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The Struggle for a Yiddish Repertoire Theatre in Israel 1950–1952Rachel Rojanski teaches in the department of Jewish history at the University of Haifa, Israel. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant 103/5).

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 15; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13537120802574104

1743-9086

Rachel Rojanski,

Soviet and Russian History

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Natham Vulfowitz, ‘Hershele Ostropolyer farn gericht’ (Hershel of Ostropol in court), Letste nayes (hereafter: LN), 20 July 1951 (Yiddish); ‘Yiddishe kinstler alarmiren’ (Yiddish actors sound the alarm, Natan Vulfowitz, ‘Hershele Ostropolyer farn gericht’ (Hershel of Ostropol in court), Letste Nayes (hereafter: LN), 29 June 1951 (Yiddish). Future references to this newspaper will not note that the articles are in Yiddish. 2. Suit filed by the Goldfaden Theatre troupe in the High Court of Justice, Israel State Archives, High Court of Justice (hereafter ISA, HCJ), file 135/51: Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o. 3. ‘Vulfowitz in land’ (Vulfowitz in the country), LN, 9 October 1950, p. 4. 4. ‘David Hart’, Folksblat, 16 February 1966 (Yiddish). 5. Letter of the Goldfaden Theatre directors requesting exemption from amusement tax, 20 February 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives, New York. It is unclear to whom the letter was addressed. 6. Vulfowitz was fluent in Hebrew even before immigrating to Israel, interview with his son, Alexander Ze'evi, April 2003. 7. Shabtai Teveth, ‘Katrielivke she-be-Yafo’ (Katrielivke in Jaffa), Ha'aretz, 2 November 1951 (Hebrew). 8. Goldfaden Theatre to the Council for the Control of Films and Plays, 13 March 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 9. ‘Antisemitizm un yidishkeit’ (Antisemitism and Yiddishkeit), LN, 10 May and 1 June 1951. 10. ‘“Mirele Efros” in Goldfaden teater’ (‘Mirele Efros’ in the Goldfaden Theatre), LN, 1 June 1951. 11. Letters to Herschel Weinreich, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 12. Goldfaden Theatre to the Council for the Control of Films and Plays, 13 March 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 13. Minutes of the meeting of the Council for the Control of Films and Plays, ISA, 29/335/C. 14. Letter no. 425/152/15/42 from the Council for the Control of Films and Plays to Aharon Ostragovsky, representing the Goldfaden Theatre, 3 January 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. The document refers to the letter by members of the theatre to the council dated 27 December 1950. 15. ‘A nay Yidish teater’ (A new Yiddish theatre), LN, 19 February 1951. 16. Pessah Gutmarck to the Council for the Control of Films and Plays, 13 March 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. The letter does not bear Gutmarck's signature but the same file contains a letter dated 27 March 1951 addressed to him acknowledging its receipt. 17. Pessah Gutmarck to the Council for the Control of Films and Plays, 13 March 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. The letter does not bear Gutmarck's signature but the same file contains a letter dated 27 March 1951 addressed to him acknowledging its receipt 18. Council for the Control of Films and Plays to Gutmarck, 27 March 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 19. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 20. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 21. ‘“Mirele Efros” in Goldfaden teater.’ 22. Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 23. The Story of the Ohel Theatre, ed. Yehuda Gabbai, Tel Aviv, 1983, p. 144 (Hebrew). 24. Emanuel Levy, The Habimah National Theatre: Its History in the Years 1919–1979, Tel Aviv, 1981, pp. 44–45. 25. Emanuel Levy, The Habimah National Theatre: Its History in the Years 1919–1979, Tel Aviv, 1981, pp. 44–45, supp. 2. 26. Advertisement for three performances of the play in the Migdal-Or Gardens on the 20, 21 and 24 of July 1951, LN, 20 July 1951. 