The Ghetto: A Drama in Four Acts
Part 4
Bravo! "A strong ass," eh? Ha, ha, ha! You've been deep in the Pentateuch. Where will you find such inspirations in any other Sacred Book? But you should read them under guidance, you foolish boy!
RAFAEL.
Under guidance! There is a guidance born in me that takes me where I am, and I do not fear! It is a guidance that lives to-day; it is not a guidance dug from the bones of a dead people of the dim past! I know. You are going to say that Solomon did business, that David did business. I don't care if they did! And you tell me that I skim the surface, that I miss the spirit of the Jewish faith; and I tell you that it is this spirit that my soul revolts against--the spirit that holds our people in chains--the chains of the Ghetto!
THE RABBI.
Ghetto! There is no Ghetto! We do not live in Ghettos now, my boy! Preposterous!
RAFAEL.
And now _you_ are skimming the surface, and _you_ will not see the truth that underlies! You say there is no Ghetto! Could I ever play with any but another Jew when I was a child? Could I ever eat with a Christian? Was I ever taught by any but a Jew? No, you have taught me to despise the Christians!
THE RABBI.
They persecuted us for ages; they have not taught us to admire them.
RAFAEL.
They have ceased to persecute us, they have taken down the stones of the Ghetto walls, but still we are taught to despise them; still we try to think ourselves the chosen people. We set ourselves as a race against them and the universal brotherhood of man. This is the proof of it: _our women we marry, theirs we pay!_
THE RABBI.
That is not true; it's a shameful calumny!
RAFAEL.
I can pick you ten young men to prove it--out of those that heard you preach to-day!
THE RABBI.
How dare you say such a thing! Are you a Jew no longer? Am I speaking to a Christian?
RAFAEL.
You are speaking to a Jew who claims to-day and to-morrow as his own--not yesterday! A Jew who believes that it shall not be asked if a man worship in a synagogue or in a cathedral, in a chapel or in a mosque, or in silence and solitude under God's own dome! And the falsehood you have brought me up by; our hatred and our bigotry which keeps us away from them, our cursed earthiness which keeps them away from us--I loathe it all--I hate it--I will fight it as long as I live! I am a Jew--a Jew of to-day and to-morrow; and every man whom God created in his image is my brother!
THE RABBI.
The boy's gone daft! Daft!
SACHEL.
No, not that; he's been poisoned--poisoned by this damned creature in my house! She's his----
THE RABBI.
Be still! I lost my self-control--set me a better example. I--I--it is many years--indeed, I may say I have never listened to such a tirade! Let me tell you, you will live to regret what you have said here in the very shadow of the synagogue. I will not treat it seriously; I cannot! That you--a mere boy who has gobbled a bit here and a bit there from the Book of Law, should have the monstrous effrontery to--to----
RAFAEL.
Father, are you ready to walk home now?
SACHEL.
I--I am not rested yet. [_He pokes THE RABBI._
RAFAEL.
From the sermon?
_Enter two rough fellows, supporting another, who has a swollen eye; they stand at a distance, with sinister looks at RAFAEL._
SACHEL.
Ha, ha! [_Pokes THE RABBI._] You don't laugh enough!
THE RABBI.
As I was about to say, when I was interrupted, you have said that Rafael wants to go away. Then let him go! When he comes back he'll have a different view of his people. Do you fear he won't come back; not come back to his home--to his blind old father? You are foolish, Sachel! Drive him away, and he'll find that there is no home in the world like a Jewish home--that a clock ticks nowhere in the world as it does by one's own hearth. Ah, the Christians don't know what family life is; they have nothing to compare with ours. It is because we stay by one another, because we are sober and temperate and industrious and respectful of our elders!
[_RAFAEL goes up, faces the three men at the back; they slink off. He returns, showing a new determination in his face._
SACHEL.
He ought to marry; then he would appreciate that.
THE RABBI.
Marry? Who spoke of marrying? He doesn't want to marry yet; I wouldn't have him marry yet. Don't try to hurry Rafael; he's not the fellow to stand it. My dear friends, when the time comes, and a strong, fine-looking young fellow makes up his mind that----
RAFAEL.
It is a good idea. I have been thinking of marriage all day.
SACHEL.
Eh, you have? Now what sort of thoughts did you have? I suppose you thought I would object, eh?
ESTHER.
But he doesn't know any girls. He never looks at them!
RAFAEL.
I know one.
ESTHER.
Indeed! And whom, pray?
RAFAEL.
Aaron's daughter--Rebecca. Do you know her?
[_SACHEL nudges THE RABBI._
ESTHER.
