Word: leah
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...spent their earnings on vodka. A tragic, pale-faced figure was Hanan, Nissen's son, torn between the Talmud and the cabalistic mysticism which used to be feared by all good Jews. By prayers and fasting Hanan had hoped finally to win Sender's daughter Leah. Instead he dropped dead calling on the unholy powers as Sender appeared, rowdily announcing Leah's betrothal to a rich merchant...
...marriage ceremonies. All the ghetto rabble was there, begging for alms, food, drink. One gay interlude came when a ragged peasant orchestra evoked a reedy little tune from the big band in the pit. Thereafter the tension grew grimmer. The beggars danced madly while Leah swept in to whirl despairingly with a groveling hunchback, a hideous, pawing old crone. Rocca's orchestra reached a frenzied climax as Leah faced her bridegroom, suddenly screamed like one gone mad. Just as abrupt was the hush when the verdict was passed. "A dybbuk has her ... a dybbuk, a dybbuk. . . ." Curtain went down...
According to ancient Hebrew lore a dybbuk is the restless spirit of one who has died committing a sin. Such a spirit, it once was believed, could return to earth, take heathenish possession of an innocent mortal. In the opera last week it was the tortured Hanan who bewitched Leah. To exorcise his spell she was led before an ancient rabbi to whom Sender admitted his treachery, gladly consented to renounce half his riches. Persistent prayers were said over Leah, who dropped lifeless when Hanan's spirit left her. Finale came with their love duet, frankly lyrical, typically Italian...
...from Italy especially for The Dybbuk, seemed to have the score completely at his finger tips. Conventional was the pale-faced Hanan, interpreted by Frederick Jagel, Brooklyn-born tenor from the Metropolitan Opera. Highest-priced singer was Rosa Raisa, whose Jewish blood helped her to look the part of Leah. Even so, her top notes were raspy, often insecure. The singer who did best by the English text was Contralto Pauline Pierce, a comparative unknown who took the part of Leah's handmaiden...
PERSIAN CONQUEROR?George S. Hellman?Dodd, Mead ($2.50). Quaint, old-fashioned romance involving Cyrus, Leah and the simple trickery by which the Babylonians were undone...