima as the

ambassador of artistic, refined language.

The repertory was carefully chosen to illuminate the ideals of

the Bolshevist revolution, the Jewish Renaissance, the new place of

man in society, Hebrew folklore, and the desire of Jews for a homeland.

In Palestine (later renamed Israel) Habima continued its policy of

a touring company, giving performances in towns, villages, and

kibbutzim. During 1932-33 Habima, in addition to foreign attractions,

produced Jewish plays. At that time Habima also undertook a successful

tour to Egypt. Both Jews and non-Jews applauded the performances in

Alexandria and Cairo. In 1938 another European tour proved meaningful.

This time the theatre no longer appeared as a Russian company. It was welcomed as an expression of Jewish Palestine.

Habima was a democratic cooperative venture without a star system,

providing an actor with a leading part for a certain evening while

requiring him to play a bit role on the next day. Stanislavsky's ensemble method was the heart of their training. In 1922 artistic

unity was achieved in The Dybbuk. Their approach to production and the collective system became as one, and prevailed as Habima's trade mark thereafter. Arie Warshauer, an actor of the company, explains: 18

A cooperative can live and exist because every one has an opportunity to show what he can do. The great actor is satisfied with his recognition and those whose ability is not as great know that they will be paid equally and that they will always receive their due recognition and opportunity that brings out ability in actors that would be stifled in a company which is not a coopera­ tive. 27

Habima objected to personal publicity. Names of actors did not

appear on advertisements, and theatre programs listed all participants

in type faces of the ssme size. The wages were distributed equally in 28 proportion to the number of dependents that each had.

During the development of the theatre msny changes came over Habima

and its members. Some left before the company established permanent

residence in Palestine; some left and returned, others never came back.

New members joined. Great financial difficulties could not halt the

work, diligence, and perseverance of the dedicated few who since 1917

had developed in their new land a cooperative company working under

established rules and regulations. The following principles were

established for Habima in 1917 and remained in force until 1962:

A member has the right to share the business of the group, and getting his salary and share of the income. The income of the group will serve first to meet the expenses of the group and to pay off its debts. The salary paid the member is considered expense. The group does not pay any dividends to its members. All members get an equal salary, with an additional sum for their children, according to the resolution of the general meeting. Each member participates in the general meetings and has the privilege * 21

27 Arie Warshauer, "The Habima Theatre," American Fund News, III (December, 1947), 6.

Elias Newman, "Habima in New York," Congress Weekly, XV (May 21, 1948), 12. 19

of being elected to the Administrative Board or to the Revision Committee. In general all members have equal rights. The group may employ other actors and artists in its theatrical work and pay them a set salary or some other remuneration for their services. The number of members is unlimited. Each member must abide by the resolutions of the group in regard to acceptance of parts in plays performed the group, and is obliged to play whatever is given him.

In 1962, when the collective system was abandoned, Habima still

maintained some of its original aims such as:

To stimulate the development of original Israeli playwriting; to present the best of the national theatre's productions before audiences of theatre-lovers all over the world; to lay a foundation of mutual relationships through contact and interest between the national theatre Qlabima^ and lovers of art and drama throughout the world; to be concerned with the theatre’s continuity and artistic growth through aid and encouragement of young Israeli-born and newly-arrived artists; and to link the theatre with Jewish communities, artists, and men of the theatre abroad.

While Habima was travelling between 1926 and 1931 various

committees were formed in Europe and America for the financial suooort

of the company. In Palestine Habima Circle was formed in 1932, a grouo which assisted the theatre, paying off bills and providing funds for new productions. In 1937 there were 5000 members in this group, Jews from towns and villages who contributed annual dues. Affiliated with

Habima Circle was the Youth Circle of Tel Aviv, which also supported a bi-monthly magazine—Bama—the first Hebrew publication devoted to

29 Habima: Hebrew Theatre of Palestine (Tel Aviv: Bama, 1937), 19-20.

30 Habima: Israel National Theatre (Tel Aviv: Israel Press Ltd., 1962). 20 31 theatrical matters. Although the theatre was helped by Habima Circle

the Youth Center, the Jewish Agency, and the American Fund for Palestin­

ian Institutions, the bulk of the budget depended upon box-office 32 receipts. In spite of all difficulties, the Palestinian Jews

collected in 1936 LP 16,242 or approximately $81,210 to build a home

for Habima in Tel Aviv. It was completed in 1945 and cost about 33 LP 40,000 or approximately $160,000. Further appreciation was

expressed in 1958. When Habima celebrated its fortieth anniversary,

the company was given the coveted title of Israel's National Theatre 34 with a subsidy of IL 100,000 or $56,000. In 1961 Habima opened its

Little Hall, adjacent to the Large Auditorium. Abba Eben, then Israel's

Minister of Education and Culture, acting also as President of the

Council of Habima, said at this occasion:

The nation is indebted in no small measure to its actors and producers who serve as instruments to draw man out of his everyday existence, widening his horizons to encompass the problems of the generation.

Israel's National Theatre, Habima, has been associated with the resurgence of the Jewish People for over forty years and since the inception of the State of Israel has been an intimate part of its cultural development. Habima was the first theatre to adopt the language of the Bible as its medium of expression, thereby translating the tongue of our forefathers into the

31 Schwartz and Hanoch, 107.

32 Bama, "Habimah Theatre,':' A Pamphlet prepared to advertise the need of assistance in building a new theatre (Tel Aviv: Bama, 1936), 15.

33 Habima: Hebrew Theatre of Palestine, 108.

34 Israel Gur, Pinkas. Teatroni (Jerusalem: Bama, 1961), 11. 21

language of modern drama . . . The continuous existence of Habima was in itself a revolution in the cultural life of the Jewish peo- pie, which hitherto had not developed and fostered dramatic arts.

In 1963 H8bime had an annual working budget of $400,000, 85% of which was covered by tickets, and 15% by subsidy, partly from the America- 36 Israel Cultural Foundation, with the balance from the Israeli government.

Additional governmental support was given to Habima in 1966. A special grant of IL 1,500, 000 (approximately $428,000) was allocated to the five major Israeli repertory thea’res, of which Habima is the most 37 prominent organization.

Although the aims of the theatre continued to serve people in Pale­ stine and abroad, the leadership changed markedly. Since Zemach and a few devotees remained in New York in 1927, the company functioned under the actors Gnessin (1882-1953), Rovina (1892- ), Chemerinsky (1889-1946), and Friedland (1898-1968). In Palestine a new era of directing began in which directors were selected from within the company rather than utili­ zing guest directors as previously. Baruch Chemerinsky and Zvi Fried- land staged most of the plays until 1948. A few productions by Jessner and Lindberg (invited from Germany in 1935) failed and Habima resumed

35 Habimah: Israel National Theatre.

36 Zara Shakow, The Theatre in Israel (New York: Herzl Press, 1963), 61.

37 Zara Shakow, "Theatre in Israel," in Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel (New York: Herzl Press, 1971), 1112. 22

production chiefly under the direction of Chemerinsky and Friedland

with occasional stagings by Viniar, Bertonov, and Baratz--all Habima

members. While Israel's Independence was in the making, the theatre

also delivered a prominent revival, Oedipus Rex, directed by the late

Tyrone Guthrie. As an ambassador of the newly formed nation, Habima

presented the Greek tragedy on Broadway in addition to The Dybbuk,

David's Crown, and The Golem. David Mirsky, reviewing these productions,

wrote in 1948:

Operating across the stage of the Broadway Theatre in New York is an animated segment of the new Hebrew culture. Its ambassadors, the various members of the Habimah troupe, are fulfilling an important task at the present time. They are bringing home to the American public a concrete realization of the life and culture which the Jews have established in the Homeland. But aside from such considerations, on a purely artistic level, they are a legitimate source of pride to every Zionist and Jew.

The language barrier is undoubtedly a major one, but it is a tribute to the group’s ability that no one, whether he understood Hebrew or not, has been driven from the theatre. The highly polished technique, the magnificent acting, the suggestive settings, make every production understandable and enthralling. Merely to watch the consummate artistry of the group as a whole, an excellently coordinated and finely balanced team, is to experience a new thrill in theatre going.

Although Mirsky described the theatre as an outstanding national, 39 Jewish theatrical organization, no Israeli plays were on the bill.

38 David Mirsky, "Ambassador of a Revived Culture," Jewish Horizon, X (June, 1948), 9.

39 Ibid. 23

Habima returned home to face a new crisis. The newly born country yearned for a topical theatrical expression. Habima answered this call with an ever increasing number of Israeli plays. These plays will be discussed in Chapter Three. CHAPTER III

ANALYSIS OF TWENTY FIVE

ISRAELI PLAYS AT HABIMA

Poets are sometimes better guides to the sensibility of an era than are politicians or journalists. Works of imagination serve as tentative guidelines to levels of reality more shadowy and yet deeper than those reflected in political programs and Gallup polls.

Amos Elon

This chapter analyzes the Israeli plays produced by Habima between

1948 and 1968 in effort to show their support of Israeli nationalism.

Since modern Hebrew drama was expected to mirror the social and political events, recalling the period before the War of Independence is necessary.

During the 1940's Palestine was threatened by a Nazi invasion The

British mandate prevented free immigration of persecuted Jews who wished to settle in Palestine. The young generation of Israelis was trained in underground camps, waiting to overthrow the foreign regime. The Jews wanted an Independent state. The Palmach (Israeli commando units) and the kibbutzim (Israeli collective settlements) undertook the major responsibility of safeguarding the young state which was declared and accepted in the United Nations late in 1948. The Israeli drama of that time reflected the struggle for freedom. When the war was over and life regained its normalcy, people began to look for comfort, sometimes aban­ doning the kibbutz or even the country with disasterous results. Habima 25

produced four plays on this problem: Mossinson's Sands of the Negev

(1949), Ashman's This Earth (1942, yet revived many times, even as

late as 1967), Shamir's House of Hillel (1950), and Megged's I_ Like

Mike (1956). This group of plays will be analyzed in detail as the

first category in this study.

Israel needed kibbutzim to safeguard its borders. Immigrants

from many corners of the world continued to arrive. The drama felt

the needs of the people, reflecting the new Israeli scene in another

theme which proclaimed: "Unity is strength." Five Habima plays

expressed this theme: Megged's On the Way to Eilat (1951). Kishon's

Black on White (1956). Bortov's Each Had Six Wings (1958), Handel's

Street of Stairs (1958), and Yosh's I_, the Captain (1 952 ).

As the cities became prosperous, the kibbutz was faced with a

young generation whose idealism needed encouragement. The third theme

of this study, "collective life is superior to city life," reflects

the problem in two of the mentioned plays (This Earth and House of Hillel)

and in two new Habima productions: Megged's Hedva and I (1954) and

I Like Mike (1956).

Israel was developing, and the young generation was searching for a new way of life, no longer content with dated Zionism. Habima reflected conservative, "idealistic founders in conflict with liberal sons," the fourth theme of this study, in three of the mentioned plays

(House of Hillel, On the Way to Eilat, and I_ Like Mike) and in four new plays: Shamir's Stormy Night (1954), Ashman's Young Love (1949) Yosh's 26

C/S "Swallow" on Mayumba’s Shore (1957), and Bar-Nathan's The

Neighborhood (1965).

While Israel was busy with security and economic problems, the

Arab nations forced segregation on the new state. Two Habima plays deal with the fifth theme of this study, "isolation is hazardous to the state": Aloni’s Most Cruel of All--The King (1953), and Megged's

The Busy Season (1967).

While personal comfort was attracting Israelis, duties were neglected, and the establishment engaged in bureaucracy and favor,

Habima presented these oroblems in seven plays which may be groused together under the theme of "duty is of higher priority than personal freedom or comfort." The plays are: Aloni’s The Emperor's Clothes

(1961), Kishon's His Friend at Court (1953), Megged's Hanna Szenes

(1958), and Genesis (1962), Tomer's Children of the Shadows (1.962),

Amichai's Journey to Nineveh (1964), and Alterman's Trial of Pythagoras

(1965).

The seventh theme of this study is sheer official propaganda, a single play siding with Ben-Gurion's party. Unlike other Habima plays,

Mossinson's Throw Him to the Dogs (1958) maintains that "free press is destructive to the state," supports a certain political attitude, and creates a public uproar.

The last theme of this study also includes one play. Although 27

written in 1950, it has little in common with the Israeli scene or

attitudes of that year. Hazsz's End of Days argues that "the coming

of the Messiah is interpreted as the War of Independence. The eight

themes of this study as dramatized in the twenty-five Habima plays

indeed express Israeli nationalism.

Although this chapter analyzes only ten Habima plays in detail,

pertinent comments will be provided for the twenty-five Israeli scripts

produced by the theatre between 1948 and 1968 and grouped into the eight

thematic cathegories. The intent is to maintain a truthfQl, complete

picture of the national scene as expressed on Habima’s stage. As ex­

plained in Chapter One, the chosen plays will be analyzed according to

theme, setting, plot, language, and reviews.

ABANDONMENT OF THE KIBBUTZ AND COUNTRY

ARE NATIONAL DISASTERS

Mossinson’s Sands of the Negev opened at Habima on February 10,

1949, It was commissioned and later staged by Shimon Finkel, a pro­ minent actor of the company. The production was a great success with 40 audiences, running for 188 performances, and was unsuccessfully revived

40 See Habima Repertory 1919-1958, a list in Hebrew. Compare with Kohansky, The Hebrew Theatre, 161, quoting 225 performances for the run. 28

in March of 1962. At the time of the premiere, Mossinson, a native

Israeli, was thirty-two years old and a member of kibbutz Na’An Serving

as an Education Officer in the Israeli Defense Army on the Southern 41 front, the playwright had completed his first offering "within two weeks."

Sands of the Negev was the first Israeli play to reach Broadway on 42 October 19, 1954, remaining on the bill for sixty^four performances.

Mossinson's script is a conventional, anti-war drama of a besieged 43 kibbutz, "modeled upon propaganda Soviet plays," with little depth or

psychological probing, still smelling of battles' blood. It was covered with the dust of the plains. The play focuses on the heroic stand of

Jewish settlements in the Negev against the Egyptian army during the War

of Independence.

Theme. Sands of the Negev expresses the idea that abandoning the kibbutz is a cardinal sin. The play focuses upon a conflict between the military and the kibbutz member for the role of safeguarding the state.

41 Shimon Finkel, Bama Uklaim (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1968), 210.

42 Walter Rigdon (ed.) The Bibliographical Encyclopedia and Who ' s Who in the American Theatre. (New York: James H. Heineman), 1966.

43 Lea Goldberg, "Baayot HaMachaze Halveri," Bamoth, No. 2 (June, 1952 ), 150. 29

Setting. All three acts take place at a Command Bunker of

Bikat Yoav in May of 1948. Bikat Yoav, or the Valley of Joab. was actually kibbutz Negba which held uo the advance of the Egyptian Army long enough to save the Negev (the plains) and possibly Tel Aviv, from falling to the enemy.

Plot. Dan, a young member of Bikat Yoav, a beseiged kibbutz in the Negev, has returned from evacuating the children of Yad

Mordechai. Binyamin and Itamar, also members of the kibbutz, relate how they had been forced to kill the wounded cows, and rage.^ that an

Egyptian convoy is approaching. Dan’s mother, Rivka, reports that a new wireless operator has arrived, Shosh, Dan's ex-girlfriend. As they all converse about the new army jargon, Avraham, Dan's father, announces that the fields have been set on fire to forestall Arab infiltrators. Egyptian planes are heard and everybody seeks shelter.

As the Israeli army retreats, the kibbutz is completely isolated.

Baruch, an army officer stationed at Bikat Yoav, and It.emar are i.n favor of further retreating to which Avraham and Rivka object. The latter are prepared to die if necessary; they will not. give up the land. Since Avraham is in charge, no one is permitted to escape.

Act Two portrays the love affair between Dan and Galia, Itamar's daughter. The wedding is postponed because the wounded must be transported to the north. Dan is the only available driver, yet all 30

hesitate to send him on the suicidal mission. Finally, Avraham orders

him to go. Dan goes.

Act Three reveals that Dan has been killed by the Egyptians. Bikat

Yoav has saved the Negev and protected the country from Egyptian invasion.

As the kibbutz is ready to celebrate its regained independence, Rivka

mourns the death of her martyred son. Curtain.

All the characters are stock types of kibbutz and Palmach of the

late 40's. There are thirteen characters in the play, eight of which

are kibbutz members. The rest are young army soldiers. Zvi is the

only one who clowns a great deal.

Avraham - the secretary and military commander of the kibbutz.

Rivka - his wife, a strong-featured woman of forty.

Dan - their son

Itamar - member of the kibbutz, a farmer

Galia -• his daughter, a switchboard operator.

Binyamin - the cultural representative of the kibbutz.

Ruth - his wife.

Moshe - member of the kibbutz, raises chickens.

Zvi - a young Palmachnik (Israeli commando).

Shosh - Palmachnikit (female for Palmachnik), the new wireless operator.

Baruch - Israeli Army Commander from the city.

A volunteer from abroad.

Another soldier.

The action is focused on one dream of the settlers-~to break through 31

the ring of the Egyptian besiegers. The members of Kibbutz Bikat Yoav,

young and old, all hate the war. Young Shosh argues:

Fighting a war . . . The years pass, and we ask no questions. It's all as simple as bread. But then I bhink of Elik and Nechemia, and Bracha, and Shimon. All gone. How many more 44 of us will fall before the world allows us to be young again?

In a later scene Avraham Representing the older generation, mourns those

who came to redeem their lives in Israel and found untimely death:

Let him at least have a proper grave in Jewish earth--Moshe Gross.' He only reached the country a week ago. And fresh off the boat the Army took him. No time to train him how to shoot. No time to teach him about cover and concealment . . . Without, these volunteers from overseas we might, not have Jerusalem today . . . Poor Moshe Gross. Never a wg^d of complaint. He was in Israel. That was enough for him.

The characters live on the front line not because they peek martyrdom

or wish to become national heroes. Their home has become a strong-point,

with fortifications under the ground, observation towers, and barbed

wire.

The protagonist of the play is Avraham, the father who was a

founder of the settlement and now is holding the kibbutz under Israeli

control. To him, nothing seems more important. Not unlike the

historical Hebrew father of the same name, Avraham sacrifices his only

son,' The Biblical relationship is further enhanced by recalling Joab--

the Israelite Army Commander of King David, whose name the kibbutz

44 Igal Mossinson, Sands of the Negev. Translated and adapted by Shimon Wincelberg (New York, 1954), 1-1-17 (Mimeographed.)

45 Ibid., 1-2-26. 32

bears--who was no more popular than Mossinson's character, Baruch,

the army commander from the city. Since the commander's name is Hebrew

for "the blessed one," irony is added. Baruch is a passive character,

and the victory is won by Avraham. A topical significance is also

apparent--Joab was the military nickname of the late Isaac Dubno, a

Negba member and chief officer in the Palmach, who was killed during

an Egyptian attack on the kibbutz. Today, the whole area is named 46 after him.

The major conflict involves Avraham and Baruch. The latter

argues:

As a military man I must say: the decision to stay £in Bikat Yoav^Jwithout breaking the siege is suicide. Even worse. It is slaughter, simple and clear! We cannot fight empty handed against cannons. I am a reasonable man and under your command, Avraham, but I disagree, and I must express my opinion. Against cannons we must fight with cannojj^, not empty-handed. If you do not have cannons--it is no use.

Avraham never retreats.