This is where she lives; and she came to see us yesterday, with her father.
RAFAEL.
Indeed! What did he come for?
ESTHER.
To sell some wool! She's a fine girl, I should say.
RAFAEL.
A delicate person--a retiring person--a shrinking person!
ESTHER.
Oh, not too much so.
RAFAEL.
[_As if disappointed._] Then you think she is not so sensitive a creature?
ESTHER.
Well, I should say she _was_ perhaps rather sensitive.
THE RABBI.
Shrinking, I should say.
SACHEL.
Shrinking; she is shrinking, I should say! [_A pause._
ESTHER.
Well----
THE RABBI.
And----
SACHEL.
And did----?
RAFAEL.
Eh? Rain--rain? Oh no!
THE RABBI.
Speaking of Rebecca reminds me, and I will tell you an anecdote----
RAFAEL.
Curious coincidence that, just as my mind was full of thoughts of love and matrimony, in should burst this same Rebecca!
SACHEL.
Eh? eh? [_He nudges THE RABBI._
THE RABBI.
Curious? Not at all! Beauty, health, cleverness--the idea is in the air, wherever she goes. If I were a young man--but such matters are not for my concern until they are brought to the synagogue--I should----
[_REBECCA appears at the window of AARON'S house._
RAFAEL.
True, Rabbi, true! And you do wisely not to meddle with them. Do you know there was a faint suggestion in the air--like the subtle odour of some tender flower--that possibly Rebecca would not be averse to marrying me!
SACHEL.
Well, well, well! Hee, hee! [_He nudges THE RABBI._
ESTHER.
Dear me; love at first sight!
RAFAEL.
Not at first sight; we have had previous interviews----
SACHEL.
Eh? eh? The rascal!
RAFAEL.
----about fourteen years ago. And now we have met again, and I thought she would be willing to marry me, but being so shrinking a creature, like--what shall I say--like a snail withdrawing into its shell---- [_REBECCA draws back in pain._
ESTHER.
[_Mildly deprecating._] Oh!
RAFAEL.
She would not say so in as many words.
[_REBECCA looks out again._
ESTHER.
I am sorry for the poor girl; for, if the truth be told--But, there, you are not serious about anything!
SACHEL.
Why do you say "poor girl" when she would bring----
THE RABBI.
But Rafael doesn't look to dowries; he has a romantic turn. The fact that she would bring five or six thousand guilders----
SACHEL.
Ten thousand guilders!
RAFAEL.
Ten thousand guilders! [_In irony._] H'm! But--Oh, well, I'm not a very keen observer, Rabbi; it is probable that Rebecca never----
THE RABBI.
On the contrary. For, speaking of that very matter, which, of course, is no affair of mine, she----
RAFAEL.
Quite true, quite true! What did you say, aunt?
ESTHER.
Eh? Oh, I was going to say that she begged your photograph of me yesterday, and when it dropped into the canal she was almost ready to cry.
RAFAEL.
H'm! But it was careless of her to drop me into that nasty canal!
SACHEL.
It blew in; there came a great gust of wind.
RAFAEL.
The wind must have been Aaron, disputing the value of his wool!
THE RABBI.
Good! Good! Ha, ha, ha! He has a mind; he will not let his heart run away with his head!
RAFAEL.
And so Rebecca----H'm! But I shall not let my heart run away with my purse. I should hold my hot young blood in bounds!
SACHEL.
Not always! Not always! A young man must have his day!
RAFAEL.
But is she well? Is she sound? One cannot be too cautious. I knew of a girl who seemed as strong as a green peach on a tree; and she had not been two days married when, what do you think? Why, she died! She knew she was going to die, but she never told him! That's awful, awful! Oh! Oh! I could not stand a thing like that! [_THE RABBI rises to look at RAFAEL'S face._] I have a soul, Rabbi, I know, because you taught me so, and a deception like that--it would kill my love.
[_REBECCA draws in, distressed._
THE RABBI.
Are you serious?
RAFAEL.
Am I serious? He asks me if I am serious! But that was not Rebecca. You think Rebecca is----
THE RABBI.
She's as honest as her father!
RAFAEL.
Ah! Two of them, as honest as each other! [_THE RABBI has growing appreciation of the irony._] H'm! But a good housewife? A good needlewoman? Sharp over the counter? My father has not slaved to feed the idleness of another man's daughter!
ESTHER.
I'll answer for that. I thought I could bake cakes, but she's coming to-morrow to teach me how! You never tasted such cakes!
THE RABBI.
Indeed, I believe I have heard them spoken of.
SACHEL.