27. Advertisement for three performances of the play in the Migdal-Or Gardens on the 20, 21 and 24 of July 1951, LN, July 24 1951. 28. Ads in LN, 1 June and 29 June 1951. 29. ‘Antisemitizm un Yiddishkeit’. Receipts for fines paid on behalf of the Goldfaden Theatre: I£2 by Chana Korsky (28 May 1951) and I£10 by Vulfowitz (22 June 1951) are in the Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 30. Natham Vulfowitz, ‘Hershele Ostropolyer farn gerikht’ (Hershele of Ostropol before the court), LN, 20 July 1951. See also, an introduction to this article with the Hebrew translation in Rachel Rojanski: ‘Hershele me-Ostropoli be-veit ha-mishpat’, Ha'aretz, 2 April 2000. 31. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 32. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 33. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 34. Hart a.o. vs the Minister of the Interior a.o., ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 35. Order nisi of the Supreme Court, 1 July 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51. 36. Proceedings of the session of the High Court of Justice, 17 July 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 37. Order of the Supreme Court in its capacity as High Court of Justice, 17 July 1951, ISA, HCJ, file 135/51 38. Record of Government session 55/1951, 18 July 1951. 39. Letter of the Council acknowledging receipt of the request, 17 July 1951. 40. ‘“Er kumt haynt bay nakht” in Goldfaden teater’, LN, 21 September 1951. 41. Programme for Er kumt haynt bay nakht, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 42. Transcript of radio review with Israel Segal, February 1952, Programme for Er kumt haynt bay nakht, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 43. ‘Din vekheshbn fun tetikayt, 21 April bizn 22 Oktober 1957’ (Report of activities, 21 April to 22 October 1957), Programme for Er kumt haynt bay nakht, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 44. Detailed plan of the Migdal-Or Garden showing layout of seats and the stage, Programme for Er kumt haynt bay nakht, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 45. Sh. Cahana Theatre Agency, ‘Heshbon hakhnasot’ (Report of income), 3 April 1952, Programme for Er kumt haynt bay nakht, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives (Hebrew); Sharon Cinemas—Workers' House Hall, ‘Din ve-heshbon mehatzagat ha-teatron al-shem Goldfaden, Ein Tog in Moskve’ (Report of the performance of One Day in Moscow by the Goldfaden Theatre), 26 June 1952, ibid. (Hebrew). 46. Yitshak Perlov. ‘Tsigel far a Yiddish kultur hoyz in Tel Aviv’ (A step toward the foundation of a Yiddish cultural house in Tel Aviv), Lebens Fragen, August 1951, p. 8 (Yiddish). For the two associations of authors in Warsaw, see Nathan Cohen, Sefer, Sofer, ve-Iton: Merkaz ha-Tarbut ha-Yehudit be-Varsha, 1918–1942 (Book, Author, and Newspaper: The Centre of Jewish Culture in Warsaw, 1919–1942), Jerusalem 2003, pp. 17–31 (Hebrew). 47. Ohel Shem to the Goldfaden Theatre, 6 December 1951, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. The letter noted that it was in reply to a request made on 21 November 1951. 48. For example, the Habimah Theatre refused to help the Goldfaden Theatre rent a hall for a performance in Rehovot. 49. Hirshel Weinreich to the Goldfaden Theatre, 6 August 1951, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 50. Goldfaden Theatre to the management of Ohel Shem, 17 February 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives For the permission to produce the play to be performed that evening, see Council for the Control of Films and Plays to Goldfaden Theatre, 3 March 1952, ibid. 51. Programme of the evening, seating plan of Ohel Shem hall, and list of tickets sent to invitees, all in Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 52. Financial report on the performance of this play in Hadera, 17 July 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 53. Casting for Dybbuk, 20 July 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 54. Goldfaden Theatre to Hapoel hall management, 3 June 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives 55. ‘Oystsug fun protokol num. 10’ (extract from protocol no. 10), 29 July 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives The contract with Tenenbaum also stipulated that any actor who would not be accepted in another theatrical company within a month following the 30th of July would receive I£50. 