Language. Usually the language of Sands of the Negev is extreme­

ly verbose; repetitions, debates, and elongated phrases are the dominent

features. Palmach slang, however, is the complete antithesis to the overly explicated, long, complex sentences of the play. Palmach slang

46 Israel Gur, "Pirkei HaMachaze Halsraeli," Bama, No. 38-39 (Summer, 1968), 8.

47 Igal Mossinson, BeArvot HaNegev (Tel Aviv: N. Tverskv, 1949), 49-50. 33

is a mixture of contemporary Hebrew with Arabic and Yiddish words adop­ ted to concise, sharp, short, and inarticulate military phrases. Sen­ tences are never completed; the essential words are given while the rest is left unsaid yet communicable by associations. The speech of Zvi is based on Palmach slang. The whole texture of the play is seasoned with this untranslatable jargon of the period, no longer in use with the next, more refined generation of Israelis.

- Reviews. Although the play depicted a current event, Mossinson reversed the issues by dramatizing the settlers as independent whereas the military remained passive. (To be sure, Negba’s ten-week siege was broken by the Israeli Army on the night of July 13, 1948). A public up­ roar followed. The author and Habima were accused of slandering the army. Kohansky says that "at one performance an officer stepped to the 48 stage shouting his disapproval." Protests were also expressed in the press, as evidenced by Margot Klausner, who said:

Is Mossinson's Sands of the Negev a stage reportage? Without much hesitation we say no. The author chnged the historical truth. (1) after Mossinson's confession that indeed the play is about the siege of kibbutz Negba, such a stage reportage becomes immpossible. Then Negba had no two conflicting generations; the children of the founders were very young. (2) the role of the Israeli army was abused.

Furthermore, Klausner finds fault with Mossinson's treatment of the human sacrifice motif. According to the critic, the author deviates

48 Kohansky, 161.

49 Margot Klausner, "Motiv HaAkeda UBearvot HaNegev," Molad (March, 1949), 379. 34

from Biblical analogies since both Isaac and Joseph were finally spared.

Moreover, God has rewarded both fathers and sons for having faith in him. In the play "faith" is hardly questioned, and Mossinson's sacrifice of Dan, says Klausner, is unjustified. Because Avraham never admits his guilt, continues Klausner, the play never becomes a tragedy. Neither does it ever complement Israeli life since natural feelings of parents 50 are not adequately dramatized. Sensation and scandal were the result of Mossinson's piece a clef, but the play had a long run under the direction of Finkel. He envisioned the protagonist--a kibbutz member called Avraham--as the Biblical Israelite father of the same 51 name and staged the drama in the spirit of the national founders.

Gur explains that this interpretation dwarfed Itamar, the antagonist in. the play, into an "impulsive, selfish, unstable, and conniving" characterization whereas Avraham was portrayed as a "good-hearted, 52 generous, person." Their conflict, continues Gur, remained two- dimensional since no powerful philosophies of life were at stake but a quarrel between a petty man and a leader of consequence. Gur blames 53 Mossinson for writing an insignificant propaganda play.

50 Klausner, 379-380.

51 Finkel, 220.

52 Israel Gur, "HaMachaze Halveri HaMekori," Bama, No. 38-39 (Summer, 1968), 15.

53 Ibid. 35

The succes de scandale, however, did not prevent Israeli daily

newpapers from writing rave reviews:

QSands of the Negev hasjgreat dramatic power, captivating and convincing, whose success must be attributed to . . . the acting and the production . . . The whole company . . . revealed great powers of expression ... to a central experience of our time . . . The enthusiasm with which the play was receive^is a sign of the bond ^between the theatre] and the audience.

Another newspaper spoke of "psychological and factual truth,"

resulting, as the earlier critic indicated, in "a spirit of rapport" 55 between stage and audience.

Still another critic compared the production to the book as pub­

lished by Mossinson, complimenting the compelling power of both and the 56 faithfulness of the production to the script.

Another significant newspaper hailed the drama as

the first play to depict the great chapter of heroism on the stage. . . . Habima had set out on a new path . . . QbeingJ no longer an intermediary between the world dramatist and the Hebrew onlooker but the home of original Hebrew drama. . . Habima has begun the work . . . The way is now open for every Hebrew stage end for Hebrew auth&rs to .- . . . draw upon the dramatic content of our lives.

54 "New Play by Habimah," The Jewish Agency's Digest, No. 21 (241), March 4, 1949), 31-32. See A1 HaMishmBr (Tel Aviv), February 18, 1949, as reproduced in the Digest.

55 Ibid., see HaAretz (Tel Aviv) February 18, 1949, as reprodu­ ced in the Digest.

56 Ibid., see MaAriv (Tel Aviv) February 11, 1949, as reproduced in the Digest.

57 Ibid., see HaMashkif (Tel Aviv) February 14, 1949 as repro­ duced in the Digest. 36

Dsn Ben-Amotz, of Mossinson's generation, a playwright, novelist,

and critic, was antagonized by Sands of the Negev and refused to

identify with it. A few months after the premiere, Ben-Amotz wrote:

Perhaps someone can explain what use is there in Mossinson's caricatures of Israelis ... it is apparent that the playwright sought to pleas^gtourists and new immigrants . . . only for crude laughter . . .

Asher Nahor commented on the naive, sentimental philosophy of the 59 play. "Youth is allowed to be sentimental, " he said. In the play,

Shosh represents this kind of sentimentality in Palmach slang.

Shosh: (to Zvi) Remember how seriously we used to talk in school? That we don't want a war. That we don't want to kill poor farmers from Palestine or Egypt. (Heavily) And now Uri and Uzi are killers of men before they are even old enough to stroke a girl's hair. And then we 'shvitz'. We out on airs. We say: 'Ahalan, boys.' 'Kef, what a time we had.’ ' We make a joke of everything. Because there are things . which, if you say thgm out loud . . . you begin to scare yourself a little.

Palmach slang was accompanied by frequent hand-shaking and back-

slapping, signs of friendship and brotherhood. With short khaki pants,

uncombed hair, a new philosophy and slang, Mossinson completed the

picture.

58 Dan Ben-Amotz, "BeArvot HaNegev 0 Hashchita HaGedola,” Al HaMishmar (Tel Aviv) April 1, 1949.

59 Asher Nahor, Mahazot UReshimoth (Tel Aviv: Adi, 1967), 169.

60 Mossinson, Sands of the Negev, 1-1-17. The underlined words are Arabic, as the Palmach used them. "Shvitz" is Yiddish, also used in Palmach slang. 37

Unlike Klausner, Nahor considers Sands of the Negev as true,

topical, realistic reflection of Israeli life focusing on the tragic 61 aspects of the human condition. Mossinson, who denounced the army and glorified the kibbutz, ends the play with another ironic chord:

The mother is rocking the cradle of a dead son. As the siege is over and Bikat Yoav regains its independence, Rivka, the mother of the sacrificed Dan;', enters the stage:

Dani! Dani! He is back. He is at home now, in the cradle of Bikat Yoav—a large, large cradle. (She sings) Below the cradle of little Dani There is a white goat The goat will start to eat some oats Little Dani will study the Bible.

The curtain line is also Rivka’s. It is sentimental but realistic. She clutches the body of her dead son calling his name. The play implies a definite moral. Independence, too, has a price. It must be paid.

61 Nahor, 171.

62 Mossinson, BeArvot HaNegev, 124. Wincelberg provides a different, prosaic version: "Danny is home. Not a tear. Galya, don’t weep. Danny will not forgive us. I know it. For he is alive. He is living in our valley here. In the sands of the Negev. Like the hundreds of sons that fell. Sons never die. They live with us." See Wincelberg, Sands of the Negev, 3-2-18. 38

Like Sands of the Negev other Habima plays focused on the theme

"abandoning the kibbutz and country is disasterous to the nation."

Moshe Shamir, a prominent novelist, essayist, and playwright, was born

in 1921 in the Cabalistic city of Zfat (Cabala is Jewish mysticism).

Ud to 1970 he wrote sixteen full-length plays, all produced by Israeli

theatres. Once a member of a kibbutz, Shamir contributed to Habima two

plays concerning his old home, Stormy Night and House of Hi 11el. The

latter opened at Habima on December 3, 1950 and ran for sixty four

performances.

Shamir prefaced the play saying that the story, the conflicts, and 63 the characters were universal, yet the setting is clearly a kibbutz,

the conflicts are those of a kibbutz, and the characters are every inch

kibbutzniks. Despite the author's claim, the situations are those of

the kibbutz and not of society in general.

Theme. A kibbutz member is contrasted with his daughter who decides to live in the city with her intended husband. A statement is made: The kibbutz is the keeper of moral values of the country.

Abandoning the kibbutz is a cardinal sin.

63 Moshe Shamir, Beit Hillel (Tel Aviv: N. Tversky, 1951), 7, 39

Setting. Hillel's room in the kibbutz in the first or second

year after the War of Independence.

Plot. Naomi returns to the kibbutz after a year in the army.

She brings Rafi with her, explaining that they wish to marry Her

father, Hillel, is more interested in thinning the crops, which must

be accomplished immediately. Gershon, another kibbutz member, complains

that he lacks manpower for the fields, suggesting that outsiders be

hired. Hillel opposes him fervently. Hillel's shock is complete when

he finds out that Naomi plans to leave the kibbutz. Here the first act

ends. A triangle love affair follows, involving Gershon, Mina (his wife),

and Naomi. It ends with the death of Mina. The second act is over.

When the kibbutz members volunteer to work extra hours in the fields

and Naomi decides to remain in the kibbutz with Rafi, all ends well.

Hillel joins the young couple in the immigrant camp where they become

instructors for immigrants who wish to join kibbutzim. Curtain.

There are five characters in this chamber play. Hillel, Naomi,

Rafi, Mina, and Gershon share scenes and conversations. All but Rafi are kibbutz members, stock characters, dedicated to their settlement particularly when one of them dies.

Hillel is a fanatic, requiring his daughter to accept the kibbutz life as he does. Abandoning the kibbutz, for him, is a cardinal sin.

Happiness, for him, exists nowhere else. The relations between Gershon 40

and Mina are a series of misunderstandings as are the conversations

between Gershon and Hillel. The values of the kibbutz are to be kept

intact, says Hillel, whereas Naomi and Gershon are ready for comnromises

Hillel must have his own way, as indeed he does.

Language. The language of the play is vernacular prose without

Palmach slang. Sometimes it is overly verbose, as in the following:

Naomi: {2 talking about Rafi”J ... so unique, so different from all the guys around here.

Hillel: What do you have against "the guys around here?"

Na omi: Nothing, but it is good once in a while to encounter different life, diferent ideas . . . 64 Hillel: It is good, true. It is good, but dangerous.

The play's ending is nothing short of repetitious, pathetic, end melodramatic dialogue, offering a too simplified solution for a dialec­ tic problem. Naomi hides her face in Rail's breast, while he softly tells her: "I will not leave you. We will stay together. We will 65 live together."

Reviews. Zilbertal complained that the play is an unworthy melodrama which concentrates on eroticism instead of dramatizing fully kibbutz life. Thus, says the critic, the values of the kibbutz and its

64 Shamir, Beit Hillel, 31.

65 Ibid., 110. 41 66 members are misrepresented and abased. Gur concludes that Israeli

settlements still await truthful kibbutz plays, written by kibbutz 67 members who did not migrate to the city, as its author, Shamir did.

Like abandoning the kibbutz, leaving the country entirely is a

national disaster. The latter occupies largely one Habima play, Megged’s

I Like Mike, which, of course, was ironically entitled after an American

slogan, "I Like Ike." The play opened on August 23, 1956 and ran for

127 performances.

Theme. The play maintains that leaving the country in order

to indulge in personal comforts is contrary to real patriotism.

Setting. The Arielis' living room in an Israeli city in the

present (1956).

Plot. I Like Mike pricks the Israeli arrogance of the Arielis.

When their daughter is drafted, her mother complains: "What a waste of time for a young girl." Instead of joining the army, Mrs. Arieli wants her daughter to marry Mike, a young American Jew, whose father is a rich Zionist in Texas. There the young couple could live in comfort.

To achieve her goal, Mrs. Arieli disposes of the Israeli soldier Micha

(the daughter’s boyfriend), and encourages the young couple to wed, as they are eager to join Mike's family in America.

66 Moshe Zilbertal, "HaMachaze Halveri Ben-Zemanenu,” Orlogin, No. 2 (April, 1951), 213-14.

67 Israel Gur, "Pitui VeNissui," Bama, No. 48-49 (Winter, 1971)^ 33. 42

Tzip, the younger daughter, revolts against immigration, informs

Mike that he is unwanted, and disappears. Now everybody forgets America

for a while, concentrating on Tzip. When the girl is found at Micha’s house, she agrees to return home only if all remain in Israel. The

Arielis succumb to the ultimatum. As the elder daughter is finally

drafted, the marital problems disappear: Mike joins a kibbutz and

Micha is sent to America on a military mission. Once again the Arielis

are peaceful, at least for a while.

There are eleven major characters in the play:

Benjamin Arieli - a junior civil service clerk

Yaffa Arieli ~ his wife

Tamara - their elder daughter

Tzip ~ her twelve year.: old sister

Malka - the Arielis’ friend

Micha - an Israeli Sgt. Major, Tamara's boyfriend

Mike Abrahams - a young American

Krichman - another clerk

Mrs. Krichman - his wife

Shiloni, Ephron, Guests, two M.P.'s, and a postman complete the cast.

Tzip and Mike remain the two patriotic characters in the play.

The girl believes in Israel and prevents the family from immigrating to America. Mike decides to join a kibbutz in the Negev. The others demonstrate false patriotism when they want to leave for America. The 43

Arielis and their city friends are unsympathetic middle class characters

They seek luxury at any cost. The men are driven by their wives to earn

more, and when this seems impossible, immigration to America is planned.

Small people. Small plans. Although the comedy becomes farcical at

times, it also contains satire. Both were well received.

Language. The play employs city jargon, particularly in the

speech of the younger generation. Much of the comedy relies on

contrasting Mike’s speech (a curious mixture of American words with a

badly constructed Hebrew) with that of the Israelis. The dialogue is

funny, yet the language is not rich or imaginative. It faithfully

serves, however, the purpose of comedy by "copying" much of Tel Aviv

lingo in the early 1950's.

Reviews. The press was usually delighted with I_ Like Mike,

yet some critics expressed reservations:

The play which Aaron Megged calls 'a comedy' lacks the broad elements of the genre. His dialogue is less than rich, his characterizations are less than satisfactory, his entertain- 68 ment is often farcical and grotesque.

A more sincere (though naive) treatment of patriotism and the need

to hold on to the Jewish settlements was provided by Ashman's This Earth

The play is the epitome and glorification of Zionism, a piece d'occasion

celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Hadera (called "Yarkiya”--or

68 A.V. "A1 I Like Mike Shel Megged," Orot, No. 29 (November- December, 1956), 52. M-

"Green Fields," in the play). Habima produced Ashman's play as early 69 as September 19, 1942. It reached the high mark of 195 performances.

Since then the play has been revived several times and had a long run in 1967. The playwright, who contributed historical and Biblical dramas to Israeli theatres, achieved his greatest reward with This Earth.

Theme. Abandoning the settlement is the worst of crimes. A struggle develops between the pioneer and the professional man. The pioneer wins.

Setting. The prologue, the three acts, and the epilogue take place in Yarkiya in the beginnings of modern settlements in Palestine.

Plot. Yarkiya is a new settlement in the heart of the swamps.

Since the victims of malaria increase daily, the question is whether to abandon or to hold on to the settlement. Doctor Malin is convinced that all the settlers will die. Yoel Yoshpe, the pioneer, fights the professional physician and with great difficulty wins the argument.

Complications abound. The early Jewish immigrants from Russia stand up against the Turkish authorities, survive the riots of the neighboring

Arabs, but cannot overcome malaria. As the tired settlers start abandoning the place, Yoshpe rallies them with an effective Zionist speech. The deserters return. Following the third act, the epilogue

69 See Habima's repertory 1918-1958. Compare with Kohansky's Hebrew Theatre, 143, which says that the play reached "the fantastic amount of 213 performances before it was revived in the 'sixties." 45

displays a celebration for Yarkiya’s fiftieth anniversary. One of the

founders, Hanna, now seventy five, goes to the graveyard, where she tells

the news to those who died for Yarkiya.

The play involves seven major characters:

Yoel Yoshpe - the leader of Yarkiya.

Esther - his wife

Pinchas - their son

Hanna. - Yoshpe's relative

Three farmers

Seven settlers

Doctor Malin - the county's physician

Chaim Cohen - a real estate agent

A Turkish policeman

Language. The dialogue evokes a nostalgic, romantic, atmosphere

full of earthy metaphors, often juxtaposing images of light with dark, good and evil, sickness and health. Exciting Zionist speeches are followed by simple language of propaganda, sentimental, yet effective.

Some sentences are incomplete (as in the following excerot), but the meaning can easily be grasped. There are allusions to Biblical stories as well as Hassidic nuances in poetry and prose.

Two farmers, YaAkov and Daniel, discuss their tribulations:

YaAkov: No, no. We can't leave off. Everyone has placed his hopes on the new well. 46

Daniel: Only yesterday it looked as if we were on the point . . . If only the well hadn’t caved in. (they dig)

YaAkov: . . . How is it we missed noticing?

Daniel: Our senses were numbed with tiredness. What a wonderful smell. I smell the reeds in the stream, I smell the branches of the willows.

YaAkov: It smells like fresh honey ... It really looks as if water’s near at hand. Just imagine what Yarkiya will be like with good water. Just imagine . . .

Daniel: If there are no fresh mishaps . . .

YaAkov: Sh . . . Don't tempt Satan ... To work.' To work.' Daniel, straighten that rope. (they sing a Has^gic song. The rays of the rising sun light up the scene).

Reviews. Some critics were enthusiastic about Thia Earth:

Our theatre and literature have neglected not only the romanticism of Jewish settlement but the romanticism of Zionism altogether . . How much could Zionist propaganda gain had it been able to use artistic instruments! One play is worth more than a thousand speeches . . . Bring us the romanticism of Palestine and the Zionist movement will rise.

Others were charmed by the subject and Ashman's treatment of it:

The play is so honest, so nsive and so charged with emotion, the general atmosphere is so attractive, that one is reluctant to approach it with the ynpleasant yardsticks of criticism and analyze its details.

70 Ashman, "This Earth," Pioneer Magazine, I, No. 2 (September, 1949), 23.

71 Baruch Krupnik of HaBoker (Tel Aviv) as quoted in Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 145.

72 Lea Goldberg in Davar (Tel Aviv) as quoted in Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 145. 47

Four Habima plays were discussed in detail (Sands of the Negev,

House of Hillel, I Like Mike, and This Earth). They focused on the

theme of abandoning the kibbutz and country as evidence of false patriotism resulting in national disaster. The plays were dominated by

close personal attachment to the characters and their environment, reproducing onstage verisimilitude to Israeli life. They reinforce

Israeli concepts of nationalism by depicting kibbutz members as national heroes, leaders of Jewish settlements, builders of the historic homeland.

Moreover, the four plays grouped under this theme encourage Israelis to cultivate and safeguard the land, especially the Negev. In addition, the plays denounce immigration to other countries; abandoning the kibbutz is equalled only to deserting Israel--a cardinal sin in both cases.

UNITY IS STRENGTH

"Unity is strength" is the second theme in this study. It is represented in five Israeli plays of Habima between 1948 and 1968:

Megged's On the Way to Eilat (1951), Kishon's Black on White (1956),

Bartov’s Each Had Six Wings (1958), Handel's Street of Stairs (1958), and Yosh's I, the Captain (1952).

On the Way to Eilat is another kibbutz play, written by Megged at the age of thirty one. The script was adapted by the author from his 48

novel Par in the Plains, the first of six plays which he contributed

to Habima's repertory. Megged is a prolific Polish-born Israeli, a

member of kibbutz Sdot-Yam, a novelist, essayist, and playwright.

On the Way to Eilat opened on December 5, 1951 and ran for thirty^

eight performances.

Theme. In the Negev several people are struggling against heat

and lack of water in their attempt to establish a new kibbutz. They

also struggle among themselves for leadership and solutions for their

personal problems. After many disagreements they realize that only in

unity is there strength to overcome all their difficulties.