[_Who has been musing._] Eh--cakes? You cannot expect a girl to know everything. Anyway, she's coming to-morrow; and Esther is going to----
RAFAEL.
Esther is going to learn from her. Excellent!
SACHEL.
Eh? [_He is nudged by ESTHER._] Yes, yes!
RAFAEL.
Good, good! I half suspect that--that you look with favour on Rebecca. We--we had considerable conversation this morning, we talked of money--and love--and----
SACHEL.
They talked of love! Now, what did you say of love?
RAFAEL.
And we talked of money--and of children--and of--money.
[_ESTHER looks at THE RABBI; she also now in dawning suspicion of RAFAEL'S irony._
SACHEL.
Ha, ha! They talked of love and children! Of love and children! We must have some wine, Rafael--this is the house of a friend. Esther, you go and fetch it. Now what----
ESTHER.
They charge two prices at that place around the corner.
SACHEL.
I say we will have some wine! Some good wine! Go!
ESTHER.
Very well; it is a season of denial with us.
THE RABBI.
But the extreme heat! [_Whispers._] Get some from my house.
[_Exit ESTHER._
SACHEL.
H'm! They talked of children and love! And what did you say about children, my boy? Ah, they are beautiful things; though I could not see one, I could fondle it! What about children, my boy?
RAFAEL.
We said that they should each have two cradles; one with a soft pillow of burnt wool and one with a hard pillow of burnt cotton, so that they should learn the difference before they were old enough to tell the sun from a silver coin.
[_An angry gesture from THE RABBI._
SACHEL.
Eh, what--H'm! Yes, yes, but later--later would do as well. And about love, Rafael; what did she say about love?
RAFAEL.
Oh, she is a shrinking creature--as shrinking as wool unmixed with cotton! And, at first, she would not talk of love, but at length she said that when she was married she expected to have a dozen----
SACHEL.
A dozen! That's too large a family in such times as these!
RAFAEL.
A dozen of everything.
SACHEL.
Ah yes--a dozen of everything, Rafael; a dozen of the finest. Her father has told me so.
_Enter ESTHER, followed by a servant with glasses of wine on a tray._
And a dowry of ten thousand guilders! What do you think of that, my boy? The wine--here! I shall propose a toast! [_He takes a glass and gives glasses to the others; ESTHER and THE RABBI take theirs unwillingly._] Here! Here!
THE RABBI.
[_Holding his glass toward RAFAEL._] I suggest a toast to an open heart--to a tongue that leads no man astray!
RAFAEL.
Hear! The Rabbi suggests that--with _his_ tongue! I'll drink that toast with _you_, Rabbi!
SACHEL.
It is my wine! I am proposing the toast! I----
THE RABBI.
[_To SACHEL._] You had better drink in silence, and go home. You are deceiving yourself: you know not where you stand!
RAFAEL.
What! What does he mean, father? Am I deceiving myself? Are you not planning to marry me to Rebecca? Do you fear, then, that I have fallen in love with her? Is she not an honest girl--a shrinking girl--a girl as good as Father Aaron?
SACHEL.
Yes, and better!
RAFAEL.
Will she not bring me a dozen of everything, and ten thousand guilders? Could man ask more? What's wrong here? Why do they not raise their glasses?
SACHEL.
Because they will not let me manage my own affairs! He is my son, not yours! It is my wine, not yours! Drink, then, drink to Rebecca, the richest girl in the Ghetto, a beautiful young girl, a marvellous young girl----
[_ESTHER turns appealingly to THE RABBI; both look on in distress and perplexity._
RAFAEL.
But they do not raise their glasses, father; they will not drink, father! Why? Do they see handwriting on the wall? Do they think I have forsaken my race? Do they think I have given my heart and soul to the heart and soul of another? Why do they not raise their glasses?
SACHEL.
Let them throw it on the ground if they will! Every one tries to thwart me, every one but you; but they shall not! I am Sachel! Drink with me! Drink to Rebecca, your wife, Rafael! For this day I have seen Aaron; I have sat with him--yesterday and to-day I have sat with him! I have laboured with him, my boy; your father was not wanting! He would have squirmed into my house with eight thousand; but I raised him! I raised him two thousand, my boy! We have agreed, agreed! She is yours, Rafael--yours! To Rebecca, my daughter-in-law! Now will you drink--will you clink your glasses? [_He reaches about; no one clinks; RAFAEL turns away and pours his wine on the ground._] Where are you? I'm all alone! What's the matter? What's the matter?
RAFAEL.
They have not touched their glasses, father! They stand staring at you, without words!
ESTHER.
Sachel, come home!
