Goldfaden's Shulamis and Modern Performance of Mishnaic Ritual
Avrom Goldfaden's play Shulamis (c. 1880) is an innovative attempt to develop a theatrical vocabulary based on rabbinic depictions of Temple-time rituals, in order to create a spectacle that revived the ancient Land of Israel for audiences in Eastern Europe. It reactivates mishnaic ritual narra...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Jewish studies quarterly
Year: 2024, Volume: 31, Issue: 4, Pages: 389-409 |
| Further subjects: | B
Matityahu Shelem
B spectacle B rabbinic ritual narratives B Yiddish theatre B kibbutz rituals |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Avrom Goldfaden's play Shulamis (c. 1880) is an innovative attempt to develop a theatrical vocabulary based on rabbinic depictions of Temple-time rituals, in order to create a spectacle that revived the ancient Land of Israel for audiences in Eastern Europe. It reactivates mishnaic ritual narratives through a set of spatial dualities - urban vs rural, homeland vs diaspora, and the actual space of the theatre versus the fictional space onstage. These dualities stem from inherent tensions within the poetics of performance in mishnaic ritual narratives, while at the same time situate Shulamis at the cusp of spatial transformations that informed modern Jewish culture, particularly with the advent of Zionism. Shulamis later influenced the agrarian ceremonies of the kibbutz movement devised by Matityahu Shelem. This trajectory, as well as the profound differences between Goldfaden and Shelem, shed important light on the modern responses to the Mishnah's performative potential. |
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| ISSN: | 1868-6788 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Jewish studies quarterly
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1628/jsq-2024-0021 |