Setting. A desolate spot in the Negev in the early 1950's.

Plot. A team of water drillers are engaged in locating water in the Israeli desert (Negev). The younger workers are quickly dis­ satisfied with the heat, the sand, the loneliness of the kibbutz which they are expected to found not far away from Eilat, the most southern border community on the map of Israel in 1951. Only the protagonist, a middle-aged pioneer is able to restore their faith in the land, once water is found.

There are three major characters in the play:

Raskin - a middle-aged pioneer of the pre-War era

Yona - a young settler

Dan - a young settler

Language. The play juxtaposes speeches of various lengths. 49

The longer ones use enthusiastic, inspiring images, drawing on

pioneering, earthiness, and the Bible. Shorter conversations are

devoted to complaints about the present state of the Negev settlements

and the imagary is duller. Raskin also employs inflamatory rhetoric,

as demonstrated in the following passage:

Yona: We must be more persi^ent, friend, we may succeed. Perhaps there is water here.

Raskin: For 2000 years we were bloodless people . . . Our boys never enjoyed foul language, our kids never threw stones, never broke windows. Our old people never died without complaining, our young lovers never raped, our women never killed out of jealousy This is what I call bloodless people . . ,

Reviews. Although the play is "reminiscent of social!st^realist

Soviet plays," with their typical happy ending, On the Way ;to Eilat also reflects disappointment from the War of Independence generation.

Whereas the pioneer Raskin is depicted as a positive man, the young drillers are full of doubt in their mission. Like Naomi in Shamir's play, they are willing to withdraw. Their uncertainty is often mocked by Raskin, who despises the softness of the young kibbutz members, and after much inflamatory rhetoric is able to restore their faith and keep them on the land. Fortunately, Raskin's demagoguery is helped by circumstances, since water is finally found. The prevalent tone of

73 Aaron Megged, Harchek BaArava. (Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim, 1951).

74 Ibid.

75 Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 161. 50

the play is propagandistic, sincere, and useful. Like Naomi and Rafi,

the young lovers in Shamir's House of Hillel., Yona and Dan join the

kibbutz and remain to build and to be rebuilt by it.

Another play on the theme of "unity is strength” was written by

Ephraim Kishon, Hungarian-born Israeli humorist, journalist, and play­ wright. Black on White opened at Habima on December 29, 1956. It ran for fifty one performances. Its charm and style deserve a detailed analysis.

Theme. Two races of mice compete for the favors of man. When the mice are forced to accept a mixed marriage and to unite against the cat, they understand: unity is strength.

Setting. The three acts take place at the Tzimuk family hole,

(except for one scene in a mouse-trap) "from time Immemorial," says 76 Kishon, "but, we hope, not forever."

Plot. A satirical play against racial discrimination in an allegorical form, all-the .play’s participants are mice, and the conflict takes place between the white mice living on the first floor and the grey mice living, of course, in the basement.

Since the white mice get more quickly to the cheese man produces--if man is to mice what God is to man, then the cat is the devil himself, and man becomes God--they think that they are created in his image. When

76 Ephraim Kishon, program notes for Shachor Al Gabey Lavan, 1956. 51

Tzina, a white she-mouse, falls in love with Sheleg, a young grey mouse,

her parents object to the marriage. Later they call him names such as

"you dirty grey one." The young couple escape, but quickly fall into a

mouse-trap. Afraid of the cat, all mice unite to rescue the trapoed

lovers. Act Two opens with the whites in trouble. Sheleg helps them

out, yet the whites still forbid his marriage with Tzina. Consequently

grey mice quarrel with whites; they disturb the peaceful man above who

intervenes throwing at the fighters anything that comes to his hands.

The whites conclude that man (or God) is grey. When the cat is heard

again, the mice unite regardless of color, Tzina and Sheleg get married,

and everybody is happier.

There are six white mice in the play:

Tzadik Tzimuk (or the honest raisin), head of the family

Tselofana (or cellophane), his wife

Tzina (or goose flesh), their daughter

Tzenon (or radish), their youngest son

Tzibaleh (Yiddish for onion), their son, aged 15.

A trubadour

There are also six grey mice:

Avisheleg Shibolet (or snow-white ear of corn), head of the family

Shampu (or shampoo), his first wife

Shira (or poetry) , his second wife 52

Sheleg (or snow), son of Avisheleg

Garina (or a kernel), maid to the Tzimuks

A trubadour

Language. The play is written in vernacular prose, sometimes

punctuated by songs (delivered by the trubadours), such as the following

examples:

a.

We are mice Grey and white. We are unfortunate people Scared From the slightest noise.

Man is our god He is merciful. He gave us this house.

Therefore we pray to him Songs at ease: Blessed be the builder And those who buy cheese.

May he be blessed in the best of songs:

Grey, white, White,and grey We all are an enlightened nation. Yet there are mice And there are mice Remember one’s location. Some dwell upstairs, Others—down. 53 Some are large, Others—small. Each generation goes to war: Grey mice always fight Enlightened, superior whites.

b.

Pity the Greys, Full of complaints, Hot-blooded race They are.

They have no culture, uneducated, They never, never graduated, Killers of peace.

Racial integration Is desirable for a nation This is no revelation Yet there is a certain "if ..."

It will pass when time is ripe ... .

Grey, white White and grey We all are an enlightened nation. Yet there are mice And there are mice Remember one’s location. Some dwell upstairs, Others—down. Some are large, Others—sma11.

It is unfortunate, as with our fathers: All are equal--but ?? Some are more equal than others.

77 Ephraim Kishon, program notes for Shachor AT Gabey Lavan, 1956 54

Reviews. Since the play was generally received well by the critics, many of whom repeated Kishon's own analysis of his drama, it is worthwhile to quote the original, if only for the style characteris­ tic of the play as a whole. The playwright introduced his play:

I started to write a comedy about racial discrimination in Israel, yet all I did was coarse, and the humor was bitter . . . the subject was delicate . . . for a comedy ... I decided to compose an allegory. For a long time I was charmed by mice. Ever since I stepped down to the Tzimuki's family hole, things brightened up. Transcending the emptiness of the man-mouse to the stage was easier. Arrogance, hypocrisy, and stuDiditv produced racial discrimination, a folly concerning skin. There are no real mice onstage. I hope that the costumes will not block the comedy. Indeed, I have revealed a problem in the Israeli society. The ladies who fear mice may relax this time. The mice onstage are all amiable, every one of them, all ours. 78

The theme of "unity is strength" was also portrayed in Each Had Six

Wings, a play about new immigrants in Israel in the late 40’s. It was written by an Israeli born journalist, novelist, and playwright--Hanoch

Bartov—who dramatized his own novel of the same name. The novel won the Ushiskin prize for the best original prose of 1954. Habima produced

Each Had Six Wings on June 28, 1959. The play ran for sixty-three performances in Israel and for an additional thirteen on Broadway (in the Little Theatre between March 11 and 22, 1964) when Habima was touring the United States.

78 Ephraim Kishon, program notes for Shachor Al Gabey Lavan, 1956. 55

Theme. Desperate new immigrants fight the Israeli establishment for better living conditions. Social integration and brotherhood are the answer for a healthy, developing state.

Setting. The two acts of the play take place in a deserted neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Plot. A group of Jewish immigrants get apartments in an abandon­ ed quarter of Jerusalem. The shoemaker Klinger is content; his wife is bitter; their son wishes to live in a kibbutz. More immigrants arrive: a barber from Russia, a barber and a physician from Poland, a Moroccan housepainter, a Hungarian vendor. The Glicks are also there.

He is an unemployed cook, she--a pregnant aristocrat named Mania.

Klinger's son disappears. Act Two reveals Klinger returning from the kibbutz, where he found his son. The son refuses to leave. The Glicks are in trouble. All attempts to get a license for a bakery fail.

Rakefet, the local Israeli teacher, engages in picketing against the establishment. After the demonstration, a license is granted. Mean­ while, Mania is delivering a baby. While helping, the physician from

Poland recognizes Mania, his lost wife, whom the Nazis took away. He begs Mania to leave Glick but is obliged to withdraw. A new baby is born. As the immigrants celebrate the opening of the new bakery, Glick brings in his daughter. He gives the baby an Israeli name: Rakefet. 56

The climax of the play brings all the characters together in a

struggle to get a license for the Glicks. Humanitarianism and brother­

hood achieve a twofold goal: persecuted people find a new life; they

restore the human image they lost in the old country. This change is

implied in the title, a citation from Isaiah, Chapter VI, where angels

are described as six winged creatures. Bartov applies this metaphor to

the Jewish immigrants. Like the angels, the immigrants use one pair of

wings to cover their faces, one pair to cover their legs. Selfishness

dictates solitude. When they apply kindness and brotherhood to their

lives, they begin to smile again.

The immigrants must overcome many hardships in order to live

properly. They carry with them their past, the persecutions, the

dreams of escape, and now they must fight their way into a Hebrew

speaking society. They did not participate in the War of Independence.

Unlike Rakefet and Aya, they expect something for nothing. They learn

in time that Israel has little material benefits to offer, and that

Israelis work hard to obtain whatever they own.

Although Rakefet is a significant character in the play, the

Glicks are the source of unity for the new community. The incompetent old Glick brings about a need for the demonstration. His wife, Mania,

provides the future with a new born Israeli girl. As the curtain 57

falls, Dr. Stern, too, finds some happiness with Rakefet. The other

immigrants are progressing slowly towards healthy, normal life. Only

young Klinger escaped to live in a kibbutz.

There are many characters in the play:

Rakefet - an Israeli teacher who completed her service in the Army

Noah Klinger - a Jewish immigrant from Poland, a shoemaker.

Gittl Klinger - his wife

Menashe Klinger - their son

Aya - an Israeli girl, Rakefet's friend

Other immigrants from Russia, Poland, Hungary, and Morocco include the

following: Tzirkin, Vidal, Morris, Hersheler, Mitelman and his mother.

Dr. Stern - a Jewish immigrant from Poland, a physician

Glick - an old immigrant from Poland

Mania - his pregnant wife

Rakefet and Aya are the only Israeli born people in the play. At

first they are more involved in their own problems but eventually are

drawn to the immigrants. The newcomers are a strange group of people.

They escaped Nazi Europe, yet they long for the good old days in the

old country before the Germans took over. The immigrants have difficiilr- tles in learning Hebrew, in adapting to the Israeli way of life, in becom­

ing Israelis. They dislike each other, but find out that they survive

better when united.

Language; The language is characteristic of newly arrived

immigrants. They use and misuse Hebrew. Sometimes foreign words 58

creep into their speech, depending upon the person's old country and

background. These irregularities in the dialogue are not grotesque.

The Israelis in the play spesk well-constructed sentences. Although

some fun is expected from foreign accents, the focus is not upon

linguistic, comic effects.

Reviews. The critics liked the play but there were reservations:

The plot lacked an objective insight, the characters had no shadows, and the heroes were too generous . . . 0The plsy focuses] on root­ less immigrants who start a new life . . . The first act includes some excellent communal scenes, usually developing with a believ­ able rhythm; complementing onstage the descriptive style of the book . . . The second act, however, is weak, lacking the dramatic climax of devastating tragedy which befell the refugees from Nazi Europe. . . . Moreover, Dr. Stern's love for Israeli Rakefet failed to become a crucial moment in the production. Instead, this moment resembled a dying candle. An opportunity, to dramatize an important human and Israeli situation was dwarfed by the mediocre young Hebrew playwriting. Instead of a fearful tragedy, the play became a pale melodrama, ending with a celebration for an unfortunate baby, who is named after the teacher Rakefet.

Handel's Street of Stairs also demonstrates the theme of "unity is

strength." The play was adapted by the author from her novel of the same 80 title. The latter won the Barash prize for best original prose in

1954. Yehudith Handel was born in Haifa and was one of the founders of kibbutz Gesher. She joined the Palmach and has written many stories.

Street of Stairs opened at Habima on September 21, 1958 and ran for thirty-three performances.

79 Chaim Gamzu, "Shesh Knafayim LeEchad BeHabima," HaAretz, July 4, 1958, p. 7.

80 An annual literary prize given to the best Israeli novelist in honor of the late Jewish writer, Asher Barash. 59

Theme. Integration of two different communities in Haifa seems

impossible. Sephardic culture contradicts Ashkenazic tradition in Israel,

frustrating many, especially mixed, star-crossed lovers from both

Communities. Solitude and seclusion continue to plague the Street of

Stairs after the lovers parted and the others became tired of daily

quarrels.

Setting. The play takes place in a poverty stricken neighbor­

hood, the Street of Stairs, in Haifa, immediately after the War of

Independence.

Plot. In three acts the play arranges a series of meetings

between characters dwelling in the Street of Stairs, and between some

of these dwellers and people who live elsewhere. The focus is upon

a Sephardic sailor and his family and concerns a few unfortunate

incidents about the youth during the War of Indeoendence, his love for

Erela, the rich Ashkenazic girl, his dreams of far away countries, and

his separation from his beloved.

There are eleven characters in the play:

Avram Bachar - a Sephardic youth

Nissim - his brother

Yitzchak Bachar - their father

Ovadya - Yitzchak's brother

Malca - a neighbor

Mussa - a neighbor

Tilda - his wife 60

Rivka - their daughter

Erela Dagan - an Ashkenazik girl

Gavriel Dagan - her father

Batchi Walter - a Jewish immigrant from Hungary

Language. Some passages in the play are highly poetic prose,

particularly the love scenes and the monologues of the protagonist. The

quarrel scenes use sharp and brutal language, seasoned with Arabic words

The newly arrived immigrants demonstrate accents of European and Asian

languages, contrasted with the Sephardic way of speaking. Moreover, the

vocabulary and structure of sentences varies from one character to

another, conditioned by each mother tongue. Some Palmach slang is

introduced, especially when military conversation is heard.

Reviews. The critics were unkind to the olay:

The plot is delicate, humane, with local coloring. It was painted with care and respect for the passive characters. There is no dramatic action or conflict in any of the three acts. . . The author focused on the separation between the characters and the inevitable conclusion that the valley never touches the mountain Qin Haif£J . 1

A different aspect of Israeli life—sailors at sea and abroad—was

represented in I, the Captain by the Israeli born sailor and author Yosh

The play maintains that "unity is strength" particularly at sea when the

captain is a difficult man. It opened at Habima on January 15, 1952 and

81 Chaim Gamzu, "Rehov HaMadregot BeHabima," HaAretz, October, 22, 1958, p. 3. 61 ran for seventy-two performances.

Five Habima plays concerned the theme "unity is strength" (On the Way to Eilat, Black on White, Each Had Six Wings, Street of Stairs, and I, the Captain). Israeli nationalistic interests are served in these plays by dramatizing desirable relationships which should exist between new immigrants and Israelis. Furthermore, the plays recommend improved attitudes between citizens and the administration, suggesting that the latter be more attentive to the individual or the group. Racial discrimination is cited as a major source for conflicts between immigrants, between newcomers and established citizens, and between all

Israelis and the government. To improve the situation between separated neighborhoods in Israel, the social conflicts of established citizens are treated satirically, as, for instance, is the case in Kishon's Black on

White. The implied moral is strongly enhanced--unity is strength.

COLLECTIVE LIFE IS SUPERIOR TO CITY LIFE

The third theme in this study maintains that collective life is superior to city life. Four Habima plays develop this theme. In addi­ tion to House of Hillel, I Like Mike, and This Earth (which were analyzed above in detail) Megged's Hedva and £ focuses satirically upon the contrast between Israeli kibbutzim and cities. Like On the Way to 62

Eilat, the new play was adapted by the author from his novel, this time

both genres bearing identical titles. Habima produced Hedva and £ on

September 29, 1954. It ran for 112 performances. Like the earlier

plays, Hedva and I concerns the difficulties of kibbutz life and

migration to the city. The traditional happy ending, however, is also

maintained, since after several disappointments in Tel Aviv the deserters

return to their kibbutz. In contrasting the latter with the city, Megged

caricaturized the city.

Theme. Simple collective life on the farm is superior to complex .

city life away from nature A peaceful kibbutz farmer is contrasted with

city folks who desire private, material gains.

Setting. All the scenes take place in Tel Aviv, particularly in

the Krakawers' apartment.

Plot. Shlomik and his wife Hedva left their home, kibbutz Merchavim, because "everybody goes to live in Tel Aviv." Hedva is blamed for this desertion, yet she prefers to live in the city with her parents. Shlomik

is obedient to his wife, follows her reluctantly, and goes through a series of satiric episodes while trying to become a businessman. Finally he faces a pathetic situation: although he is an experienced farmer, none of his experience is useful in the city; the longer he stays in the city the greater his frustration. The city world remains foreign to him. He sees corruption everywhere. To Shlomik, idleness, bureaucracy, and luxury are incomprehensible. At last he forces Hedva to return with him to Merchavim in spite of her new, bright ideas about "conquering” 63

Tel Aviv.

Again, life in the kibbutz seems superior to a career in the city.

This conclusion is reinforced by satirizing the Tel Aviv characters. Many

characters are involved in the two acts of the play:

Shlomik - Shlomo Porat

Hedva - his wife

Hadassa Krakower - her mother

Avraham Krakower - Hedva's father

Mishka - an ex-member of kibbutz Merchavim

Several Chaverim (kibbutz members): Nachum, Dina, Dodo, Hanna, Sara, and Peretz--all members of Merchavim

Director - stage director of the play

Street photographer, shoeshine boy, women, men, beggars, cafe proprietor

Wagon driver, clerks in Government Office in Tel Aviv

Hanina, Jenya, Persimmon--staff of Government Department

Shya, Bila, Azriel, Zebulun, Nina - relatives of the Krakowers

Tzipora - Mishka's wife

Yoram - a child of kibbutz Merchavim

Gerda - a neighbor

Language. Whereas most of the characters in Hedva and I are stock figures of city life, exaggerated in their mannerisms and language, their conversation creates entertaining comedy, especially when contrast­ ed with Shlomik, the picaresque character of the disjointed episodes.

Yet Shlomik provides additional laughter when he tries to please: 64

Shlomik: You will not handle me according to your whims.’

Hedva: Don't be silly.

Shlomik: You may change my place, but you cannot change my skin.

Hedva: I did not change your skin. I changed your pants.

Shlomik: It’s useless. You cannot change me.

Hedva: Shame on you.

Shlomik: Why on me? Because I keep my image?

Hedva: Pity on your image if khaki pants are your image.

Shlomik: My image is me and so is everything I wear.

Hedva: Appearance means nothing.

Shlomik: Do you want me to walk about wearing a sign "Appearance means nothing?"

Hedva: I am glad you can carry on.

Shlomik: No, I can't, I can't. Well, all right, if you really insist, I may wear the new pants, but I'm going to keep my khaki hat on my head. I will never give it up. Never. ^2

A satiric illumination may be found in a monologue of Mishka, the driver from Tel Aviv.

Mishka: Pioneering today is like useless rags which the political parties are selling cheaply; even the new immigrants, who cannot speak Hebrew, refuse to buy them.

Later, when Mishka is asked: "Since when is everything for sale?" He answers: Everything is for sale since money became all-important in Israel. Army officers, politicians, scientists, authors,

82 Aaron Megged, Hedva VaAni (Tel Aviv: Hotzaat Hakibbutz HaMeu- chad, 1954), 13. '

83 Ibid., 14. 65

journalists--everybody is for sale. Nowadays, the stock-market has a special price for a good idea, for courage, for persistence. Indeed, pioneering is over. Now is the time for the middle class. Dreams burnt out like smoke, ambitions turned into thin air Holy things became trivial. There is only one redeemer in the country: o4 money.

Reviews. The press pointed out Megged's philosophy:

It is the author's obvious intention to show the superiority of life in a kibbutz to life in any other social framework. . . The hero of the play is not an individual, but the kibbutz . . . healer of all pg^sonal ills. PThis idea is presented^ in a humorous garb.

