I finished God of Vengeance (1907) at three in the morning, and so forgive my insomnia brain for summarizing my critical thoughts of this ground-breaking piece of Yiddish theater as ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The two women run off together, disobeying Rifkele’s father and trying to assert their own agency. Himself a creature of the gutter, Yekel Tchaftchovitch, the central figure of "The God of Vengeance," is stirred by the noblest ambition known to a father in the world of orthodox Judaism. The sun, curious about the land, bowed his head close to her body, and Elgar'nan was born in the place where they touched. Sholem Asch’s play “God of Vengeance” caused quite a stir when it came to Broadway in 1923. God of Vengeance tells the story of successful brothel owner Yekel Tchaptchovitch (Shane Baker) who is determined to marry his daughter Rifkele (Shanya Schmidt) to a respectable man. But because God is “rich in mercy,” his “mercy triumphs over judgment” (Eph. Instead, … The young man, Sholem Asch, wrote "The God of Vengeance" in Warsaw. Absorbingly interesting and instinct with human sympathy, it mounts to a natural climax of cataclysmal force and great spiritual beauty. (Takes her hand.) “God of Vengeance” played to rapt audiences throughout Europe and opened in New York in 1907 in Yiddish. Manke calls to Rifkele, who sneaks out of the house and joins her in the rain. It's set in a brothel, where Rifkele, the daughter of the owner, falls for Manke, one of the women working for her father. Admittedly, this is mostly my own fault for taking NPR and … In Norse mythology, Víðarr (Old Norse, possibly "wide ruler", sometimes anglicized as Vidar / ˈ v iː d ɑːr /, Vithar, Vidarr, and Vitharr) is a god among the Æsir associated with vengeance. So, stories about Jewish lesbians aren’t new. Disobedience brings to mind a scene from Indecent, a 2015 play that revisits God of Vengeance’s fate.A dispute erupts among performers over whether to cut a risqué scene: one where the play’s two lovers — the prostitute Manke and the Jewish brothel owner’s daughter, Rifkele — kiss in the rain. Asch was 26 when he wrote “God of Vengeance.” He was a former yeshiva student whom David Mazower, Asch’s great-grandson, has described as an “intensely spiritual man. But the cast’s commitment brings the work’s flashes of lyricism to powerful life. In Sholem Asch’s GOD OF VENGEANCE, the boundary between the seedy underworld and the respectable world dissolves: when both are built on the sale of female bodies, which is the family home and which the brothel? RIFKELE, their daughter; a. of about seventeen. Víðarr is described as the son of Odin and the jötunn Gríðr, and is foretold to avenge his father's death by killing the wolf Fenrir at Ragnarök, a conflict which he is described as surviving. The sense of the original evidently remains. Written by Sholem Asch in 1906, it remains strikingly relevant for contemporary audiences, and is a reminder not to view the past through a misty-eyed filter of nostalgia. This is a contemporary adaptation of that play that evidently restricts itself to leaving out some of the scenes so as to make the play manageable in length. Origin. Now dutifully playing the role of subservient wife, Sarah properly wears a wig when necessary. Murder is always a terrible crime, a sin that cries out to God for vengeance. Some 16 years later, another production (this one in English) opened in Greenwich Village in New York and moved to the Apollo Theater, making it the first Broadway play to portray a lesbian relationship in a sympathetic light — and to include a lesbian kiss. Sholem Asch’s Got fun nekome (God of Vengeance) has one of the most remarkable histories of any modern drama. However, unknown to her father, Rifkele has developed a romantic attachment for Manke, one of her father’s working girls and late at night the two girls visit. Verse Concepts. They were both killed in a hail of gun fire on Lady Chancellor Hill last week. Marcus Neville is a potent and angry Mr. Peretz, Rifkele’s father, in the climactic scene of “God of Vengeance,” seen repeatedly, but he also gives stature to the legendary actor Rudolph Schildkraut, who made the play’s Berlin success happen. Verse Concepts. Psalm 94:1-2 O LORD, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth! The original "God of Vengeance" was a play by Sholem Asch that achieved notoriety in its day through the frank depiction of a same-sex love affair between two women. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! But his daughter, Rifkele, is secretly in love with Manke, one of the women being prostituted by her father. He is one of the two Gods of Vengeance – the other being his half-brother Váli, as it seems that in ancient Norse culture one deity of vengeance was not enough. Although some may find that Basha’s genial acceptance of her lot is romanticized, she frankly boasts that she has freedoms, even living as she does, that would be denied her in the hidebound community where she grew up. But “God of Vengeance” holds the stage formidably in its own right, primarily for its forthright depiction of the love between Yankl’s teenage daughter, Rifkele (Shayna Schmidt), and Manke (Melissa Weisz), one of the women who work in the brothel. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. Review: In ‘God of Vengeance,’ a Nice Jewish Family Lives Above a Brothel. Everything hinges on marrying off their daughter Rifkele, but Rifkele’s secret relationship with Manke, one of the women of the brothel, threatens their carefully laid plans. What does papa dear want ? Literal Standard Version God of vengeance—YHWH! God of Vengeance is a play of passions, a social critique that explores the distance between outer appearances and inner truth, and a powerful dramatic statement on the oppression of women. But Yankl, a good Jewish father, is not thinking only of himself. jQuery(document).ready(function(){ 2:4; James 2:13, ESV). Viðarr Basics. SARAH, his wife; formerly a prostitute. Everything hinges on marrying off their daughter Rifkele, but Rifkele’s secret relationship with Manke, one of the women of the brothel, threatens their carefully laid plans. They are enticed by Yankl’s procurer Shloyme (a wonderfully slimy Luzer Twersky) and his girlfriend Hindel (Caraid O’Brien, making something fairly fresh of the hooker with a heart of, well, tinsel if not gold), to start up a new stable. Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! God’s vengeance is, therefore, a righteous expression of his justice. Remaining performances are Saturday, March 10 at 7:30pm, Sunday, March 11 at 2pm, Friday, March 16 at 7:30pm, Saturday, March 17 at 2pm and 7:30pm and Sunday March 18 at 2pm. Perhaps using period costumes was too expensive. God of Vengeance tells the story of successful brothel owner Yekel Tchaptchovitch (Shane Baker) who is determined to marry his daughter Rifkele (Shanya Schmidt) to a respectable man. A pious Orthodox Jew, Yankl makes his living in what remains a highly unorthodox profession: He owns a brothel that sits below the apartment in which his family lives. 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