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From the NY Times review,
"Habima Players Act 'Jacob's Dream'"
January 4, 1927
"Courage--simple courage--is certainly a
pre-eminent quality of the Habima players from
Moscow whose third offering to an American
audience was seen last night. Out of a modern
literary piece by Richard Beer-Hoffman--a modern
literary piece all the more because it is
founded on the biblical story of the blessing
which Jacob contrived with Rebecca's assistance
to filch from his brother Esau--they have
constructed a stage piece which does not shrink
from making men and angels equally concrete.
Nay, they deal thus not with angles only but the
four great archangels that guard God's
throne--Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and
Uriel--while the fallen archangel Semael, whom
Christians call Sathanas, joins in the debate.
There they are collected about young Jacob on
the mountain top where, according to the
Scriptures, he went to wrestle with the Lord.
Hence the title 'Jacob's Dream.'
That is the effect, at least, on the auditor and
spectator who is without Hebrew. the words which
deal with the effects of the stolen blessing on
the children of Israel--the privilege and the
penalty, the glory and the tragedy of being a
chosen people apart--have, of course, an
emotional and poetical magic of their own which
the childish spectacle could hardly tend to
heighten..." |