Megged's I Like Mike also shows the superiority of the kibbutz to

city life and even to American city life. As mentioned above, Mike, the

American, chose to remain in the kibbutz, neglecting his rich father and

fortune in Texas. The same attitude is expressed in Hedva and £, where

Megged resolves the complications by sending both Shlomik and his wife

back to the kibbutz. Shamir, too, takes the same path in House of

Hillel. Naomi and her city boyfriend remain in the kibbutz once they conclude that collective life Is superior to city life. Ashman's This

Earth contains the same message. Yoshpe is able to persuade the settlers that malaria can be overcome. They all return to Yarkiya.

Four Habima plays were analyzed as promoting the idea that collective life is superior to city life: Hedva and I, House of Hillel, This Earth, and I Like Mike. While earlier themes concentrated upon the relations

84 Megged, Hedva VaAni, 14.

85 Kohanskv, Hebrew Theatre, 162. 66

of Israelis to kibbutz life on the land, the relations of Israelis to

each other, and to the state in an effort to develop a strong sense of

unity, the third theme, "collective life is superior to city life,"

reaffirms the belief in the kibbutz as the cornerstone of Israeli

reality. The four plays further expand the thesis that without Jewish

settlements there will be no state. This idea clearly supports Israeli

nationalism, a major interest of which is strengthening the country by

establishing new kibbutzim (especially on the Arab borderlines for

safety, and in the Negev for expansion) rather than increasing the

population of the overcrowded cities.

CONSERVATIVE FATHERS AGAINST LIBERAL SONS

The fourth theme of this study focuses on the generation gaD

between conservative fathers and liberal sons. In addition to three

Habima plays which were discussed above (House of Hi 11e1, On the Way

to Eilat, and I Like Mike) four new plays concern founders and their sons: Shamir's Stormy Night (1954), Bar-Nathan's The Neighborhood (1965),

Ashman’s Young Love (1949), and Yosh's C/S "Swallow" on Mayumba's Shore

(1957).

Stormy Night opened on March 22, 1954 and ran for fifty-five performances. The plot concerns two generations living harmoniously until the War of Independence, but after 1948 disappointment and 67

despair came in to stay. (A lighter treatment of this problem was

discussed earlier in Megged's On the Way to Eilat, where all complica­

tions were happily resolved.) Shamir's conservative idealists are

contrasted with the middle-class, also the settlers with pseudo-

Zionists, and native opportunists with the immigrants.

Theme. Stormy Night dramatizes an extreme case of these

conflicts, particularly one between a conservative Zionist father and

his liberal son, who tries to break away from his family.

Setting. The play takes place in an abandoned Arab house

located on the borderline of Israel in the early 1950's.

Plot. A Zionist father is in constant conflict with his son.

The father is unable to understand the young generation, and there is

no compromise. The son argues for his freedom, but when his argument

is rejected by the family, he leaves home. One complication follows

another until the play ends with the son's question: Are the Israeli-

occupied Arab territories a legitimate part of the state?

Language. The language is typical of Israel in the 1950's.

There is no rich vocabulary or imaginative sentence-structure. It is vernacular Hebrew, satisfying the immediate needs for a melodramatic, coherent plot. Emphasis is placed on argumentation, long speeches, power of persuasion, and "important" phrases to win over the antagonists.

Reviews. Although the play provokes several topical issues of

Israel in the 1950's, none are discussed with proper sincerity, philosophy, 68

or simplicity. The "burning issue" seems to be the Arab territories

which were occupied by the Israelis, and the bad conscience which some

had as a result of the sharp conflict between Israel and its neighbors.

Shamir does not seriously examine the socio-political problem from a

variety of viewpoints. He simply states the problem in a superficial

way that leaves much to be desired. Characters, too, are not fully

developed, except perhaps that of the father. The son's bare, sketchy

character is neglected.

This kind of play was soon to become the prototype for many Israeli

writers who were eager to represent the contemporary climate of ideas as

quickly as possible, often neglecting a meaningful development of their

plays. Although most critics encouraged playwrights to deal with current

Israeli events, many expressed their disappointment in regard to Shamir's

treatment of problems. For example, The play {^Stormy Night] provides no solution to the problem. The tragic ending seems superfluous. . . the conflict between father and son had little development, remained static, and the audience was not informed how the son reached his tragic ending or what influenced his character . . . Moreover, there are digressions in the play . . . and the mother is a banal character, taking no part in the education of her son and his actions.

The theme of conservative fathers against liberal sons was further dramatized in Bar-Nathan's The Neighborhood which opened at Habima in

1965. Although the play was not well received, it remains as an example

86 Gideon Reshef, "Leil Sufa BeHabima," Bama, No. 7-8 (April 14, 1954), 8. 69

of Israeli drama which portrays the young drifting away from their homes

This time, however, the action focuses on a house in which two families

live together, one of Oriental origin (or Sephardic), the other, Western

(or Ashkenazic). The Neighborhood contains st least one fully developed

character, but the structure of the play is weak and contrived, despite

the warmth and honesty emanating from the events.

Review. The press was unkind to the play:

Bar-Nathan has written an agreeable drama in the soirit of Israeli ’realism’: In a city suburb a family fails to overcome internal conflicts, tradition is ruined, sons are seeking a new way, old times are woven incoherently with modern ideas, a little ecstasy, a little spiced flirt.ing--these are the elements which surround the protagonist, a sensible yet lost youth who hones to find comfort in the near future. The Neighborhood resembles the standard Israeli social play, yet its mediocre style maintains interest for an artistic theatre because the script provides a recognizable human milieu which may hold the stage. °

Another Habima play dealing with the conflict between conservative

fathers and liberal sons is Ashman's Young Love. It is a modern retell­

ing of Biblical events with some associations to Israeli life. Young

Love opened on October 20, 1949 and ran for forty three performances.

The plsy was written in three acts (partly based on I Samuel, 16, 15-23) dramatizing the love of King Saul's daughters for young David while the

Philistines were fighting against Israel. If there is relevance between

Young Love and modern Israel, it may depend, with considerable elaborat­ ion, on the fact that events from Biblical and modern Jewish history

87 Ben-Ami Feingold, "Shechuna Lelo Shechina," Bama, No. 29-30 (Spring, 1966), 14. 70

take place in a sovereign state, emphasizing political intrigues in

which the young aspire to power.

Reviews. The critics, however, did not like the play. One

complained that the decorative, tickling, pseudo-classic elements--which

are foreign to the Israelis--gave the production an exaggerated naivite 88 which was unacceptable. Shaked did not like it any better and remark­

ed that in spite of the Biblical surface of the play, the

war of Q Israelite-**! dynasties and the historical background are lost. Instead, there is a private scene of intrigues and flirting . . , the historical background does not dramatize the given conventional melodrama. The play becomes a game of intri­ gues between Pantalone, a successful youth, a clown, and an idiot, full of farcical and choral episodes. This conventions 1- ization destroys completely the value and significance of the Biblical material.

Ashman defended his play and the Israeli playwrights, saying that

their contribution to the revival of Israel is no less significant than 90 that of pioneering. "Their might is our might," he concluded.

Yosh's C/S "Swallow" on Mayumba's Shore is also related to the generation gap. The play opened on June 11, 1957 and ran for 100

performances. As with the playwright's earlier script for Habima

(I, the Captain, 1952), "Swallow" was also a well-made boulevard comedy

88 "Ahavat Neurim," Gazith, XI, No. 5-6 (n.d.), 59.

89 Gershon Shaked, HaMahaze Halveri HaHistori Bamea HaEsrim (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1970), 336-37.

90 Aaron Ashman, "Sofrim Medabrim," Bama, I, No. 32 (1942), 50. 71 in Hebrew, resembling foreign scripts "in everything but character, 91 names, and events." Both plays have the same conventional structure of three acts, and the subject matter in both deals humourously with navy escapades. Some dialogue in "Swallow", however, is dedicated to the problems of Zionism, Israelis, Jews in foreign lands, and the generation gap, but the action focuses upon sailors and their comic adventures.

In House of Hillel, which was analyzed above in detail, the generation gap is a secondary theme. The protagonist is struggling to keep his daughter and his son-in-law in the kibbutz; he finally succeeds to bridge the gap between them. Megged touched on a similar situation in On the Way to Eilat, where a middle-aged Zionist founder has conflict with desperate youth. Like Hillel in Shamir's play, the aged Zionist won the day. In his later play, £ Like Mike, Megged reversed the situation. Tzip, a twelve years old girl who believes in the rebirth of

Israel, prevents her parents from immigrating to America. Again, Zionism won, but this time it was at the hand of the younger generation.

Seven Habima plays were discussed as expressing the generation gap between idealist founders and liberal sons. Some were analyzed earlier as representing other themes (House of Hillel, On the Way to Eilat, and

91 Gershon Shaked, "Bintivey HaMahaze HaMekori," Bama, No. 6 (1959), 13, 17. 72

I Like Mike) yet four new plays focused on the generation gap as a major

theme (Stormy Night, The Neighborhood, Young Love, and "Swallow.")

"Conservative fathers against liberal sons," presented the elders as

victorious protagonists. Middle-aged Zionists are the heroes of the

seven plays grouped under this theme. Their way of life is preferred

to the liberalism of the youth. This attitude further supports the

earlier themes, which are largely an expression of Zionism and the

desire of Jews for an autonomous state in Israel. Although the sons

modified Zionism, being content with a state in which it is pleasant

to live, the conservative fathers continue to force their ancient,

ascetic way of life on their offspring without compromises. These

conservative fathers are a faithful replica of the attitudes of the

leaders of Israel, thus the plays are again supporting Israeli

nationalism as exemplified by the leaders of the country.

ISOLATION IS HAZARDOUS TO THE STATE

The fifth theme in this study maintains that isolation is hazard­

ous to the state. This theme is expressed in two Habima plays: Aloni's

Most Cruel of All--The King, and Megged's The Busy Season.

Nissim Aloni is an Israeli playwright, short-story writer, and

translator. Born in Tel Aviv in 1926, Aloni is today Israel's only

dramatist whose sole occupation is the theatre. He insists upon 73

directing his own plays at Habima and elsewhere.

Most Cruel of All--The King was produced by Habima on December

19, 1953 and ran for fifty-seven performances. It is a play about

Israeli politics presented through the prism of Biblical characters

and events. The kingdoms of Israel and Judea are depicted in the

middle of the tenth century B. C. Israel is no longer strong, as it was

earlier under King David's reign. The drama focuses upon Rehaboam, King

Solomon's son, and Jeroboam's revolt against him.

Theme. Both Jewish states in Biblical times are isolated by

neighboring enemies. An inner conflict increases solitude within

each of the Jewish states, resulting in further isolation and lesser

power to each. Jeroboam, who represents the people of Israel, defeats

the selfish, spoiled Rehaboam, King of Judea. However, in his victory,

Jeroboam also realizes that it takes cruelty and isolation to win.

Setting. After the prologue, Act One takes place at Jeroboam's

house and later moves to the Dalace of Rehaboam. Act Two continues in

the palace and later changes into a prison cell. Act Three returns to

Jeroboam's house.

Plot. The hero is Jeroboam, son of Nebat, whom the Bible and

post-Biblica1 tradition has branded as an arch-villain (a man who "sin."- ned and caused others to sin.") Yet Aloni's character is a positive one,

a statesman of peace and social progress, a man of the people who leads

a revolt against King Rehaboam, the drunken tyrant who had introduced 74

oppressive taxation and forced labor. Jeroboam, who had spent ten

years in Egypt—then the political and cultural center of the world--is

a sophisticate. His chief goal is to broaden the horizons of his people.

He speaks out against narrow nationalism, religious orthodoxy, war and

bloodshed. Moreover, Jeroboam is torn between his desire for the woman he loved in his youth, now the queen of Judea, Rehaboam's wife, and his mother, who hates the queen. The mother dreams of him as king of Israel.

Her wish is fulfilled, yet she does not live to see the victory.

As Kohansky observed, there is an obvious parallel between the small kingdom of Judea and modern Israel, both wrapped up in their isolation by provincial nationalism. Aloni spoke for the young Israelis, tired of wars, seeking a peaceful tomorrow. The chorus sings repeatedly: "Give 92 peace . . . give bread . . . give joy, oh King! "

There are eleven characters in the play:

A narrator, a chorus of seven men in addition to the major figures.

Tzrua - Jeroboam's mother

Jeroboam, son of Nebat

Jonathan - his friend

Shimee

A guard to Jeroboam's house

MaAcha - wife of Rehaboam

Rehaboma - King of Judea

Scribe, Dancer, Elah

92 Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 168. 75

Language. As a general rule, Aloni kept the vocabulary of the

play within the limits of the Biblical tongue, thus providing the cha­

racters with words appropriate for their place and time. However, the playwright provided modern associations without being stilted or arti­ ficial in the use of the ancient phrases.

Discussing Biblical plays, Shamir feels that

even for the most liberal authors, and known rebels against the Jewish tradition the Biblical basis is necessary, because it is solid and eternal. The playwright who relies upon the Bible ful­ fills no need for stage illusion; he makes an honest effort to become independent, to break away from a certain ego 8t a certain place and time ... 3

Aloni, concludes Shamir, has written a psychological-philosophical in­ terpretation of modern Israel without ever dropping the authentic his­ torical disguise of his drama. Therefore, Most Cruel of All—The King belongs to a different category of Biblical plays which does not in- 94 elude the Biblical plays of Ashman, Megged, and Amichai.

Reviews. Most Cruel of All—The King was received enthusiasti­ cally by the critics in spite of its daring subject matter.

The play itself was a blow to the Bible-nurtured Israeli national­ ism. It presented the kings with Biblical splendor, in all their cruelty, immorality, spiritual emptiness. It consequently angered traditionalists both religious and secular ... A right wing news paper wrote that ’the Kingdom of Israel without royal splendor is strange to our national spirit,* and a religious daily protested against the 'desecration o^things Holy* contained in the glorifi­ cation of an arch-sinner.

93 Moshe Shamir in "Sheviley Teatron," Orot, IX, No. 46 (1961- 63), 58.

94 Ibid.

95 Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 168. 76

One critic, at least, raved about Aloni as the best Israeli

playwright:

The play was by far superior to any other written in the '50's, and established the twenty-^gven-year-old-author as the country's most promising playwright.

In 1967 Megged contributed yet another play to Habima. The Busy

Season also dealt with the theme of provincial nationalism which results

from isolation. The subject matter concerns the political relations

between the Jewish state and Germany, focusing on the moral aspects of

receiving compensation for Nazi murders. The drams is a modern morality

play, using the Biblical story and form of The Book of Job as its model.

Both Aloni's Most Cruel of All--The King and Megged's The Busy

Season reflect the idea that isolation is hazardous to the state of

Israel. While earlier themes established desirable attitudes of the people toward the administration, the new immigrants, the land, the kibbutz, Zionism, and the elder family leaders, the fifth,,theme takes a different bent--national politics. Aloni's play focuses upon the leaders of the newly founded state who ignored neighboring countries; Megged centers on a much disputed issue regarding reparations from Germany for

Nazi persecuted Jews. Both plays denounce isolation, recommend favor­ able foreign policies, and call for strengthening the state by friendly relationships with other nations. Moreover, in the plays, Israel is

96 Kohansky, Hebrew Theatre, 169. 77

dramatized as a developing country in need of influencial friends. This

theme further supports Israel's national goals from a political view­

point.

DUTY IS OF HIGHER PRIORITY THAN

PERSONAL FREEDOM OR COMFORT

The sixth theme in this study states that duty is of higher priority

than freedom or comfort. Seven Habima plays dramatize this thems:

Aloni’s The Emperor's Clothes (1961), Kishon's His Friend at Court (1953),

Megged’s Hanna Szenes (1958), and Genesis (1962), Tomer's Children of the

Shadows (1962), Amichai's Journey to Nineveh (1964), and Alterman's Trial

of Pythagoras (1965).

In 1961 Aloni produced at Habima The Emperor's Clothes, his own rendering of Hans Christian Andersen's famous story in the fashion of the Theatre of the Absurd. The play ran for thirty~seven performances.

Theme. In his new Habima play Aloni developed the major theme of Most Cruel of All—The King: "At his coronation, when the trumpets 97 sounded, the king realized that he too is a very cruel person."

Setting. The king's palace and several unspecified areas.

Plot. Several honest people fight against the corrupt establish­ ment. Although the stage disguise is Anderson's, the significance of the play is entirely modern, with political associations concerning

97 Bama, No. 11-12 (Winter, 1962), 55. 78

Israel. The protagonist, Hector, announces publicly: "The king is

naked. All of you are naked." Indeed, most of the characters were

playing in their underwear. This time, the king himself takes part

in robbing his own kingdom. One comic situation follows another, yet

the moral is always serious and relevant to the Israeli scene of the

1.960’s.

There are thirty-eight characters in the play; thirty one men and seven women. The protagonist is Hector. Zom is the Prime Minister

Marie is Hector's beloved.

Language. The following dialogue is characteristic of Aloni's mixture of the serious and the comic, the laconic and the grotesque.

His language is rich, imaginative, stimulating, and, at times, symbolic of several situations at once. Hector is reminiscent of

Megged's Shlomik. (in Hedva and £) since both refuse to change:

Zom: You have three hours to change your mind. If you don't I will arrest Marie.

Hector: I will not change my skin.

Zom: Think it over. Take him to prison.

Hector: I will never change my skin.

Zom: One word. Please. If you decide to accept my suggestion, get a haircut, will you? For my sake. Now, excuse,me, pleae. 98 Hector: I will not change my skin.'

98 Nissim Aloni, "Bigdey HaMelech," Orot, XXXXV (1962), 37. The citation is the ending of the fifth scene. 79

Reviews. The Emperor's Clothes was usually well-received by the

press. For example, Zussman wrote: {jThe play] is about our modern mechanical civilization, mirrored grotesquely and satirically. The comic becomes tragic, the tragic becomes baroque, episodes follow one another in seemingly complete disorder. The play is everything, colorful and stirring theatre.

Kishon's first comedy at Habima was a blunter attack on the Israeli

establishment. His Friend at Court, a satirical treatment of bureaucracy

and favor, opened on July 29, 1953 and ran for 118 performances.

Theme, The play is a satire on personal comfort disguised as

duty. When fighting the Israeli establishment, Kishon might say, one

needs to be a wolf in a sheep’s skin.

Plot. A series of hilarious events telling the mishaps of a new

immigrant who tries to improve his situation by asking favors. Having

an influential friend, the immigrant receives a letter of recommendation

which the government officials respect. The newcomer gets what he de­

sires. As he is celebrating his success, the immigrant discovers that

his precious letter is a fraud, th8t his influential friend used a faked

name, and that the Israeli bureaucracy is less than honest.

There are nine characters in the play: seven men and two women.

A new immigrant is the protagonist, who unwittingly becomes a very

important official without having the necessary qualifications. There

is no transformation of character, only change of circumstances.

99 Ezra Zussman, The Israel Theatre (Tel Aviv: International Theatre Institute, n.d.), 16, 80

Language. The play is full of aural gags, particularly when

the new immigrant is contrasted with the Israeli way of life. His

speech is sometimes awkward, yet the flattery he gets from the Israelis

is much more entertaining.

Review. The play was well received by the critics, who delight

ed in the satire of the establishment. Kishon was generally hailed as

a welcome addition to the serious Israeli playwrights.

A far more serious treatment of "duty has a higher priority than

freedom" was dramatized by Megged in Hanna Szenes. The play was

commissioned by Habima and opened on May 31, 1958, running for 100

performances.

Theme. National duty is pitted against private freedom, or

as Trumpeldor put it "It is good to die for my country.”

Setting. Budapest, an investigation room. Later, a prison in

June-November, 1944.

