Der Eibiger Yied ( yi, דער אייביגער איד; The Eternal Jew, 1906) is a one-act play written by

David Pinski David Pinski (Yiddish: דוד פּינסקי; April 5, 1872 – August 11, 1959) was a Yiddish language writer, probably best known as a playwright. At a time when Eastern Europe was only beginning to experience the industrial revolution, Pinsk ...

. It was the first play ever performed in 1919 by the

Habima Theater The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the List of national theatres, national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the ce ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. It is now a part of the repertory of the

, the national theater of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Plot

The play is a messianic tragedy set at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple. The setting is Birath Arba, a town which is a few days' journey from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The time is shortly after the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. Amidst rumors that Jerusalem has fallen to the Romans, a stranger arrives telling a strange story of his quest to find a child that was born in the same hour that

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

fell because this child is destined to be the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

. The elders of the town refuse to believe his story; in fact, they are not even willing to believe that Jerusalem has really been taken by the Romans. The stranger is almost stoned to death by the town's inhabitants but he manages to escape. At this point, a young woman arrives and states that she has fled from the destruction and massacre in Jerusalem. Other messengers arrive with reports of others who are also fleeing the Romans. The woman laments that her newborn child is accursed because he was born at the same hour that the temple was destroyed. The elders of the town are now convinced of the stranger's tale and his quest to find the child. Tragically, at this very moment, a servant cries out that the child has vanished in a whirlwind. As the people of the town express their astonishment at these events, the stranger departs to continue his search for the Messiah.

Notable productions

Although the play was originally written in Yiddish, it was translated into

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

for its 1919 production by the

References

1906 plays Russian plays Yiddish culture in Russia Yiddish plays {{1900s-play-stub