56. See ‘Din vekheshbn fun tetikayt, 21 April bizn 22 Oktober 1957’. 57. Moshe Sikron, ‘Ha-aliyah ha-hamonit’: meafyenehah ve-hashpa'otehah al uchlussiyat Yisrael (Mass immigration: its characteristics and influence on the population of Israel), Jerusalem, 1989, p. 25 (Hebrew). 58. Moshe Sicron, ‘Ha-aliyah ha-hamonit’: meafyenehah ve-hashpa'otehah al uchlussiyat Yisrael (Mass immigration: its characteristics and influence on the population of Israel), Jerusalem, 1989, p. 24. 59. Moshe Grossman, ‘Di liebe provints in Yisroel’, Der yidisher kemfer, 16 February 1951 (Yiddish). 60. Yiddish literatur in Medinas-Yisroel (Yiddish literature in the State of Israel), Tel Aviv 1991, p. 236 (Yiddish). 61. Grossman, ‘Di liebe provints in Yisroel’, p. 4. 62. Grossman, ‘Di liebe provints in Yisroel’, p. 4 63. Y.D. Mittelpunkt, ‘Giv'at Aliyah—tsores aliyah’ (Giv'at Aliyah—the problems of aliyah [immigration]), LN, 6 January 1950. 64. Bronya Lev, ‘Yidish teater in Dzhebelie’ (Yiddish theatre in Djebalia), LN, 9 October 1950, p. 4 (Yiddish). Djebalia was the former name of this quarter, when it was populated by Arabs who fled in 1948. 65. Teveth, ‘Katrielivke she-be-Yafo’. 66. ‘Eilat kor'et’ (Eilat calls), Ma'ariv, 6 May1951 (Hebrew). 67. I.B. Gal, ‘Der zig fun yidishn teater in Yisroel: a briv fun Tel Aviv’ (The victory of the Yiddish theatre in Israel: A letter from Tel Aviv), Forverts, 6 August 1951 (Yiddish). 68. ‘Briv fun alveltlekhn yidishn kultur-kongres tsum hekhstn gerikht in Yisroel’ (letter from the World Congress of Jewish Culture to the Supreme Court in Israel), LN, 24 August 1951. 69. ‘Hutrah hatsagatam shel shnei mahazot be-Yiddish’ (Performance of Two Yiddish Plays Permitted), Ha'aretz, 23 July 1951 (Hebrew). 70. D. Nahum ‘Teatron le-yishuvei olim’ (Theatre for immigrant settlements), Yediot Aharonot, 14 September 1951 (Hebrew). 71. ‘Divrei sifrut ve-omanut’ (Literary and artistic matters), Yediot Aharonot, 7 September 1951 (Hebrew). 72. ‘Merkaz ha-omanut ha-yehudit’ (Centre for Yiddish art), Yediot Aharonot, 18 May 1952 (Hebrew). 73. Advertisements for the Aviv Theatre and the Goldfaden Theatre, Yediot Aharonot, 4 September 1951, 17 October 1951, respectively. 74. Y.M. Neiman, ‘Yaakov Weislitz, le-hofa'otav ba'aretz’ (Jacob Weislitz on the occasion of his performances in Israel), Dvar Ha-shavu'a, 5 October 1950 (Hebrew). 75. ‘Le-vo'o shel Maurice Shvartz’ (With the arrival of Maurice Schwartz), Bamah, 2 August 1938 (Hebrew). 76. ‘Maurice Shvartz yegalem demuyot eleh be-Yisrael’ (Maurice Schwartz will play these roles in Israel), Yediot Aharonot, 23 March 1951 (Hebrew). 77. Advertisements for performances by Maurice Schwartz, Israel Gur Theatre Archives and Museum, Jerusalem. 78. Y.M. Neiman, ‘Maurice Shvartz, le-hofa'ato ba'aretz’ (Maurice Schwartz on the occasion of his performance in Israel), Dvar Ha-shavu'a, 9 May 1951 (Hebrew). 79. Maurice Schwartz, ‘Avayem kama mahazot be-Yisrael’ (I shall direct a few plays in Israel), Yediot Aharonot, 6 April 1951 (Hebrew). 80. Sh. Netzer, ‘Maurice Shvartz hehti et matrato’ (Maurice Schwartz missed his mark), Ma'ariv, 2 May 1951 (Hebrew). 81. ‘Omanut lelo ippur: sihah im Rahel Holzer’ (Artistry without makeup: interview with Rachel Holzer), Ma'ariv, 15 April 1951 (Hebrew). 82. Shimon Dzhigan, Der koyekh fun yidishn humor (The power of Yiddish humor), Tel Aviv, 1974, p. 300 (Yiddish). 83. Based on the biblical phrase, ‘And they journeyed from … and encamped in …’ (Exodus 13:20, 17:1 and elsewhere). 