Plot. The play expresses the catastrophes of the Jewish people

(a long list of persecutions), especially Nazi persecution, which aimed

at nothing less than genocide. Hanna Szenes was based on documents and

Megged's personal acquaintance with the heroine, once a member of Sdot-

Yam, the playwright's kibbutz. It is a story of martyrdom. To rescue

Jews from Nazi Europe, Hanna Szenes was sent in 1942 by the Allies to her native, Nazi-occupied Hungary, where she was caught, tortured, and 81

sentenced to die. She was twenty years old when she was executed. In

his program notes, Megged wrote:

I have learned to know her from her diary, poems, and other writings . . ., from stories ... by Reuven Dafni and Yoel Palgi. Details of the play do not always correspond to the factual truth . . . for example,. . . the play opens with her being captured. . . The main thing was Hanna's spiritual mission. . . unyielding faith.

Having volunteered to save Jews from annihilation in Europe, Hanna

Szenes has disguised herself as a British Officer before landing in

Hungary. As Hanna is cooperating with the Allies, the Germans capture

her. Anxious to destroy her mission, the enemy tortures the girl and

later sentences her to die. Ainong others, her mother tries to persuade

young Hanna to reveal her military secrets in exchange for personal

freedom. Hanna refuses. After her execution--the last scene of the

play--Hanna becomes an example and emblem of patriotism and national

unity for Jewish Palestine.

There are eighteen characters in the plsy:

Rozsa - an officer in charge of the investigations

Another officer

Hanna Szenes

Pierre Tarandier - a French partisan

Katarina Szenes - Hanna's mother

100 Aaron Megged, program notes to Hanna Szenes, 1958. 82

Professor Molnar - Hanna’s former teacher

A detective

Eliahu - the Hagana (defense) commander from Israel

Geri - a Jewish parachutist

Cardos - a Jewish refugee from Hungary

Stephan - a Yuguslav partisan

Hilda - a German guard

Janos - a Hungarian guard

Dvatcheri - a Hungarian lawyer

Simon - a Hungarian military prosecutor

A judge

A policeman

Perhaps the best way to reveal Henna’s character, the Israeli Joan of Arc, is by quoting her words as presented in the play:

Hanna: Only one thing interests me—Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel). Everything connected with it moves my heart. The rest is un­ important.

In another place she says:

Not by accident did my life t8ke its particular course. Everything was necessity. No choice. No other way. Had it been different, I would have been unhappy, peaceless with myself. 1®^ * * * * * * 4 ‘ - 4 4 - 4 4 4 * 4 4 4 - 4 4 • 4 * * * * " • 103 Difficulties do not frighten me. I wish to help as much as I can.

101 Program notes to Hanna Szenes.

102 Ibid.

103 Ibid. 83

And finally,

God, if you choose to make me your messenger, make my mission the goal of my life . . . Darkness cannot put out one burning candle, yet one lighted candle overcomes darkness.

Review. The essense of the drama is Hanna and her characteriza­ tion, poetic both in speech and silence. Although she is influenced by the environment and the other characr.»», l«t?$,they have no independent existence without her. To create the heroine, the author stretched out Hanna's bravery to paroxysm as he was weaving different sources in his imagination into a new work which has little to do with the documentary material. ■'•OS

Another play about Nazi persecution was Children of the Shadows, written by Ben-Zion Tomer, a member of the "Teheran Children," (thousands of Jewish youngsters from war-torn and devastated Europe who were trans­ ported to Persia, where they remained until the British mandate in

Palestine terminated. Only then were they brought to Israel). The play opened in 1962, had an impressive run, and two years later was presented by Habima on Broadway for thirteen additional performances. The drama deals with the integration of young refugees in the Israeli society.

Theme. Like Hanna Szenes, the conflict here involves personal comfort versus national duty. Moreover, the new olay maintains that cutting off one’s haunting memories of Nazi persecution does not help one's integration in Israel.

Setting. The two acts take place on Tel Aviv's sea shore and its neighborhood.

105 Chaim Gamzu, "Hanna Szenes at Habima," HaAretz, June 6, 1958, p. 7. 84

Plot. Children of the Shadows is the story of a boy who was

born in Poland before World War II; experienced with his family the

horrors of war and Nazi persecution; was separated from his parents and

brought to Palestine as one of the "Teheran children." In his new

surroundings, the boy makes efforts to become integrated as a member of

a kibbutz and as a fighter in the underground; outwardly he became

more native than the native born, while inwardly he was constantly

escaping from his past, that is from himself. A crisis follows when the

boy meets his parents, until then presumably dead. At this moment of

truth he realizes with horror that in his effort to destroy his oast he

has emotionally mutilated himself: he no’longer feels for his parents

and dreads their company.

There are nine characters in the play:

Dr. Sigmund Rabinowitz - a Jewish refugee from Poland

Balloon seller

Yoram - one of the 'Teheran children,"

Duby - an Israeli boy

Berele - another Israeli boj’’

Helenka - a Jewish refugee

Uncle Janek - a Jewish refugee

Waiter

Nurith - an Israeli girl 85

Language. The dialogue is punctuated with many silences. For

example,

Yoram: Where are you going, Zigmund?

Zigmund: Do me a favor, not that I deserve it: Don't say a thing. . . I know it all I have told myself these things over and over and over . . . and . . many times I contemplated suicide ... to stop . . to end . . . but I continued, the flesh wants to live . . even now . , . I live ... I could not forgive ... to die . . to sleep . . . this means forgiveness ... we must never forgive . . never. I want you to remember, that once I was a man . . the shudder of it all is that they too were men I must go now . . 106

Review.' The press saw the play in a favorable light, but there

were also complaints:

An outsider will find it strange that Israeli writers ignore a subject which understandably preoccupies their Jewish coll°agues the world over--the Nazi holocaust in Eurooe and its effects on survivors. ' The Israeli public became forcefully aware of this fact when . . . Children of the Shadows ^opened^ . QThe plajQ is significant not only for the theme it explores, but because it parabolically points—wittingly or unwittingly—at the root of sterility of modern Hebrew writing . . . The young generation of Israeli writers is culturally rootless They have cut themselves off from the past of their people, shed— ding much that nourished their ancestors for generations, disdaining all that comes from the diaspora, particularly from the shtetl, as degenerate. They see their past in the Bible with all its glamor of Jewish kingdoms and victorious wars, with heroes and prophets, with God speaking directly to His people. Between the Bible and the present Qtimes^] there is one blank space. . . It may take another decade--or another generati.on~-before Israeli writers will re-establish the continuity of Jewish culture, and find the roots without which art, literature, and theatre are doomed to shallowness and imitation of foreign models. Life will have to become more settled and normal, and allow artistic creati­ vity to develop gradually and organically, without the shortcuts

106 Ben-Zion Tomer, "A1 Sfat Hayam BeTel Aviv," Molad, No. 171- 72 (November, 1962), 535. The citation is from the Second Act of Children of the Shadows. 86

which may often be effective in economics but are always detrimen­ tal to art. 7

Another Habima play dramatizing the theme of social and domestic

duties of the nation as having priority over personal comfort was

Megged's Genesis. It was the most successful script drawing on Biblical

material, this time focusing upon the story of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent,

with clear allusions to modern Israeli life. The National Theatre chose

Genesis for the inauguration of the new Little Hall in 1962. The play

had a long run.

In the introduction to Genesis Megged wrote:

The plot is almost entirely stolen from The Book of Genesis. So are the characters, except the one, who is mentioned in other ancient writings. I made changes which are nothing but inter­ pretation. I permitted myself, like other story-tellers and simple Jews in every generation, to interpret the Biblg& to seek new meanings, to have fun with it in my imagination.

Orthodox critics complained that the play was silly. For example,

Bar-Akiva wrote fervently that the Megged apology for using Biblical material is simply untrue. Moreover,

taking a few Biblical names and using a Biblical framework do not amount to a 'stolen plot from The Book of Genesis.' Neither are the characters from The Book of Genesis. . . the fact that people are named Chava and Adam are little proof for a Biblical plot interpreted in a modern way. . . ^Megged’s Genesis 3 is s banal Israeli comedy with provincial characters ... a play which the English call 'kitchen comedy' for low brows. 1^9

108 H. Bar-Akiva, "Beresit," Bama, No. 14 (Soring, 1962), 74.

109 Ibid. 87

Indeed, Megged was skillful enough to transform the old story into a modern play. The extent to which the playwright changed the well-known material is clearly stated in Shamir’s categorization of Israeli Bibli­

cal plays:

Genesis is3 a complete modernization of the Biblical material with its ^linguistic] associations, complexity of characters, locale, and plot. £such a treatment] gives us a truly modern, topical, even a didactic problem play with a relevance to a major Biblical event, focusing upon a great, inspiring, Biblical symbol.

Unlike Bar-Akiva, other critics received Genesis with warmth and enthusiasm. Zussman, for example, said:

£Megged*]! has ventured in Genesis into a charmed and guarded Biblical garden of Eden, the scene of original sin. His approach to the sacred grove is one of amused irony, which ends in bitter sadness for an Eden which is lost. Freedom of conception, a light touch, modern speech and makeup--this mixture of the ancient and the modern, and the excellent performance of the Habima cast provided a comedy about the family of man.

Another play based on the Bible focusing on the theme of national and social duties as opposed to private comfort was Amichai’s Journey to Nineveh which Habima produced in 1964. The offering was a symbolic play-poem which dramatized The Book of Jonah—the prophet whom God commanded to prophesy Nineveh's destruction—with satirical allusions to modern Israeli life. Like Ashman’s Young Love, Amichai’s treatment of the Biblical source was unsuccessful. In a public conference about modern Biblical plays Amichai said:

110 Moshe Shamir in "Bishviley HaTeatron," Orot, IX, No. 46 (1961-63), 59.

Ill Ezra Zussman, The Israel Theatre (Tel Aviv: International Theatre Institute, n.d.), 15. 88

One of the best ways to create Biblical drama is by contrasting historical and modern Israel. . . I have written that Jonah's attempt to escape God is an expression of middle-class attitudes. . . . The middle-class citizen avoids his duty (God, or the army, or social responsibilities.) ... We return to the Bible and 'use* it Qn modern playwritingQ| as one uses antiques in decorating rooms—creating a solid feeling by introducing familiar, old furniture Qamong multitudes of modern designs J . We really do not trust the cold and useful modern things which surround us. We seek something that will bring us to experiences beyond the present. In the past we look for explanations as well as justifi­ cations for our experiences in the present.

In the same meeting the playwright Shamir defended Journey to Nine­ veh , saying that the play

belongs to a different category of modern Biblical plays Q^than Megged's Genesis or Aloni’s Most Cruel of All--the King, for instance^ since Journey to Nineveh is a part of the new Israeli lyrical poetry, entirely modern in its language, associations, symbols, transitions, and feelings, all of our time. . . Amichai's JonatQ is a truthful expression for a need to over­ come impossible lyricism, egocentrism, repetition, to give the ego a certain stability, additional strength. When something new is transcended into a well-known character, it gains an objective, powerful existence. . . Whether the writer identifies with this character-symbol, using it as his mouthpiece, or restrains the figure forcefully underneath his own personal!ty--^ny treatment of such rich experiences makes the writer stronger.

Shamir may be right,but his argument does little to improve Journey to Nineveh as a drama, neither does it reveal the play's value as relevant to Biblical material.

The popular poet, Nathan Alterman (1910-1970) also contributed to

Habima a play focusing on social duties in conflict with personal

112 Yehuda Amichai in "Bishviley HaTeatron," Orot, IX, No. 46 (1961-63), 59.

113 Shamir in "Bishviley HaTeatron," p. 59. 89

comfort. Trial of Pythagoras includes obvious allusions to the poli­

tical scene in Israel in the middle fifties. According to Feingold,

The play juxtaposes the eternal objective truth (where man and universe are one) with the timely, flexible truth of social, moral, and political Israeli responsibilities. The subject matter focuses on the conflict between these two kinds of truth. Thus, the drama is both philosophical and political; the latter is expressed by two realistic characters who indulge in politi­ cal and historical issues whereas the philosophical relevance of the play exposes the frightening question of time versus eternity.

The Trial of Pythagoras opened in 1965. Although the play was

unsuccessful, it was still considered by some critics as being "head

and shoulders above the mediocre, ’true to-life plays that make up so 115 much of Israeli drama." The theme of national, social, end domes tic duties which have priority over personal freedom or comfort was

discussed in seven plays (The Emperor's Clothes, His Friend at Court,

Hanna Szenes, Children of the Shadows, Genesis, Journey to Nineveh,

and Trial of Pythagoras). While earlier themes established desirable

attitudes for Israel as a nation among nations and as a developing

country for Jewish refugees and Israeli born or bred citizens, the

sixth theme of this study shows that the country can be strong only

if the citizens are willing to forego when necessary personal freedom

or comfort for the good of the state. The seven plays grouped under

this theme provide martyrs as protagonists, heroes who are ready to

114 Ben-Ami Feingold, "Mishpat Pythagoras," Bama, No. 29-30 (Spring, 1966), 12.

115 ZeEv Raviv in The Reader* s Encyclopedia of World Drama, p. 14. 90 give their life for their land and people (Hanna Szenes and Hector); these are necessary attributes for a wholesome and prosperous develop­ ing country. A faulty administration is castigated satirically (His

Friend at Court), an erring government is deplored (The Emperor’s

Clothes), life of luxury and waste is also satirized (Genesis), and a search for identity is recommended (Children of the Shadows). Duty is seen as a requirement for worthy citizens in their state; duty is also enhanced as a requirement for worthy government within the state.

FREE PRESS IS DESTRUCTIVE TO THE STATE

In 1958 Mossinson created another public and critical uproar with

Throw Him to the Dogs, siding with the Ben-Gurion party against Pinchas

Lavon. Because the Israeli press exposed undemocratic practices of these two cabinet members, the playwright castigated journalism as destructive to the state. The political issue concerned the "Levon

Affair" of 1954.

Pinchas Lavon, the secretary of the Labour Federation, was forced to resign as minister of defence in February, 1955 for what was officially described as a ’security mishap.’ The question of responsibility was examined by a ministerial committee appointed by the cabinet, and the committee's report cleared him. Ben-Gurion, however, refused to accept the finding, which reflected on army officers, and demanded judicial inquiry. He made cabinet acceptance of his view a matter of confidence and resigned; he was called back, however, and Lavon was dismissed.

116 Encyclopedia Britannica, XII (Chicago: William Benton, 1968), 669. 91

In the play, Israeli journalism became the scapegoat for reveal­

ing what some people considered as private and unpublishable. Mossinson

created a disgusting newspapermen who took pride in doing evil. At the

premiere, Ben-Gurion, then Prime Minister of Israel, and a large group of

his imminent supporters were present, enjoying the castigation of the

free press onstage. The play opened at Habima on January 18, 1958 and

ran for fifty-four performances. Both public and critics reacted

negatively, and the most prominent Israeli critic wrote:

This play is simply propaganda. . . The question remains: who needs it? . . . Such dramaturgy is dangerous, since it encourages the public to engage in slander and gossip and to spend its money on ill-reputed magazines. . ■,,. ¡pn>'the other handj curbing the free press is anti-democratic.

Throw Him to the Dogs is the only Israeli play which Habima produc­ ed between 1948 and 1968 which served the official propaganda machine of

the country. The theatre succumbed to government pressure. The National

Theatre never again indulged in political disputes. The other twenty four Israeli plays which Habima produced in this period reinforced gene­ ral national attitudes, serving the nation as a whole.

COMING OF THE MESSIAH NECESSITATES

THE DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH HISTORY

The last theme in this research focuses on the coming of the Messiah

117 Chaim Gamzu, "Amesh BaTeatron," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), January 19, 1954, p. 4. 92

Hazaz’s End of Days contemplates that before the Messiah arrives Jewish history must be destroyed. Although between 1948 and 1968 Habima was interested in Biblical subjects and produced several Israeli plays which interpreted the sacred stories, other periods of Jewish history were neglected. Hazaz’s only play was produced on June 15, 1950 for a meager run of twelve performances. The script is an historical drama dealing with the influence of the Messianic movement on Jews in Europe during the seventeenth century;' The central character is Shsbetai Zvi, the self- proclaimed Messiah, who predicts the destruction of the Jews. Although most Israeli critics praised Hszaz for literary merits, none was bold enough to defend End of Days as a theatrical event.

Gamzu writes about Hazaz’s play:

The play is an ideological thesis: One must step down before one ascends. The Jewish redemption necessitates the elimination of Jewish exile Qin countries other than Israel*"] . The Jewish state of exile prevents redemption, which is not an evolutionary process but a revolution. Redemption is the Jewish national revolution; exile is counter-revolution. One cannot be triumphant without first eliminating the other. The struggle between these two rivals cannot remain academic. Redemption commands action. All means are welcome. Redemption is the final battle from which there is no retreat. Who are the best fighters of freedom? Those who have nothing to lose. According to Hazaz, these people are the only fighters for redemption, whose battalion may attract a few dreamers and fanatics. In this manner Hazaz identifies the national revolu­ tion with the social one; thus, Jewish redemption extends to sll human beings. Perhaps Hazaz noticed that people exist differently than ideas do. Consequently, he created Yossepa, the revolutionist, in con­ flict with himself (needlessly resembling Shebetai Zvi, Qthe self- proclaimed prophet^] . Thus, Hazaz attached the people's redemp­ tion to Yossepa, with the tragedycfocusing on the man’s life. 93

Yossepa does not love his wife, he loves Yuta, yet he loses both. Consequently, the spiritual life of the leader is as tragic as Jewish redemption: a war between life and death, exile and independence. Furthermore, there is an inevitable question: Does Yossepa truly believe that the fire in his village is symbolic of the elimination of exile, abolishing exile from Israel’s life? We doubt this solution, because throughout the play Yossepa is a very sober Messiah. On the other hand, it is difficult to assume that the burning of Jewish homes is more than a symbol. If it is, why, then, does the fire encourage the idle Jews to destroy Jewish property? How does Yossepa imagine the destruction of exile? Is he an example for others? If so, since he will surely be sentenced to prison, if not executed for his deeds, who will become the new Messiah? The play's spectacular solution for the problem is un­ satisfactory. If burning Jewish houses is only a symbol, it is an unconvincing one; if the fire means a local revolution which may annihilate all exile, how is it to be accomplished?

Even End of Days, particularly when interpreted as the Jewish desire for an independent state, is an additional contribution to the point of emphasis of this study. Consequently, all eight themes reinforce Israeli nationalism.

Chapter Three analyzed the twenty-five Israeli plays which Habima produced between 1948 and 1968 according to eight themes. All but one

(Throw Him to the Dogs) were of major concern to Israelis. Political propaganda never reached Habima again. Ten representative scripts were discussed in detail to show how they relate to the newly born state.

Shaked maintains that Ashman and the younger playwrights of the War of

118 Chaim Gamzu, "Beketz HaYamim," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), June 23 1950. 94

Independence generation continued the tradition of the Jewish dramatists 119 whose dramas the theatre produced in Palestine. The treatment of the

themes also seems to follow the tradition prevalent before 1948. Again,

the characters are representatives of social Israeli groups, immigrants, and their problems. The protagonists are Zionists, members of kibbutzim, 120 who are idealized in the plays. The recurring problem and the most significant one is holding on to the settlement snd to the collective system of life.

Except Hazaz’s End of Days all the plays deal with the contemporary

Israeli scene, and all but this one were written by the young generation of authors who in many cases adapted their own stories or novels to

Habima's stage. The theatre commissioned many of these plays, and others were written with the company’s encouragement and help. All these plays anticipated large audiences, expecting to communicate with the Israeli public, to represent and give voice to the people who came to watch the production. The writers were hasty in their work, trying to hold to

Israeli events, hoping to present tormenting issues while they were still discussed in other media. This hastiness is apparent ;-in the scripts, which are far from being universal masterpieces. Yet they all served their moment, and more than once answered the need of Israelis for native drama. The state, kibbutzim, Palmach, national and social duties are

119 Gershon Shaked, HaMahaze Halveri, 11.

120 Ibid. 95

glorified again and again in most of these scripts, whereas personal

freedom or comfort are dismissed as irrelevant to the Jewish renaiss­

ance. The Hebrew language is also glorified—all these plays were

written and produced exclusively in Hebrew—and seen as a unifying

tool for Jews everywhere.