SACHEL.
What do you mean? You fools, what do I care what you mean! He's going to stay at home and be my boy, my comfort, my staff in my old age; he's going to marry Rebecca! Rafael and Rebecca! Rafael and Rebecca! Does it not sound beautiful--beautiful!
_Enter AARON by way of the street, dragging REBECCA by the hand; she holds back in deep mortification._
AARON.
Ha, ha! It does! It does!
REBECCA.
Father!
AARON.
Don't be afraid, my girl. [_To the others._] I suspected what you were doing! Rafael--[_effusively_]--since the day she was born I've had an eye on you! Eh, what's the matter? Why are you all so glum?
RAFAEL.
[_He goes to the table and gets a glass, then back._] On this solemn occasion, sir, I was about to propose a toast.
SACHEL.
Yes.
AARON.
[_Goes to table._] We'll drink it here.
[_He offers the glass to REBECCA._
REBECCA.
I don't want to drink, father; I want to go in, father!
AARON.
Bosh! What are you afraid of? Speak on, my boy!
SACHEL.
Yes, speak on, and speak your soul to them! They need not think to thwart this marriage! Let them beware!
AARON.
[_Surprised._] What's this about?
RAFAEL.
It's about my soul--my soul that leaps its bounds at last--my soul that speaks from the heart of a man! [_A passer-by at the back stops to listen._] My soul that dwelt in the wilderness--a rumbling, roaring, raging, lying, sweating wilderness of traffic in the things of earth--my soul in the wilderness crying in vain, in vain, for the love of another soul like mine. Is it not so, Rebecca?
AARON.
Hear, hear!
REBECCA.
Let me go, father!
RAFAEL.
Let _me_ go, father; let _me_ go! I would not be slain on the altar, father! The knife is in my flesh! This is the blood of my heart! O God, crieth my soul in vain? Where--where is the angel that shall stay my father's hand?
[_A crowd slowly gathers._
AARON.
Masterly! Masterly! Here she is! What an auctioneer he would make!
RAFAEL.
What an auctioneer I should make! Ah! [_He runs and stands on the synagogue steps._] My father bids me sell my soul! Shall I sell it cheap--my soul and my heart's blood? Shall it be knocked down to the solitary thirsty first who bids? I, to whom the stench of avarice is the breath of morning and night--I, who have seen a man sell his soul on the scales----
SACHEL.
What does he mean by that?
RAFAEL.
I--to be knocked down for two pink lips and a banknote! See--my red heart's blood! See--see--see! And you would have me sell it for ten thousand pieces of silver! And I say no! no! no!
AARON.
He wants more! Oh! I will not give it, do you hear? It is an insult to ask more--an insult to my daughter!
REBECCA.
Father, come away!
ESTHER.
Sachel, come home!
SACHEL.
Let me be! What does he want? What does he mean?
AARON.
Ha, ha! he wants more!
RAFAEL.
I want more! The sale shall be public! [_The crowd thickens._] I will have my price. Who bids more? Who bids? What do you bid, my girl?
REBECCA.
Nothing--nothing--I---- [_Exit._
RAFAEL.
She bids all she has, and yet I will not take it! More--more--who bids me more?
AARON.
Ha, ha! ten million guilders, idiot!
_Enter ROSA, at the back._
RAFAEL.
He bids ten million guilders, and that is still too small. You bid nothing but money, money; have you nothing else? Who comes? Who bids? Who bids? See, see--[_He points to ROSA, who has worked forward, pressed by the crowd._] Another bidder! Another bidder! The angel--the angel come to stay my father's hand!
[_ESTHER and others turn fiercely on ROSA._
ROSA.
[_Panic-stricken, pressed by the crowd._] Rafael! Rafael!
SACHEL.
It's Rosa! It's Rosa!
RAFAEL.
Rosa, Rosa, what do you bid? They bid money, nothing but money; and you--you----
ROSA.
[_Wringing her hands._] Rafael!
SACHEL.
She calls him Rafael! A curse! A damning curse!
[_The crowd murmurs._
RAFAEL.
Silence! It is my blood we are drinking! It is my soul we are selling! [_To AARON._] And you bid more than all you have, and yet it will not do; and you, Rosa, angel--angel--for my heart--for my soul--bid, bid!
ROSA.
For your heart--my heart! For your soul--my soul!
RAFAEL.
Ha, ha! Going! Going!
THE RABBI.
Going the way of the profligate--to the damned!
[_Exit into the synagogue, closing the doors._
RAFAEL.
Gone to the highest bidder! She has been my wife for months! [_SACHEL sinks into a chair; hisses and groans from the crowd._] Now let the Ghetto damn me if it can!