84. Y. Kisilov, chairman of the Council, to Dzhigan and Shumakher, 9 April 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file. 85. The Council to Dzhigan and Shumakher, 15 May 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file 86. Chairman of the Council to P. Gorenstein, representing Dzhigan and Shumakher, 19 October 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file 87. A. Kinarti to Dzhigan and Shumakher, 29 March 1951, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file [emphasis in original]. 88. For example, in his article on Yaakov Weislitz (n. 74 above), he came out in principle against Yiddish theatre in Israel. 89. Y.M. Neiman, ‘Dzhigan ve-Shumakher’ (Dzhigan and Shumakher). Dvar Ha-shavu'a, 1 June 1950 (Hebrew). 90. Ezriel Carlebach, ‘Yoman: Dzhigan ve-Shumakher’ (Editorial: Dzhigan and Shumakher), Ma'ariv, 2 May 1950 (Hebrew). 91. Ezriel Carlebach, ‘Yoman: Dzhigan ve-Shumakher’ (Editorial: Dzhigan and Shumakher), Ma'ariv, 2 May 1950 (Hebrew) 92. J. Heftman to the Minister of the Interior, 25 April 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file. 93. Shapira to Heftman, 10 May 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file 94. Dzhigan, Der koyekh fun yiddishn humor, p. 300. 95. Dzhigan, Der koyekh fun yiddishn humor, pp. 300–04. 96. Literally, a dunce cap, a form of which, in khaki, became a symbol of the new Israeli during the early decades of statehood. 97. Dzhigan, Der koyekh fun yiddishn humor, p. 310, emphasis added. 98. Dzhigan, Der koyekh fun yiddishn humor, p. 313. 99. Directorate of Malben (an agency of the Joint Distribution Committee for the care of aged, infirm and handicapped immigrants in Israel) to Dzhigan and Shumakher, 16 March 1951, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file. 100. Commander of Regiment 933 to the Association of Journalists, 27 July 1950, Theatre Museum, Tel Aviv, unnumbered file 101. Pierrer Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, translated by Richard Nice, Cambridge, MA 1984, pp. 53–54. 102. Shoshana Weitz, ‘From High Culture to an Industry of Culture: The Tel Aviv Cameri Theatre’, in Gad Kaynar, Eli Rozik and Freddie Rokem (eds), The Cameri—a Theatre of Time and Place: Studies in the History of the Cameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, 1999 (Hebrew). Quotation on p. 193. 103. See n. 66 above. 104. Management of the Goldfaden Theatre to Pinski, 17 February 1952, Goldfaden Theatre files, YIVO Archives. 105. ‘“Mirele Efros” in Goldfaden teater’ (emphasis in the original). 106. Ben-Ami Feingold, ‘Shnot ha-shishim ba-teatron ha-Yisraeli’ (The 1960s in the Israeli Theatre), in Zvi Zameret and Hanna Yablonka (eds), The Second Decade: 1958–1968, Jerusalem, 2000, pp. 243–44 (Hebrew). 107. Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The Linguistic market’ in, Sociology in Question, translated by Robert Nice, London, 1993, pp. 80–81. 108. Nahma Sandrow, Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater, New York, 1977, pp. 72–82. 109. David S. Lifson, The Yiddish Theatre in America, New York, 1965, pp. 66–431. 110. Nathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan, Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto-Ricans, Jews, Italians and Irish of New York, Boston, MA, 1963. 111. See, in extenso, Rachel Rojanski, Zehuyot nifgashot: Po'alei Tzion be-tzefon Amerika, 1905–1931 (Conflicting Identities: Poalei Zion in America, 1905–1931), Sede Boqer, 2004 (Hebrew). 112. See Gur Alroey, Immigrantim: Ha-hagirah ha-yehudit le-Eretz Yisrael be-reshit ha-me'ah ha-esrim (Immigrants: Jewish Immigration to Palestine in the Early Twentieth Century), Jerusalem, 2004 (Hebrew). 113. Samuel L. Baily, Immigrants in the Land of Promise: Italians in Buenos Aires and New York City, 1879–1914, Ithaca, NY, and London, 1999, p. 227. 114. Ze'ev Ben Haim, ‘Ha-teatron ha-lo'azi be-Yisrael’ (Foreign-language theatre in Israel), in Avraham B. Yaffe, Shlomo Bertonov and Yona Katz (eds), Omanut ha-bamah be-Yisrael (Theatre in Israel), Tel Aviv [1965], p. 38 (Hebrew).