Many conflicts focus upon the differences between the individual

and the collective, tradition and liberalism, sovereign state and

English or Turkish rule. Personal weaknesses are strongly castigated

in behalf of a better state, a prosperous future. Miron concluded

that all Shamir’s characters live in the fields, in a large social

framework their private life is unimportant when the collective is in 121 danger. Indeed, this statement may be readily applied to most of the

themes and playwrights discussed in this chapter. The playwrights grew

up in kibbutzim and wrote about what was significant to them. Their

concept of Israeli nationalism will be related to prevalent attitudes in

the young state as expressed outside the theatre. This examination takes

place in Chapter Four.

121 Dan Miron, Arba Panim Basifrut Halverith Bat Yameynu (Tel Aviv: Schocken, 1962), 353. CHAPTER IV

HABIMA PLAYS AS AN EXPRESSION OF ISRAELI NATIONALISM

A state cannot be created by decree, but by the forces of a people and in the course of generations. Even if all the governments of the world gave us a country, it would only be a gift of words. But if the Jewish People will go and build Palestine, the Jewish State will become a reality--a fact.

Chaim Weizmann

We converted the human dust which gathered here in Israel from sll the corners of the earth, we converted them into a sover­ eign state which occupies an honorable place in the family of nations.

David Ben-Gurion

To determine the extent to which Habima's repertory has responded

to national interests, Chapter Four will compare the plays described in

Chapter Three to the concept of nationalism as expressed by Jewish philo

sophers, poets, novelists, sociologists, and politicians.

To provide unity to the study, the methodology of thematic analysis

used in Chapter Three will be maintained. Four themes applicable to the

aims of this chapter will be discussed at length: "abandoning the kib­ butz and even the country are national disasters;" "unity is strength;"

"collective life is superior to city life;" and "duty is of higher pri­

ority than personal freedom or comfort." First, however, the relation 97

of the Jewish people to their land mast be established.

In 1948 Israel was born, a country not much larger than the State

of Connecticut. Amos Elon, sn Israeli politician and sociologist,

describes the new nation and its land:

Distances are short. Much of the country is uninhabited desert- land; (thus even smaller than. . , on most maps . , From a rooftop in Tel Aviv the outskirts of Jerusalem can be seen with the naked eye; Haifa is only an hour’s train ride from Tel Aviv. Within this small triangle, close to 80% of the population is concentrated, ^^2

The feelings for the country are usually ecstatic, rooted in Zionism and pioneering. For example, Berl Katzenelson, a leader of the labor 123 party, spoke of the arrival of "real life J” that J will soon begin."

Ben-Gurion, from the moment he set foot in Palestine considered his life until then as waste. He saw himself "reborn." Forty years later he found seclusion in a desert retreat in "a little wooden hut of kibbutz

Sde-Boker" in the Negev, The pioneer's love for the barren land of .

Israel is a significant fact in the country's history.

Many Habima plays dramatized similar relations between the settlers and the land, particularly Ashman's This Earth and Sands of the Negev by

Mossinson; Shamir and Megged also focused on pioneering repeatedly.

When the politician and pioneer Rachel Ben-Zvi (now 81-year-old widow of

Israel's second president) was arrested for-Zionist activities in 1908 in Russia, she proclaimed to the warden as she was released: "I have no

122 Elon, The Israelis, 242.

123 Beri Kazenelson, Darki Lelsrael (Tel Aviv, 1948). 98 use for this Russia of yours. I don’t need it. We have our own 124 country—the Land of Israel."

In 1936, before the Arabs launched a major attack on Jewish settlements in Palestine, Ben-Gurion discussed the ethnic conflict with

George Antonius, historian and leading theoretician of Arabism. The

Jewish politician said:

It is not by caprice that we returned to this country. For us it is a question of existence, of life and death. We have come here and shall come here whether there will or will not be Arab-Jewish understanding. Riots will not stop us. If we have the choice between riots in Germany, Poland or in 8ny other country, and riots in Palestine, we prefer riots in Palestine. . . The borders of Eretz Israel (Land of Israel) are known from history. . . the Medi­ terranean in the West, and the desert in the East, between Sinai in the South and the source of Jordan in the North... . In Eretz Israel we have been before you. We return to our own country.

To understand the theme "abandoning the kibbutz and country are national disasters," and the vast popularity of Habima's This Earth, it is necessary to know that

many pioneers. . . adhered to the ascetic tradition of the Russian Populists. Poverty was cultivated with an elaboration and ritual. Food was deliberately plain. . . Clothes were unadorned. . . Israel Giladi Qf°r example*] refused to wear shoes and walked barefoot. . . His feet were covered with scratches and nasty woun^ . • Qle^J said: ’Our feet must get used to the soil of the Land.’

124 Rachel Ben-Zvi, Anachnu Olim (Tel Aviv, 1957).

125 David Ben-Gurion, Pegishot Im Manhigim Araviyim (Tel Aviv, 1967).

126 Elon, The Israelis, 116. 99

Pioneering is sharply expressed by Trumpeldor, a veteran of the

Russo-Japanese War who settled in Palestine in 1912:

We need men prepared to do everything. . . we must raise a gene­ ration of men who have no interests and no habits. . . Bars of iron, elastic but iron, metal that can be forged to whatever is needed for the national machine. A wheel? I am the wheel . , . Is there a need to dig the earth? I dig. Is there need to shoot? ... . I am a soldier. . . I know only one rule--to build. ^2

Trumpeldor’s description anticipates Yoshpe's character, the pro­

tagonist of This Earth, and other kibbutz idealists discussed in Chapter

Three. Being an official national theatre, Habima felt the need to pop­

ularize these heroes thereby reflecting public opinion. This reflection was a significant contribution to Israeli needs.

Because Habima produced plays exclusively in Hebrew, the relation

between the Jewish people and Hebrew must be established. The poet

Bialik encouraged the pioneers. Disembarking at the port of Jaffa in

the early twentieth century, Ben-Gurion and many others vowed to speak only Hebrew. The devotion to the national tongue was no less fanatic than to pioneering. For instance,

in a makeshift clinic for malaria-struck pioneers Qanticipating Ashman’s This Earth ]a girl patient who spoke Russian in a delirium was rudely chastised by the nurse for not using Hebrew. ^^8

Another story takes place in the Rothschild vineyard at Rishon le-

Zion, where some workers spoke Yiddish. Altermann, one of the workers, played deaf.

127 Yoseph Trumpeldor, Diary, January 10, 1920.

128 Elon, The Israelis, 110. 100 Until Qthe manager *T| orders are translated to Hebrew I just would not do what he wanted. One day he told me in his Rumanian-accented Yiddish to close a wine tap. I decided to keep it open. . . He repeated his order. I went on asking him in Hebrew: 'What are you saying?’ By this time he was furiously screaming in Yiddish. . . Again I asked calmly ’What is it that you want me to do?’ and all this time the wine was puring out. ^^9

As with Habima, Hebrew was a vital part of a program, an attitude

of life, history, and society.

Fifty years later Ben-Gurion still maintained this attitude as he

was describing the language of the newly arrived immigrants (presumab­

ly Yiddish). He said: "We gave hundreds of thousands (speaking) a 130 ’mishmash* of language. . . their national tongue.”

Discussing the characteristics of modern Hebrew and Israeli liter­

ature in the 1960’s, Elon emphasizes the influence of Arabs and Arabic:

A complex, peculiar attraction to the Israeli Arabs is typical not only of Oz QAmos Oz, an Israeli born writer of the 1960’sj but to many Israeli authors. Immigrants often feel the need to follow native citizens. Yet in this case, the need is natural. Hebrew is akin to Arabic; Arabic culture is a close relative of the Bib­ lical past of the Jewish immigrants, a past, to which in certain respects, they are returning. Spoken Hebrew incorporates ’new’ expressions of strength, masculinity, satisfaction, health, and similar positive characteristies. The juiciest foul words are also Arabic. Arabic dances and music east an immeasurable influ­ ence upon the modern Israeli folklore.

Yet, none of these found their way to Habima. Perhaps the opposi­ tion of Arabs to anything Jewish and the three wars (1948, 1956, and

129 Elon, The Israelis, 110.

130 Ibid., 311.

131 Elon, Halsraelim, 275-76. The passage and others cited from the Hebrew edition are not in the English edition. 101

1967) which they launched against the Israelis turned the National

Israeli Theatre away from Arabic culture. Although the issues of the

wars (particularly Arab refugees end occupied territories) were men­

tioned in Shamir’s Stormy Night (1954) the treatment was noncommittal

and superficial. Moreover, in the National Theatre, the play was not ■ well received. Perhaps because such disputed issues were often dis­

cussed in life and in the press, Habima did not produce plays with Arab

protagonists or subject matter. The problems were too close to real

life to'be given the necessary aesthetic distance essential for works

of art. On the other hand the theatre never encouraged war. During twenty years (1948-68), while Israel was constantly forced to defend itself against the Arabs, particularly in three major wars, Habima pro­ duced just one play dealing with the War of Independence. This play,

Sands of the Negev (1949) was anti-war drama; reflecting dominant Israeli public opinion, its major issues concerned the kibbutz, not the military, and the tradition continues:

We have come to the country To build and be rebuilt by it. 132

Although Habim8 never elaborated on the other wars (1956, 1967), the theatre produced kibbutz plays focusing on the Israeli desire to live peacefully on the land. Israeli reality, however, focused on wars:

132 A popular Israeli song of the early Jewish settlers. 102

Young men have gone to war three times within less than 20 years. Each war called for near total exertions; each war was fought in the firm belief that it would bring peace within reach . . . none has . . . There are some Israelis, . . . who have three times fought over the same arid . . . desert . . . they took it. they left it . . . They took it once more; nothing changed.

The relation between the land and the people was also expressed

in popular songs and poems. A superb example is Alterman’s "The soil

of Biriah." The motto is taken from prosaic news, dated 1945: "Three

times the {Briti smarmy uprooted the fences of Biriah, and three times

they were planted afresh. The men of the place and the hundreds who streamed to their help lay down flat on the earth, and the soldiers had to work hard to lift them and uproot them by force from the soil of

Mount Canaan." Alterman wrote:

He stretched out his body full length on the field And his eye like the steel shone bright. And the soil, that was ancient and rocky and wild, It seized him and held him tight.

And the army was told: 'Go and take him away! Get him up, if he wishes or no! ' But the strong, rocky soil, made by Satan himself, Held on and would not let him go.

On his face, on his back they twisted him round, They pulled him, they dragged him that day. But the strong rocky soil would not give them a chance To tear his body away.

Three times he was lifted And thrown back again And lifted and once more thrown back - For the daughter of demons, the grey rocky soil, Pursued with a mighty attack.

Three times he was lifted And thrown back again - Three times the soil vowed to be true. And three times the fence was pulled up by the roots, And three times it stood anew. 103 Then the watchers declared, ’Many lands are adorned With beauty and glory untold, But thus, to the body of one single Jew, There is no other land that will hold.’

When the army withdrew the lad quietly said, 'They did not shoot this time, that band! ' But you know their machine-guns could this very day Have severed me from you, my land.’

Then the salt, rocky earth replied with a laugh, ’If a bullet had pierced through your brain, They would not have severed your body from me; You would never have left me again. *

In 1956 Chaim Guri, perhaps the Israeli writer most sensitive to the

pulse of the period, wrote:

Bloody history. One must not csre for the dead or the living. Be merry, since you have no choice, Apart from keeping what is yours. ^35

Shamir, who contributed to Habima two plsys, House of Hillel (1950)

and Stormy Night (1954), related in 1968 an autobiographical illustration

for what Guri had coined in poetry:

My son is named after my brother who fell in the War of Indepen­ dence. This was exactly twenty years ago, when the almonds of 1948 were in full bloom. I am named after my father's brother, who fell in the ranks of the Red army at the gates of Warsaw. This happened in 1920. My father was named after the brother of his father who was murdered in the Ukraine during a pogrom by rampaging peasants. This was in 1891. . . Are we now still at the beginning? In this half-century . . . fear of death has never left our house.

Indeed, the politician and sociologist Elon remarks:

Israelis desperately go on hoping. . . for peace. . . Israelis, ir­ respective of background, sex, age, occupation, and cultural or

134 Nathan Aterman, ’’The Soil of Biriah." Freely translated by Misha Louvish. Flag of Freedom (Jerusalem: Jewish National Fund, 1955), 51-52.

135 Chaim Guri, Dvarim Bedam, 1956.

136 Moshe Shamir, Chayai Im Ishmael (Tel Aviv, 1968). 104

economic level, had a greater fear of war than of any other. . . disaster. Much that is written by Israelis has as a main theme the experience of war, the central experience in the life of the young generation. I am not aware of a single novel, poem, or play that even remotely extols the so-cslled virtues of war. . . victo- 1 7 ries are portrayed as terrible defeats. J

Here is an additional reason why Habima lacks war plays, while war

is still the major occupation of the Israelis.

The absence of war drama in Habima’s repertory is perhaps explained

additionally by the nature of the Israelis as seen by Elon:

If, as is often said, the atmosphere of a 'nation in arms’ enhances militarism Israel has had near-ideal conditions to ensure the supre­ macy of the army over all civilian authorities. But such supremacy has been successfully averted £as Sands of the Negev, the only Israeli anti-W8r drama which Habima produced, clearly shows] In fact; . . . the army has actively participated in the creation of an in­ tensely civilian culture. . . Israel's military ideal remains the embattled farmer, the armed civilian, the unprofessional soldier, an ideal which harks back to the earliest days of settlement: Cin- cinnatus reluctantly abandoning the plow to pick up the sword, not Caesar. 137138 139

Moreover,

Although war has come to be Israel's main business, there are as yet no recognizable war lords, either within the military bureaucracy nor in the vast industrial complex that has sprung up to produce the implements of war. 'Militarism' remains one of the nastiest words in the political dictionary;; it has a highly derogatory connota­ tion in professional army circles as well.

Indeed, this attitude explains once more why Mossinson’s "war" drama was shelved after its innitial success, and why Habima revived This

Earth several times in the last twenty years. Elon's observation also explains why Sands of the Negev glorified the settler Avraham, denounced

137 Elon, The Israelis, 248.

138 Ibid., 397.

139 Ibid., 254. 105

Baruch, the army officer from the city, and proved an unprecedented

success in Tel Aviv in 1949. The scandal which Klausner, Gur, Kohansky,

and others repudiated, is only one reason for Mossinson's theatrical

success. Elon’s observation of Israeli nature seems to provide a better

explanation. It also clarifies the incident with a meaningful moral.

Almost twenty years passed since Mossinson's Sands of the Negev;

meanwhile the Israeli negative attitude toward militarism was main­

tained. Shabtai Tevet's actual reportage of the 1967 war, Tanks of Tammuz,

includes a conversation between Colonel Shmuel and Georgie, a younger

officer. Colonel Shmuel, a former rabbinical scholar and scion of an

ultra-orthodox Jerusalem family, became a professional soldier during

the 1940's and remained in the military. In the middle of preparations

for the battle, the Colonel uttered philosophical and historical thoughts:

We cannot even estimate the damage done to us by Hitler. He has destroyed the nation's creative nucleus, the synagogue. It is because of the synagogue that we are a nation, and for no other reason. Sometimes I think that the two pillars of Judaism today are the Israeli army and the rabbinical seminaries in America.

Georgie: The army, sir? The army isn’t really the true character of the Jewish people.

Colonel: I agree, Georgie. But only in the end of days the wolf shall live with the lamb, and even then I prefer to be the wolf. 140 Georgie: Yes, sir.

140 Elon, Halsraelim, 214-15. 106

Politically speaking, Israel is the product of

ideology and circumstance ... a fusion of nationalism and social ismy Qonl£] in few places has the latter been characterized by^ streaks of Utopia as strongly pronounced as here [jn Israel] .

Moreover, Allan Arian of Tel Aviv University, maintains that

removing ideology from Israeli politics would be more than de1;- priving the traveler of his map; . . . higher living standards and well-tr8ined technocrats are not likely to alter characteristics which are such a basic part of modern Israel’s heritage.

Israeli politics are often theatrically expressed:

C.The^J scene is often raucous and noisy with the clatter of end­ less disagreement, . . . acerbated, stifled, and maimed by tre­ mendous personal rivalries, hatreds, antagonisms, and fanatic^ loyalties . . . the actors assault and poison each other . '143

Arian’s observation shows the close relation in Israel between reality and theatre; Elon evaluates the Israeli playwrights:

The leading younger novelists and poets of the post-Independence period practiced a rather drab and sometimes didactic genre of social (or socialist) realism. Shamir, Shacham, Bartov, Guri, Megged, Yizhar . . . belong to the generation that fought in the War of Independence in 1948. The fiction of this group was deep­ ly concerned with the nation's destiny. The treatment of the so­ cial problems (the absorption of immigrants, the transformation of ’selfish careerists' into dedicated kibbutzniks) was important for these writers as were the lives of their leading characters who were often submerged in the text as two-dimensional protago-/- nists of a specific ideology . . . already in this period, an .

141 Elon, The Israelis, 147.

142 Allan Arian, Ideological Change in Israel (Cleveland: Press of Case-Western Reserve, 1968).

143 Elon, The Israelis, 303. 107

unrelenting, moral motivation is discernible, a deep concern, over­ riding all others, for the preservation of human values in brutal times.

The absorption of immigrants was a concern with Shamir’s House of

Hillel and Stormy Night, Megged’s I Like Mike, Handel’s Street of Stairs,

Bartov’s Each Had Six Wings, and Tomer’s Children of the Shadows. The transformation of "selfish careerists" into dedicated kibbutzniks was

Mossinson’s concern in Sands of the Negev, Megged’s On the Way to Eilat,

Hedva and I, I Like Mike, and the plays by Shamir and Bartov. Indeed, these Habima plays were a tool for achieving contemporary national goals . as formed by Israeli public opinion. The kibbutz is a product of Jewish pioneering, which, according to Buber, "is not sacrifice but fulfill­ ment." The pioneer is described as a commune-man per excellence, wish­ ing new life. Since the pioneer rejects being an individual, his goal may be realized only in the collective. Such demands were indeed difficult, end in Israel, only the strongest spirits could remain in thé kibbutz, inspiring?others 'tô join them« The kibbutz haspoliticél and social prominence in Israel, stemming from the country's "historic 145 self-image as a nation of pioneers."

Kibbutz members

are still prominent within the Israeli Establishment.

144 Elon, The Israelis, 274-75.

145 Ibid., 314. 108

This has been so for almost half a century. [Many] have played a role in politics, in the upper echelons of the state bureaucracy, in the diplomatic service, in the army, in the trade unions, in Histadrut-owned industries and investment companies. . . in the government.

In the early 1950's the kibbutz was at the peak of power,

estimated to be at least seven times their proportion in the pop­ ulation as a whole. Their proportion has declined in recent years. It is still four or five times their share of the popula­ tion. In 1969, the kibbutz population W8S slightly more than 90,000 , or 3.4% of all seats in parliament.

The power of the kibbutz is well reflected in Habima’s repertory,

particularly between 1949 and 1956. Sands of the Negev (1949), House

of Hillel (1950), On the Way to Eilat (1951), Stormy Night (1954), Hedva

and I (1954), and I Like Mike (1956) were written by three kibbutz

members expressing the superiority of the kibbutz over life in the city.

