Cast of Characters:

A review appeared in the New York Times on November 11, 1975:

Stage: 'God, Man, Devil'
Yiddish Play Opens at Central Synagogue
By Thomas Lask

Unlike other plays in Yiddish, Jacob Gordin's "Gott, Mensch un Tyvel" ("God, Man and the Devil") does not require the ambiance of the Eastern European Pale or the shtetl for its effect or its effectiveness. It is not a nostalgic romp through the past, nor a play whose point derives from the breaking up of ancient folkways or the widening gap between generations.

Borrowing both from the Book of Job and the Faust legend, Gordin contrived a play built on the struggle between man's better nature and his evil spirit. The working out of that struggle represented by Hershele Dubrovner, a poor scribe suddenly become rich, and the devil in the form of Uriel Mazik, a lottery ticket-seller and promoter, is the heart of the play.

Satan (later Uriel Mazik)
Pipernoter
Leyzer Badkhn
Pesenyu
Freydenyu
Tsipenyu
Khatskl Drakhme
Dobe
Motl
Hershele Dubrovner

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Leon Liebgold
Jacob Gostynsky
Joshua Zeldis
Mina Kern
Marilyn Gold
Ruth Selman
Morris Adler
Zypora Spaisman
Moishe Rosenfeld
David Ellin

Left to right, seated: Ben Schechter, Israel Beker (director) and Zypora Spaisman.
Left to right, standing: Unk., Sheftel Zak, Joshua Zeldis, Moishe Rosenfeld and Jacob Gostinsky.
courtesy of Moishe Rosenfeld.

In the prologue, God and Satan debate the worthiness of man, and Satan receives permission to test mankind by testing Hershele. Sure enough, money does corrupt the man. He does away with his holy work, divorces his wife, thrusts away his friends until just before the brink he draws back and performs the one act he hopes will redeem his past.

Obviously it is a play that no matter how subtle, its implications are rather broad in incident and characterization, and it was played so at the Folksbiene production, now being given every weekend in the auditorium of the Central Synagogue. Nevertheless, it is a play whose closing pages have an impressive and moving power, well realized in this production.

Under Israel Beker's resourceful direction, the play moves rapidly and he has met the challenge of the play head on by neither skirting nor emphasizing its pathos or melodrama.

As the tempted man, David Ellin gives a fine-grained performance, full of good will and saintliness at the beginning, broken and confused at the end. As Satan, Leon Liebgold, owner of a superb speaking voice, was satirical and seductive. Though somewhat operatic in pose and posture, he was an abrasive foil to his adversary. Joshua Zeldis brought increasing dignity to his part as Hershele's disillusioned father. Marilyn Gold was all innocence and ardor as the young wife, and Zypora Spaisman was her usual salty self as the wife of Hershele's friend. The smaller roles were nicely integrated into the production.

"Gott, Mensch un Tyvel" is an old-fashioned play in that its theme could not be easily treated today -- even in Yiddish -- in the terms in which Gordin conceived it. But it is a genuine Yiddish classic that in the Folksbiene production retains its life and character.