ONE OF THE CROWD.
She's a Christian!
[_The crowd surround RAFAEL, who holds them at bay._]
END OF THE THIRD ACT.
THE FOURTH ACT
SCENE: _The same as ACT I. It is seven days later. AARON discovered at the door; he holds some letters in his hand._
AARON.
I had rather talk to you here.
_Enter SACHEL, pale, bowed and trembling; the two sit on a bench at the right._
Then it is true that you have not heard from Rafael for a week? What happened that day, after the officers had dispersed the crowd?
SACHEL.
[_With a sob, then restraining his emotions._] He brought her back here to get the few things that belong to her. He said that as soon as he had done with Hanakoff he would come and get her. Then he went away. He said he would be back in the morning; and he has been gone a week! My God, it was I who made him so anxious to leave--it is the judgment of the Almighty upon my sins!
AARON.
[_Calculatingly, as he looks at the letters in his hand._] Oh, he's your son; I fancy if he got in the vicinity of harm, he saw it before it saw him! And the girl, why do you let her stay here?
SACHEL.
The Rabbi! The Rabbi came here and made me promise to keep the girl until Rafael could find a home for her. I thought it would be the next day; I promised. The Rabbi said he repented the strong words he had uttered when he slammed the door of the synagogue. H'm! The Rabbi is not much better than you, or at least, than me! The only difference is that the Rabbi is always repenting! If Rafael would only come back, I'd let him keep the girl here for ever--what do I care! I want my son--the only thing I live for!
AARON.
But doesn't the girl know where he is?
SACHEL.
No, no. Esther kept telling me that Rosa has had no word from Rafael. I would not believe it; and this morning I took hold of her; I cursed her up and down for not telling me where he was. She said if she knew where he was she would walk to him, if it was a thousand miles, rather than stay another night under my roof. Then, for the third time this week, she had a fit of hysterics--I never heard such sobs in all my life! When she quieted down she went up and put on the rags she first came here in; and since then she has refused to take food from us; she won't enter the house; she is wandering about here somewhere now. I don't know; though she be a Christian and a pauper, I suppose I'll have to accept her for my daughter-in-law, if he'll only come!
AARON.
She, that broke up your home and took your son away from the finest young woman in the Ghetto? She, that robbed him of his faith and brought him to a pass where every one is saying that he has run away rather than face the consequences of his acts? H'm!
SACHEL.
What am I going to do? If he's dead, I _will_ keep her! Isn't she the only one in the world whose sorrow will approach mine?
AARON.
But if he is not dead? If he comes back? [_Circumspectly makes as if to open one of the letters._] Look here--
[_Enter the RABBI; AARON hastily puts away the letters._
Oh, the Rabbi! [_Whispers._] We must get rid of him. I want to talk to you.
RABBI.
Good evening! How is that girl? Is she still crying her eyes out? It's pitiful! It is dangerous! I must see her! [_AARON nudges SACHEL._
SACHEL.
She's all right. I have not heard her stir since she went to bed.
RABBI.
Oh, she's gone to bed--good! Sachel, Rafael had my promise to protect that girl; and I will protect her. Last Saturday we were all overwrought; we were taken by surprise. But now that we all realise it, it comes to this: Rafael has married a Christian girl; she knows what an affront this is to the religion in which Rafael was reared, and to which inevitably he must return his full devotion when he grows an older and wiser man. Now there is but one remedy: Rosa must become a Jewess. Not to-night or to-morrow; but she must be influenced to open her heart to the faith of her husband; and she must be urged to welcome a future day when she shall enter the synagogue and come forth from there with all the hatred, all the revulsion which she has seen in our faces to-day, buried for ever! Teach her to be thankful that this is Holland, where a Christian _may_ become a Jewess.
AARON.
Rabbi, your sentiments are worthy of your calling. Sachel and I have been talking; we both regret our bitter words of that day. Sachel has become reconciled--as much as any Jew could. And, to tell the truth, we had gone so far as to dismiss the subject and to devote ourselves to a very important matter of business which had to go over from Friday.
THE RABBI.
I see--I see! I am very glad, then! We must make Rosa understand the things that are glorious in our religion; the inspirations that have sustained us through centuries of the bitterest persecution that men have ever known. And she must believe that we shall cling to them until that supreme day when Jerusalem is peopled anew with the race which God has chosen for His own. Is it not so?
SACHEL.
Yes, yes! And we'll walk a little way with you. Then, Aaron, you can come back, and we can go on with that business.
[_They go up: THE RABBI stops at the bridge._