Habima seems to follow the climate of ideas of those in power. Among

other goals it helped the ruling classes of Israel to communicate

artistically what seemed to be desirable for the population. When the

kibbutz power declined, as Elon demonstrates, the repertory included no more kibbutz plays. In 1967, when there was a need to revitalize the

Israeli interest in uncultivated land, Habima revived This Earth. The kibbutz plays were not revived. The theatre followed Israeli thought,

reflecting changes in national priorities.

146 Elon, The Israelis, 313.

147 Ibid., 313-14. 109

Between 1954 and 1956 there-was a need to stop the increasing migration from the kibbutz to the city. Habima produced Hedva and I

(1954) and I Like Mike (1956) with considerable success. Both plays satirize the luxury and waste of city life, glorifying the simplicity and earthiness of the kibbutz. In 1962, however, when city life reached a new peak of luxury and waste, Habima produced Genesis. In the new play Megged continued to satirize city life in Biblical attire, no longer speaking of the kibbutz. In 1962, when kibbutz power declined, Megged resorted to the Bible. This substitution proved successful with the audience. A few years later the playwright commented about Israeli attitudes and Biblical times:

What we have in Israel is antiquity and the new, but with such a gap between them. . . When you walk in London you see all periods, all generations living peacefully side by side. With us ^Israelis) it’s 8 quarrel between old times and new times. *^8

Small wonder that Genesis was a success.

Back in the late 1940’s Israel cultivated the historic image of the pioneers. This attitude is clearly reflected in Mossinson's Sands of the Negev (1949).

In 1949 Mossinson was a member of NaAn, a collective settlement of the kibbutz HaMeuchad movement. Although NaAn contributed soldiers to

Aaron Megged, "The Vitality of Israeli Culture," The

Jerusalem Post Weekly, Tuesday, July 6, 1971, p. 10. 110 the Jewish Brigade, to the Palmach, and operated an ammunition factory, the pioneering philosophy of this collective—particularly that of leaders Israel Galili and Moshe Carmel—was deploring the professional military which did not cultivate the land, despising its alleged super­ ficial arrogance. More than any other kibbutz, NaAn educated the youth in the spirit of Masada, a Jewish stronghold in the Roman era, whose settlers defended themselves against the enemy. They never retreated, prefering to die on their land rather than living in slavery.

Israeli attachment to Masada inspired patriotism. The stronghold was excavated by professor Yadin in 1963-65. Assisted by many, he remarked:

Suddenly a bridge was thrown across 2000 years. . . How great was their satisfaction, and ours, when the young generation of Israel uncovered with their own hands the remains of the last defenders of Masada.

In writing Sands of the Negev, says Gur, Mossinson dramatized the philosophy of NaAn and Masada rather than the reality of the War of

Independence; instead of giving the army its due glory, the playwright denounced the military, focused on pioneering and kibbutz members, glo- 150 rifying the latter with the victory against the Egyptians. This attitude explains the unfavorable characterization of Baruch, who came

149 Benno Ruthenberg (ed.), Masada (Tel Aviv: Levin-Epstein, n.d.) Yadin's speech is quoted by Ruthenberg.

150 Israel Gur, "Pirkei HaMehaze HaMekori Bimdinat Israel," Bama, No. 38-39 (Summer, 1968), 9. Ill

from the city to become the military commander in Bikat Yoav. Baruch

says :

From a military view there is no point in holding on to jjiikat Yoavj| . You know that the soldiers are sleepless and tired. They have done their duty. We cannot expect any more. If^^ don’t get help—and we won't get help—we cannot hold on.

These lines and additional arguments in the same vain antagonized the

Israeli army, particularly the Giveati brigade--defenders of Negba--who

read the play and saw the performances at Habima. In addition to crit-- ics Klausner and Gur, many civilians were also offended by the defeated

Baruch, who was out of favor with kibbutznik Mossinson, apparently

because Baruch represented the military officer from the city. Again,

Habima reflected prevalent public opinion of an anti-militaristic people

who wish to live in peace on their land rather than establish themselves

as heroes of war. Moreover, the theatre glorified collective life,

which in Israel was considered superior to city life. In 1948 the dis­

tinction was sharper than today as attested by the following report:

Cities, especially Tel Aviv, were developing quickly. An ever increasing number of immigrants came to Israel, most of whom were small businessmen and shopkeepers. These people often frustrated members of the kibbutzim, who saw in the newly arrived immigrants undesirable, capitalistic elements, revivers of decadent exile on the holy land which was destined to become a new socialistic paradise.

151 Mossinson, BeArvoth HaNegev, 49.

152 Elon, Halsraelim, 145. 112

Yet the conflict between the kibbutz snd the military man from the city is secondary in the play. Sands of the Negev focuses on two kibbutz members, Itamar and Avraham, who discuss pioneering. The former is a man of compromise: for him, life is more important than holding on to a beseiged kibbutz. On the other hand, Avraham, like Ashman’s Yoshpe in This Earth, is an idealist who never retreats. He continues the tra­ dition of Jewish pioneering in Israel, makes the necessary sacrifices for holding on to the land, and at the end of the play enters Israeli history as a hero. Avraham: Bikat Yoav will never fall. But we must bury Dan ^his sonjof Bikat Yoav. Shosh, tell Giveoni: Bikat Yoav is rejoicing to­ day . . . Now we will bury Dani who died to^ggve this valley. Indeed, everybody paid deerly. Everybody.

Indeed, Jewish history was reborn in 1948, and in some respects

Mossinson’s Avraham is a reincarnation of the Biblical father of that name, yet, unlike Isaac, Dan and many other Israelis fell. The War of Independence was similarly expressed in a popular song by Alterman, perhaps the best of its kind, "The Silver Platter."

. . . and the land grows still. A red twilight slowly fades on smoking borders. A nationsstands, heartsick but upright . . . to accept the one unparalleled wonder.

Beneath the moon a nation gets ready, facing the dawn, wrapped in awe and joy.

153 Mossinson, BeArvot HaNegev, 125. 113

Then, out of nowhere a boy and a girl approach the nation. They join.

Clad in uniform, heavy-shod and silent, the two are climbing the path slowly, tired of fights. Their clothes still soiled, unwashed are the signs of weary days and battles at night.

Strangers to sleep, weary beyond telling, yet with Hebrew youth, like dew, they are clad. Quietly they come and stop. No more rallies. Who knows, are’ they living or dead?

Then the nation in tears, enchanted, asks those who face her: "Who are you?" - The two just wait. Then softly they say: "We are the silver platter on which you received the Jewish State."

In shadow they fall when their t|^g is told. The rest Israeli annals unfold.

The Bible is accepted and taught in Israel as history. Modern times

are closely related to Biblical events, interpreted in that spirit and

seen as rooted in the glory of the old days. Hence the relevance of

Mossinson’s characters to the Biblical fathers of the nation. Again, human sacrifice and martyrdom were demanded from the reborn people, and again the people accepted. Before the War of Independence such demands were dramatized in Ashman’s This Earth, where the settlers fought malar­ ia at all costs, some dying for the promised land.

Martyrs are also demanded, and Hanna Szenes volunteered. A song of hers expresses the relation between a Jewish individual and his nation

154 Nathan Alterman, "Magash Hakesef," Hatur Hasheviyi (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1950), 336-37. 114 as the young heroine saw it:

Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling flame.

Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart.

Blessed is the heart with strength to stop its beating for honor’s sake.

Blessed is the match that is consumed in kindling flame.

After the War of Independence in 1948 there was 1956 (a major war with the Arabs) and later 1967 (the six-day war of defense against

Egypt). Again, Alterman expressed the Israeli attitude toward death but this time from the mothers’ viewpoint:

The Third Mother

Mothers are singing. Mothers are singing. A fist of thunder struck. A heavy silence came. In the empty streets in rows are marching Red-bearded lamps.

A dying, weary autumn, neglected and spent. Endless showers. No candle in windows, no lights in the world, Three mothers sing.

One says: I see him approaching, Let me kiss his fingers fast - A ship is sailing in a silent ocean And my son is hanging from the top of the mast.

The other says: My son is tall and quiet. I am sewing for him a holiday shirt.

155 Hanna Szenes, "Blessed Is the Match," Pioneer Woman, XXXIX, No. 3 (March, 1964), 18. 115

He is crossing the fields. He is coming and he holds in his heart a bullet of lead.

The third mother carefully wanders: Mine was the most precious one. How ara I to weep when he is out there? I do not know where is my son.

Then her eyes are wet again. She worries. . . Perhaps he is only resting or went to his reward Measuring with kisses, like a missionary, The paths of your world, my Lord. ^^6

The War of Independence also meant providing a home for Jews from

all countries who want to live in Israel:

We, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the World Zionist Movement. . . hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish Stste of Palestine to be called Medinat Yisrael. The State of Israel will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; . . . will be based on the principles of liberty, justice and peace as conceived by the Pro­ phets of Israel; . . . and will loyally uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter. Our call goes out to the Jewish people all over the world to rally to our side in the task of immigration and development and to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment of the dream of generations for the redemption of Israel.

The waves of immigration increased after 1948. In prose and poetry

the desire for a homeland was clearly expressed. Despite the unwilling­

ness of the British, persecuted Jews returned illegally to Palestine.

Shenhar wrote :

Secretly a boat feels its way;

156 Nathan Alterman, "HaEm Hashelishith,” in Krachim, I (Tel Aviv: Hotzaat Hakibbutz HaMeuchad, 1961), 123-24.

157 From.Israel’s Proclamation of* Independence (May 14, 1948) as translated in Pioneer Woman,XXXIX, No. 3 (March, 1964), 18. 116

Dark the night and stormy the sea. Hear my voice, my Homeland, A weary son returns to thee. x Secretly a boat feels its way; There a heart in hope is burning. Hear my voice, 0 Homeland, A dreaming son to you returning.

Secretly my brethren land On the homeland from the foam; Now the Land a secret whispers: "Welcome home, son, welcome home."

In 1950 Habima reflected these events in Shamir's House of Hillel,

where the kibbutz helps the immigrants. Eight years later, in Bartov's

Each Had Six Wings, the protagonists are immigrants in conflict with

the state. There were many such conflicts in reality. The country’s

need for unity (or the theme "unity is strength") was expressed in Bar-

tov’s play, which consciously or unconsciously may have drawn upon an

incident in the early 1950's. When Golda Meir was Minister of Labor,

she visited recently completed housing developments for immigrants.

Golda was surrounded by disgruntled new immigrants from Eastern Europe, who, disdaining preliminary courtesies besieged her with angry complaints about the houses, the climate, the scarcity of work for professionals, the neighbors. . . ’Not one word of gra­ titude,’ said Golda bitterly to a companion as she left. 1^9

Indeed, Bartov dramatized these complaints and others. The immi­ grants (as well as young Israelis) lost faith in ascetic pioneering as

158 Yitzhak Shenhar, "Secretly," Flag of Freedom (Jerusalem: Jewish National Fund, 1955), 88.

159 Marie Syrkin, Golda Meir: Israel's Leader (New York: Put-.; nam’s, 1969), 264. ------117 a way of life. Yet as early as 1921 Buber warned the newcomers: "It will be up to you, whether Palestine will be the center of humanity or a Jewish Albania; the salvation of peoples or a game of the greet 160 powers." While Ben-Gurion continued to see Israel in Buber's light, wishing the country to become "a model for the redemption of the human race," many Israelis were content with a pleasant place for living.

Nevertheless, ascetic pioneering repeatedly was a concern of Habima plays in the 1940’s and 1950’s; as explained above, city life, luxury and waste continued to be satirized in Habima plays of the 1960's.

After sacrifices were demanded and given, pioneering seemed dis­ appointing at times, as shown in Sands of the Negev and in later kibbutz plays. Rachel wrote:

Can it be but a dream that I dreamt after all? Can it be I never really went forth with the dawn to toil with the sweat of my brow?

Can it be, on those flaming and endless days when we reaped, that I never gave voice to a song as I rode on a cartful of sheaves high-heaped?

That I never did bathe in the placid and perfect pure blue of Kinneret, my sea - ah, Kinneret, my own, were you only a waking dream too?

160 Buber is quoted in Elon, The Israelis, 325.

161 Rachel Blowstein, "Can it be?" in Pioneer Woman, XXXIX, No. 3 (March, 1964), 18. 118

But Rachel, the pioneer who wrote the poem, was dying of tuberculosis,

while many settlers survived.

The most crucial experience in Israeli life is the holocaust. The

effects of this basic trauma on the newly born country are immeasurable:

. . . As in the development of men, the circumstances of birth con­ tribute to the development of nations. In the case of Israel, the images cast upon the dark mirror of the mind at a very crucial early stage were those of a veritable Dantean hell. . . a hell that included extermination of one-third of the Jewish people. The Nazi holocaust caused the destruction of that very same Eastern European world against which the early pioneers had staged their original rebellion, but to which, nevertheless, Israel became both outpost and heir.

Indeed, Israeli literature expressed this trauma, yet are there enough words in a language to coin the scope and significance of the genocide? Alterman wrote "From All Nations,"

When Jewish children cried in the shadow of gallows, We ignored the wrath of the world. For You chose us from all nations, You loved us without end.

For You chose us from all nations, Norwegians, Britons, and Czechs; When Jewish children are marched to the gallows, Little, wise Jews (for no-one's sake), They tell their mothers: Look away!

And the reaper continues, he never rests, And the Pope is silent in Rome. He never came out with the usual saints To stop for one day the pogrom.

To save one day, only one day, Children who daily are taken away To be killed. Unknown, Jewish, they say.

162 Elon, The Israelis, 198-99. 119

How great the concern for paintings and sculptures: Treasures of art must be saved. Yet art like skulls of murdered babies Is dashed against walls, unframed.

Their eyes speak: Look away, mother, We are marching in rows without end. Veterans we are, soldiers renowned. Only undersized we stand.

Their eyes speak yet of another culture: God of the patriarchs! We know That You chose us from all other children, That You loved us even in awe.

That You chose us from all other children To be slaughtered before Your Throne; And You gather our blood in buckets, And You do it alone.

And You sponge it up in delicate napkins, And You scent it like perfume of blooms, And You take vengeance from the hands that murdered And from the hands of the silent, too. 163

This poem was written in 1942, anticipating the theatrical storm created by Hochhuth’s Deputy twenty years later, when Habima, too, pre­ sented the play in Tel Aviv. On the subject of the holocaust the theat­ re presented only two plays, Megged's Hanna Szenes, and Children of the

Shadows by Tomer. Megged's play (1958) reflects the Israeli need for heroes, for identification with Jewish martyrs, apologetics and justi­ fications for remaining Jewish and living as Jews in a free land. The drama also reflected contemporary martyrdom in Israel, when young people died in the 1956 war with the Arabs, and there was uncertainty whether the Jewish State would survive. Tomer’s plsy (1962) focuses on the holo­ caust differently. No heroes are sought here. The problem of integrated

163 Nathan Alterman, "Mikol HaAmim," in HaTur Hashviyi, p. 9-10. 120

identity within one individual becomes significant, a topical issue in

Israel, a country struggling to create a unified nation from immigrants,

natives, and persecuted people.

The difficulties of integration are also dramatized in Bartov’s

Each Had Six Wings (1958), in which an Israeli teacher finds happiness

with an immigrant physician from Poland; other newcomers improve their

living conditions; babies are born, and a happy ending is assured.

Each Had Six Wings glamorized reality.

Ten years later, in his novel Brigade (1968), Bartov depicted a

harsher, more realistic scene: The young Israeli protagonist meets his

surviving relative in a European camp after the war. The Israeli is

filled with "terror of belonging to him, more than shock, more than

disgust." At the end of the novel he vows "never to return there. . . 164 but, as I spoke, my thoughts turned to pillars of salt." In Brigade

Bartov departs from his own play of ten years earlier, reaching toward

Tomer’s Children of the Shadows. The needs of the people changed, and

the writers answered the new call. In producing Children of the Shadows

four years after Each Had Six Wings, Habima moved from justification of

survival in Israel to restoration of sould. Habima reflected the theme

"duty is of higher priority than personal freedom or comfort."

Between 1948 and 1968 Habima concentrated on contemporary Israeli

problems, dramatizing themes of national value, all desparately complain­

ing about the lack of a rooted Israeli character. Megged, Habima's most prolific playwright during this period (he contributed six plays), sherp-

164 Hannoch Bartov, Brigade (New York: Holt, Rinehart, 1968). 121

ly analyzed the situation by comparing the reality of everyday life to

the plays that were being performed onstage. He concluded:

I don’t know whether I share the wish for a rooted Israeli charac­ ter with our generation or perhaps it is mine alone. I feel, how­ ever, that a distinct desire^for such a character underlines all our desperate experiences.

Indeed, the eight themes analyzed:in this study struggle to estab­

lish such a positive, natural character. All the ills of the country--

as dramatized in the selected plays--result from the lsck of a complete

and wholly integrated Israeli character. To the critics who blame Megged

and other Habima playwrights for the lack of developed characters in

their plays and for using protagonists as a springboard for political

ideologies, Megged replied:

I don’t believe that stories are rooted in ideologies; I don’t believe that literature is able to solve problems of life. Po­ liticians may have the;>power to change reality, yet artists de­ pict reality not as it is but as they see it. Literature gives the reader an experience; its only aim and reward. I do not believe in a story which leads toward a certain solution because all characters have their own life. Occasionally, the solution is ingrained in a character’s life. . . If a story arrives at a moral, it is usually formed by the readers. The situation may be likened to nature: when one sees cloudy skies, one may conclude, if one so desires, that it will rain. Naturally, even then, this ’moral* is not always true.

Megged’s argument may slso be the answer for those who see Habima as a propagandist theatre without aspiration for art. It is true, how­ ever, that Habima, aiming to serve the Israeli people, indeed glorified what was good for the state, particularly pioneering.

165 Galia Yardeni, Shesh Esre Sihot Im Sofrim (Ein Harod: Hot­ zaat Hakibbutz HaMeuchad, 1961), 143.

166 Ibid., 150. 122

Pioneering by choice lead to Independence, a significant mark for earthiness and integrity, never completely destroyed in the heart of Megged’s protagonists. They never cease to praise pioneer- ing, and when the stste is in danger, pioneering flourishes again.

This statement is also characteristic of several Habima playwrights

besides Megged. The latter, however, compared Israeli reality with the

characters and attitudes expressed in his own play Hedva and £, showing

that not all his writings were devoted to pioneering alone:

Our society is rapidly and constantly changing. Even the most prolific author cannot keep up with the pace. If the country seeks stability, perhaps slowly jelling, before long a new wave of immigrants—or a sharp political maneuver—apoears end destroys what seemed to be jelling. Is it possible to write novels where there is no one language, no single, ripe tradition of life? (^Con­ versely,H perhaps it is possible to write a story of a smaller society. Today, four years after I completed Hedva and I, Qthe play] seems dated to me, as if it happened long ago, as if that society no longer exists.

Megged’s observation concerning Hedva and I might be applied also to the

rest of Habima’s Israeli plays. Habima, too, was trying to keep up with

the rapid changes and the basic needs of the newly born nation.

A study of the subsidized theatres of foreign nations suggests that a national theatre is "commonly expected to preserve and encourage native 169 drama." American drama in the Federal Theatre made up approximately one-third of its repertory; Habima’s Israeli plays contributed about one-fourth of the offerings from 1948 to 1968. This compares favorably

167 Yardeni, 150.

168 Ibid.

169 L. L. Zimmerman, "The Federal Theatre: An Evaluation and Com­ parison with Foreign National Theatres." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1957, p. 448, 123

with the ratio found in the world’s better known national theatres.

Mrs. Flanagan (Director of the Federal Theatre Project) stressed the

importance of native drama which was in keeping with the nation's deve­

lopment, saying: "If the plays do not exist, we shall have to write 171 them." Habima, as shown earlier, indeed commissioned plays relevant

to the rapid development of Israel, encouraged writers to adapt their

novels to the theatre, and in these efforts usually disregarded box

office calculations for easy profit. Many national theatres show such 172 efforts.

