Children of the Ghetto is an 1899 play written by British author Israel Zangwill. It is loosely based on Zangwill's 1892 novel of the same name. It is a drama in four acts, each with a subtitle and its own setting. The play is set around 1874, within the Jewish Quarter of London. The main plot centers on the love-affair of a young couple, thwarted from marrying by an obscure religious law and an unfortunate joke. The action of the play spans a hundred days time starting at Hanukkah.
It was first produced by Liebler & Company on Broadway, staged by James Herne, and starred Wilton Lackaye, Blanche Bates, and Frank Worthing.
Though successful in tryouts, the play and its author drew negative reactions from New York reviewers and the local Jewish community during its Broadway run. It closed after two months, and the production then moved to London during December 1899 but lasted only a week. The following US national tour had mixed success, garnering some praise but eventually losing money. The play was never revived on Broadway, though a Yiddish adaptation was produced in the Bowery during December 1904. It was also adapted for the screenplay of a 1915 motion picture of the same name.
While it did not return its backers investment, scholar Edna Nahshon wrote that Children of the Ghetto "should not be judged by the conventional standards of theatrical success or failure". Its legacy was as the "first Jewish play presented on the Anglo-American English language stage".
Characters
Only the principal speaking parts are given. Characters are listed in order of appearance within their scope.
Lead
Melchitsedek Pinchas is an importuning Galician poet and self-proclaimed paragon of learning. Hannah Jacobs is Reb Schmeul's pretty daughter, who loves and honors her father. Reb Schmeul Jacobs is an Orthodox rabbi, strict in belief, but generous and kind-hearted. David Borden is a young man of the quarter who has returned from years in Cape Town. Supporting Michael Birnbaum is 30, president of a Reformed Synagogue, married to the much older Malka. Ephraim Phillips is a businessman of Polish heritage, married to Malka's daughter Milly. Sam Levine is a successful and hearty commercial traveler, engaged to Malka's daughter Leah. Milly Phillips is Malka's daughter by her first husband, and Ephraim's wife. Leah is Malka's other daughter by her first husband, engaged to Sam Levine. Malka is a widowed businesswoman, now remarried and head of her extended family. Esther Ansell is 12, daughter of Moses, outspoken and brave, mother to her younger siblings. Moses Ansell is an unworldly impoverished widower, a Yiddish-speaking peddler of great learning. Featured Guedalyah the Greengrocer is a Zionist neighbor to Milly and Ephraim. Simon Wolf is a labor-leader, for whom everything is political in nature. Sugarman the Shadchan is the quarter's matchmaker who usually works on commission. Shosshi Schmendrik is a shy carpenter, socially awkward, who unwisely has paid Sugarman in advance. Mrs. Belcovitch is a dried-up older lady with many maladies but energetic in dancing and disputes. Becky is Mrs. Belcovitch's buxom daughter, who refuses to honor the marriage contract with Shosshi. Mrs. Jacobs is Hannah's mother, who despairs of Reb Schmeul's generosity and Hannah's single state. Widow Finkelstein redeems Shosshi's belief that he too can find love.
Synopsis
The play was never published during the author's lifetime, its first print appearance being in Edna Nahshon's From the Ghetto to the Melting Pot: Israel Zangwill's Jewish Plays (2006), which is the source for this synopsis.
Act I: The Letter of the Law (At Milly's house at the feast of Hanukkah.) Michael, Ephraim, and Milly greet Sam, who has returned from a business trip bringing a ring for his fiancé, Leah. The four are interrupted by Pinchas, who flogs his books and cadges a meal in the kitchen. Malka and Esther return from the market, followed shortly by Leah. Hannah arrives to collect donations for a charity. Sam shows everyone the ring, then jokingly puts it on Hannah's finger and recites the marriage vow. Pinchas warns them this was a valid marriage. He rushes off to bring Reb Schmeul while Esther fetches her father. Reb Schmeul says a Get must be prepared and Sam must give it to Hannah to effect a divorce. Moses Ansell prepares the document while Reb Schmeul instructs Sam in how to deliver it. The divorce is validated as the act ends. (Curtain)