Zimmerman also emphasizes that playwrights under the U.S. Federal

Theatre sponsorship presented "highly topical themes which were aligned

with the political and sociological functions of the General WPA pro- 173 gram." The same is true of Habima, except for the war plays.

Habima reflected nationalistic interests like some National

Theatres and unlike others. France, Ireland, Germany, and Russia have

chosen to emphasize strongly their nationalistic interests on the stage 174 of their National Theatres; Australia has given less emphasis by

170 Zimmerman, 448.

171 Hallie Flanagan, "Federal Theatre: Tomorrow," Federal Theatre, II, No. 1 (1936), 5.

172 Zimmerman, 449.

173 Ibid.

174 Ibid. 124

balancing "Shakespeare with contemporary native playwriting,where­

as the Philippines’ call for native drama is hardly answered: the num- 176 ber of native plays is "pitifully little" compared to other countries.

Habima has come closer to the practices of Australia than to those of

any other National Theatre.

Because Jewish history before and after 1948 is different in many

respects from most other history, and because Habima, since its incep-- tion in Russia, reflected this history, the theatre’s duty as a Hebrew

State Theatre (1918-1926) and later as an Israeli National Theatre is

different from most other theatres. Consequently, Habima as a National

Theatre is unique in many respects for the Jewish people in Israel and

outside the country. The theatre is a representative of a culture which

the Jews developed as a nation in Israel end elsewhere, In addition,

Habima also produces the best of foreign drama, a duty common to all

National Theatres.

In conclusion, Habima earned its recognition as the Israeli Nation­

al Theatre particularly for developing native playwriting and playwrights,

reflecting contemporary national issues, adhering to the needs of the

people, and helping immigrants and born Israelis to understand the new country and its changing climate of ideas and problems. Rahims, like

175 Kathleen Edgerton, "A Study of Selected National Theatres as Related to a Possible National Theatre in the U.S.," Unpublished Master’s thesis, Mississippi Southern College, Mississippi, 1960, p. 62.

176 Piedad Montes Guinto, "The Organization of the National Theatre in the Philippines," Unpublished Master’s thesis, Catholic University, Washington D. C., 1956, p. 64. 125

other Jewish institutions (and unlike most national theatres) which

Israel inherited from the Palestinian era, was also struggling, with significant success, to serve the newly born country. With the excep­ tion of Throw Him to the Dogs, Habima did this by presenting the prob­ lems of the people rather than those of the official national government.

In the last five years the theatre produced more Israeli plays which answered social needs than ever before. Among others, this fact is a definite indication that Habima, like other worthy national theatres in their countries, is a distinguished contributor to life in Israel. CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Despite my love for life, despite my strong desire to live, I am ready to die for peace. Every role, every anti-war play, I accept gladly. Hence my love for my leading part in The Mother by Capek.

Hanna Rovina

I might some day be able to forgive the Arabs for the damage they have done and the Israelis they have killed. Yet I would never be 8ble to forgive them if they turned the Israelis into de-^*, stroyers and killers.

Golda Meir

This study dealt briefly with the development of Habima as a Hebrew

theatre aiming to dramatize Jewish life, especially Zionism. Since its

inception Habima was faithful to the needs of Jews who wanted to live in

Israel. In 1931 Habima accomplished its original design, choosing to

stay permanently in Palestine. The theatre served the cultural needs

of the people in the Holy Land, as well as representing Hebrew culture

in the theatrical scene abroad. Habima toured extensively before and

after it settled in Palestine. These tours also served as a bridge be-: tween Jews everywhere. Being a studio of the Moscow Art Theatre in the

early 1920’s, Habima was recognized by the Soviet government, and became

a State Theatre. When Habima felt that her mission was elsewhere, the

company left Russia, and like other Jewish institutions in the world,

worked to encourage Jews in exile, particularly those who wanted to live m

in Israel. After many years of struggle in Palestine, Habima finally

opened in 1945 a playhouse all its own in the center of Tel Aviv. In

1961 the theatre added the Little Hall. In 1958, when Habima was cele­

brating its fortieth anniversary, the Israeli government awarded the

company with the coveted title "The National Theatre.” Since then Habima has continued its extensive production program as a recognized (and sub­ sidized) National Theatre.

The twenty five Israeli plays that Habima produced between 1948 and

1968 were analyzed, ten plays in detail. These were selected on the basis of a minimum run of fifty performances each. The analysis dealt with theme, setting, plot, language, and reviews. This repertory was organized under eight themes 8S follows:

(1) Abandoning the kibbutz and country are national disasters (four I plays).

(2) Unity is strength (five plays).

(3) Collective life is superior to city life (two previously mentioned plays plus two new ones).

(4) Conservative founders in conflict with liberal sons (three pre- viously mentioned plays plus four new ones).

(5) Isolation is hazardous to the state (two plays).

(6) Duty is of higher priority than personal freedom or comfort (seven plays).

(7) Free press is destructive for the state (a single plsy).

(8) Coming of the Messiah necessitates the destruction of Jewish his­ tory (one play). 128

The findings revealed that, like,»086* Israeli reality, all these

themes described the struggle of the characters to become rooted Israeli

people. All the plays were written by Israeli born or bred writers.

Most of the plays were adapted to the stage from other forms of native

literature, whereas some were written directly for Habima, commissioned

or encouraged by the theatre.

Except for Mossinson’s Throw Him to the Dogs (1958) the relevance

of the analyzed plays to Israeli nationalism is more than accidental or

passing. Between Habima end the people was a bond of faith. As public

interest shifted, the theatre reflected this shift. A prominent example

is the treatment of newly arrived immigrants in Israel. In the early

1950*s, the country was looking for heroes and justification for living

in the historical homeland despite political and military difficulties.

Megged's Hanna Szenes fulfilled this need by recreating the legendary

figure of the Jewish Joan of Arc, who in 1944, sacrificed her life in

Hungary for helping Jewish refugees to escape the Nazis. When in the

1960’s the integrity of the immigrants in Israel was a definite problem,

Habima cncentrated on dramatizing redemption of souls in Children of the

Shadows.

Habima followed the needs of the people with special attention to

what the mainstream of Israeli politics thought most important for the

revival of a nation in its newly born state. Since its inception in

Soviet Russia, Habima was the mouthpiece of Jewish redemption, Zionism,

the relocation of man in society, and the revival of the national lan.f- guage. Habima produced plays exclusively in Hebrew, hence, another tie

with the Israelis, whose daily language is Hebrew. In Palestine the 129

theatre continued to be the mouthpiece of the new settlements of Zionist

Jews. Basing its home in Tel Aviv, Habima continued to bring Israeli

experiences to Jewish communities within and outside the country. The

company regularly represented Israel in the international theatrical

scene.

Eventually, Habima’s efforts to become the Israeli National Theatre were furthered by its policy of attracting young writers, in adapting

Israeli novels to the stage, in developing Israeli plays and playwrights

The number of native plays produced by Habima was constantly increasing,

some achieving success with the public and the critics. The Israeli government subsidized Habima, and in 1958 awarded the theatre with a yearly subsidy and the title of The Israel National Theatre, yet it never became a propaganda arm of the government.

Habima may serve as an example to developing countries with problems similar to those of Israel. For example, it is possible to see American

Black Theatre following the footsteps of the Israeli National Theatre.

Newly born countries in Africa may benefit by establishing theatres like

Habima. For instance, such a theatre could serve the national needs of

Nigeria.

Although the meaning of "National Theatre" varies from one country to another, some character!sties are common to most such theatres. "Na­ tional Theatre" is the title sometimes given to a single, producing rep­ ertory company which is subsidized by the nation in order to provide in­ expensive tickets to the populace. This national company often presents a broad spectrum of the best in world drama in addition to being expres­ sive of the life, language, and literature of its people. Furthermore, 130

the company is obligated to raise artistic standards through example

and provide for future developments. As a rule, each national theatre

is uniquely different, often touring within and outside its own country,

in the latter case to act as an international representative.

In contrast to some national theatres, Habima did not focus on the following:

(1) A national playwright.

(2) Theatrical tradition in Hebrew playwriting and staging of plays.

(3) Commemorating a particular personality.

On the other hand, like other national theatres, Habima achieved the following:

(1) Tours within and outside the country to popularize Hebrew language and Jewish culture.

(2) Representation at the international theatrical scenes.

(3) Increasing the number of produced, Israeli scripts.

(4) Providing inexpensive tickets to the populace.

(5) Expressing Israeli life, language, end literature.

Future study could concentrate upon Habima as a producing organi­ zation, the relations between Habima and other Israeli theatres, and the unique contributions of Habima leaders, especially Nachum Zemach, to the development of the theatre.

Joseph Papp, director of the New York Shakespeare Festival, is quo­ ted as giving a company five years to establish itself as a viable, art­ istic producing organization, and Peter Brook is cited as allowing the same period for any single production. How many times, then, has Habima passed the test of qualifying for the role of The Israeli National Theatre? /3/

BIBLIOGRAPHY 132

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. ENGLISH BOOKS

Arian, Allan. Ideological Change in Israel Cleveland: Press of Case-Western Reserve, 1968.

Bartov, Hanoch. Brigade. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston Inc., 1968.

Ben-Ari, Raikin. Habima. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1957.

Elon, Amos. The Israelis: Founders and Sons. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.

Freedly, George and Reeves, John A. The History of the Theatre. New York: Crown Publication, Ï94l'

Gassner, John. (ed.) Masters of the Drama. 3rd ed. revised. New York: Dover Press, 1954^

Gassner, John and Quinn Edward. (ed.) The Reader’s Encyclopedia of World Drama. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1969.

Gorchakov, Nikolai. The Theatre in Soviet Russia. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957.

Habimah: Hebrew Theatre of Palestine. Tel Aviv: Bama, 1937.

Habima: Israel Nationa1 Theatre. Tel Aviv: Israel Press Ltd., 1962.

Kohansky, Mendel. The Hebrew Theatre : Its First Fifty Years. Jerusalem Israel Universities Press, 1969.

Megged, Aaron. Hedva and I. Translated by M. Benaya. Jerusalem: Youth and Hechalutz Department of the Zionist Organization, 1957.

Mossinson, Igal. Sands of the Negev. Translated and adapted by Shimon Wincelberg. New York, 1954. (Mimeographed.)

Rigdon, Walter. (ed.) The Bibliographical Encyclopedia and Who’s Who in the American Theatre. New York: James H. Heineman, 1966. 133

Schwartz, Shulamith and Hanoch Gershon. (ed.) Habimah. Tel Aviv: Cooperative Press Ltd., 1939.

Shakow, Zara. The Theatre in Israel. -New York: Herzl Press, 1963.

Syrkin, Marie. Golda Meir: Israel’s Leader. New York: Putnam’s, 1969.

Zussman, Ezra. The Israel Theatre. Tel Aviv: International Theatre Institute, n.d.

B. ENGLISH ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS

Ashman, Aaron. "This Earth," Pioneer, I, No. 2 (September, 1949), 22-28.

"Chaim Bialik on Habima," American Fund News, IV (May, 1948), 2.

Flanagan, Hallie. "Federal Theatre: Tomorrow," Federal Theatre, II, No. 1 (1936), 5.

"Habima Theatre," Bama (1936), 15.

"The Hebrew Theatre Habimah," Youth and Nation, XV (March, 1947), 15.

Kohansky, Mendel. "The Plight of the Israel Theatre," Midstream, IX, No. 2 (June, 1963), 58.

Mirsky, David. "Ambassador of a Revived Culture," Jewish Horizon, X (June, 1948), 9.

Newman, Elias. "Habimah in New York," Congress Weekly, XV (May.,21, 1948), 12.

"New Play by Habima," The Jewish Agency’s Digest, No. 21 (241), (March 4, 1949), 31-32.

Shakow, Zara. "Theatre in Israel," in Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, II (New York: Herzl Press, 1971) 1109-1114. 134

Warshauer, Ari. "The Habimah Theatre," American Fund News, III (December, 1947), 6.

C. ENGLISH UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL

Coulson, James Peter. "The Development of the American National Theatre Concept." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Kansas, 1965.

Edgerton, Kathleen. "A Study of Selected National Theatres as Related to a Possible National Theatre in the U.S." Unpublished Master’s thesis, Mississippi Southern College, 1962.

Guinto, Pridad. "The Organization of a National Theatre in the Philli­ pines." Unpublished Master's thesis, Catholic University of America, 1957.

Hill, Errol. "The Trinidad Carnival: A True National Theatre." Unpublished D.F.A. dissertation, Yale University, 1966.

Lipsey, Alfred. "The History of the Habimah Theatre." Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Southern California, 1941.

Ruys, Constance. "The Netherlands National Theatre: 1945-55." Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Stanford University, 1956.

Selfore, Sherry, "The National Theatre and the Icelandic Way of Life." Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Washing­ ton, 1954.

Zimmerman, L. L. "The Federal Theatre: An Evaluation and Comparison with Foreign National Theatres.” Unpublished Ph. D. disser­ tation, University of Wisconsin, 1957. 135

D. HEBREW BOOKS

Aloni, Nissim. Akhzar Mikol HaMelech. Tel Aviv: Igud Bimoth Hakho- vevim, 1963.

Alterman, Nathan. Hatur HaSheviyi. Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1950.

. Krachim, I, Tel Aviv: Hotzaat Hakibbutz HaMeuch- ad, 1961.

. Mishpat Pythagoras. Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz HaMeuch­ ad, 1965.

. "The Soil of Biriah," in Flag of Freedom. Jeru- salem: Jewish National Fund, 1955, pp. 51-52.

Ashman, Aaron. Ahavat Neurim. Tel Aviv: Javneh, 1949.

Amichai, Yehuda Massa LeNineveh. Jerusalem: Hotzaat Achshav, 1962

Bartov, Hanoch. Shesh Knafayim LeEhad. Tel Aviv: Sifriyat Poalim, 1954.

Ben-Ari, Raikin. Habima. Chicago: Verlog Stern, 1937.

Ben-Gurion, David. Pegishot Im Manhigim Araviyim. Tel Aviv, 1967.

Ben-Zvi, Rachel. Anachnu Olim. Tel Aviv; 1957,

Elon, Amos. Halsraelim: Meyasdim Uvanim. Tel Aviv: ÌSèhocken, 1971

Finkel, Shimon. Bama Uklayim. Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1968.

Gur, Israel. Pinkas Teatroni. Jerusalem: Bama, 1961.

Guri, Chaim. Devarim Bedam, 1956.

Handel, Yehudith. Rechov HaMadregoth. Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1955.

Hanoch, Gershon. Habima Bat Kaf-He. Tel Aviv: Albom, 1946.

Hazaz, Chaim. Beketz HeYamim. Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1949. 136

Kishon, Ephraim. Shachor Al Gabei Lavan. Tel Aviv: N. Tversky, 1956.

______. Shemo Holech Lefanav. Tel Aviv: N. Tversky, 1953.

Megged, Aaron. Hanna Szenes. Tel Aviv: Hotzaat HaKibbutz HaMeuch­ ad, 195fT

______. Harchek BaArava. Merchavia: Sifriyat Poalim, 1951.

_ Hedva VaAni. Tel Aviv: Hotzaat HaKibbutz HaMeuchad,

. I Like Mike. Tel Aviv: Hotzaat HaKibbutz HaMeuchad, 1956.

Miron, Dan. Arba Panim Basifrut Halverith Bat Yamenu. Tel Aviv: Schocken, 1962.

Mossinson, Igal. BeArvoth HaNegev. Tel Aviv: N. Tversky, 1949.

. Zerok Oto LaKelavim. Tel Aviv: Sifrey Gadish, 1958.

Nahor, Asher. Mahazoth Ureshimoth. Tel Aviv: Adi, 1967.

Norman, Isaac (ed.) Bereshith Habima. Jerusalem: Hasifriya Hatzion­ ith, 1966.

Ruthenberg, Benno (ed.) Masada. Tel Aviv: Levin-Epstein, n.d.

Shaked, Gershon. HaMahaze Halveri HaHistori Bamea HaEsrim. Jerusa­ lem: Mosad Bialik, 1970.

Shamir, Moshe. Beith Hillel. Tel Aviv: N. Tversky, 1951.

______. Chayai Im Ishmael. Tel Aviv, 1968.

______. Leil Sufa. Tel Aviv: Sifriyat Poalim, 1952.

Shenhar, Yitzhak. "Secretly," in Flag of Freedom. Jerusalem: Jew­ ish National Fund, 1955, p. 88.

Tomer, Ben-Zion. Yaldey HaTzel. Tel Aviv: Amikam, 1963.

Tkumpeldor, Yoseph. Yoman. January 10, 1920.

Yardeni, Galia. Shesh-Esre Sichot Im Sofrim. Ein Harod: Hotzaat Ha­ Kibbutz Hameuchad, 1961. 137

E. HEBREW ARTICLES AND PERIODICALS

"Ahavat Neurim," Gazith, XI, No. 5-6 (1949), 59.

Aloni, Nissim. "Bigdey HaMelech," Teatron, No. 1 (January-February, 1962).

Ashman, Aaron. "Sofrim Medabrim," Bama, I, No. 32 (1942), 50.

A. V. "Al I Like Mike Shel Megged," Orot, No. 29 (November-December, 1956), 52.

Bama, No. 47 (January, 1946), 37.

Bar-Akiva, H. "Bereshith," Bama, No. 14 (Spring, 1962), 74.

Ben-Amotz, Dan. "BeArvot Hanegev 0 Haschita Hagdola," A1 Hamishmar (Tel Aviv), April 1, 1949.

Blowstein, Rachel. "Can It Be?" in Pioneer Woman, XXXIX, No. 3 (March, 1964), 18.

Feingold, Ben-Ami. "Mishpat Pythagoras," Bama, No. 29-30 (Spring, 1966), 12.

______. "Shchuna Lelo Shchina," Bama, No. 29-30 (Spring, 1966) 14.

Gamzu, Chaim. "Amesh BaTeatron," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), January 19, 1954, p. 4.

"Beketz HaYamim," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), June 23, 1950.

"Hanna Szenes BeHabima," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), June 6, 1958, p. 7.

. "Rehov Hamadregoth," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), October 22, 7958, p. 3.

. "Shesh Knafayim LeEhad BeHabima," HaAretz (Tel Aviv), July 4, 1958, p. 7.

Goldberg, Lea. "Beayot Hateatron Halveri," Bamoth, No. 2 (June, 1952), 150. •IM

Gur, Israel. "Pirkey Hamahaze HaMekori Bimdinat Israel," Bama, No. 38-39»(Summer^,1968), 8.

. "Pitui VeNissui," Bama, No. 48-49 (Winter, 1971), 33.

Klausner, Margot. "Motiv Akedath Itzhak UBearvot HaNegev," Molad (March, 1949), 379.

Megged, Aaron. "Bereshith," Teatron, No. 2 (1962).

Reshef, Gideon. "Leil Sufa BeHabima," Massa, No. 7-8 (April 14, 1954), 8

Shaked, Gershon. "Bintivey HaMahaze HaMekori," Bama, No. 6 (1959), 13.

Shamir, Moshe. "Netivim Teatroniyim," Orot, IX, No. 46 (1961-63), 58.

Szenes, Hanna. "Blessed Is the Match," in Pioneer Woman, XXXIX, No. 3 (March, 1964), 18.

Tomer, Ben-Zion. "Al Sefat Hayam BeTel Aviv," Molad, No. 71-72 (November, 1962), 535.

Yosh. "Ani Rav Hachovel," Orot, II, No. 12 (1953-54), 28-43.

Zilbertal, Moshe. "HaMahaze Halveri Ben Zemanenu," Orlogin, No. 2 (April, 1951), 213-214.