Samson Raphaelson

“ From offstage is heard the rippling of some chords on the piano. Then Jack’s voice breaks out in the words of “Red Hot Mama.” He sings it with that rich plaintiveness which, combined with syncopation, has become the convention for the rendition of jazz. Half-way through the chorus the center door opens and the Cantor enters. He stands rooted to the floor, outraged at the sounds he hears. He looks toward the door of the music room, then, as if afraid of what he might see there, moves back automatically, taking his hat off, leaving the skull-cap on his head. ”

“ I have used a Jewish youth as my protagonist because the Jews are determining the nature and scope of jazz more than any other race—more than the negroes, from whom they have stolen jazz and given it a new color and meaning. Jazz is Irving Berlin, Al Jolson, George Gershwin, Sophie Tucker. These are Jews with their roots in the synagogue. And these are expressing in evangelical terms the nature of our chaos today.
You find the soul of a people in the songs they sing. You find the meaning of the songs in the souls of the minstrels who create and interpret them. ”

“ Sara
It’s a big house, Jakie, for only one girl. She’s got a husband, no?
Jack
Not yet, Mama. Look at these shirts. They’re silk!
Sara
Only a big house and a dog she’s got? What does she do all the time in the big house?
Jack
She was born in the big house, Mama. Then she came to New York and studied for the opera. But you know how it is in the opera. If a girl don’t weigh more than two hundred pounds they don’t want her. Now she’s a big star in musical comedy. ”

“ Everything will be all right. [Yudelson hastens out. Jack sits in silence for a moment; then, head in his hands, he begins humming to himself the plaintive, majestic cadences of Kol Nidre. He might be his own great grandfather in the Russian Ghetto hidden in some dark cellar praying to a forbidden God, as he sits there, weary, determined, humming a tune thousands of years old. He does not hear the repeated knocks on the door. Lee has opened the door and entered, and is half-way toward Jack before the boy sees him.] ”

“ Cantor
[Surprised] . My birthday?
Sara
Sure!
Cantor
[Absently] . How old am I?
Sara
You’re sixty years old today.
Cantor
Ts—ts—ts—sixty years old. It couldn’t be!
[36]
Sara
[Kisses him again.] Yes, it is. And you should live, mine teure, to be a hundred and sixty and not miss one day in the synagogue! The turkey what I told you, that’s a present from Mr. Yudelson. And the jug of wine he brought! We’re making for you a surprise!
Cantor
Old friends is a good thing.
Sara
And what do you think? They brought you a beautiful praying shawl.
Cantor
Who?
Sara
Both of them! Mr. Yudelson.... ”

“ You tramp! You bum! You actor in a theatre!... You jazz singer! [He is seized by a fit of coughing, and he sinks into a chair. Sara hastens to his side.]
Sara
Jakie! The water! From the sideboard! [Jack goes quickly to sideboard, pours a glass of water and brings it over.] Yosele, you shouldn’t excite yourself so. Look, Jakie, see how white your Papa’s face is. [Takes glass of water from Jack.] Here, Yosele, drink it slow. Jakie, my son, come, tell him you are sorry. Tell him you are ashamed.
Jack
How can I, Mama? If I can’t be proud of being a jazz singer, then I can’t be proud of anything. ”

“ Jack
[Strangely touched] . He really said that, Mama?
Sara
He said it—the way I’m sitting here this minute, he said it.... For five generations God always heard a Rabinowitz sing every Day of Atonement, every holy day, every Sabbath. God is used to it now.... Maybe your papa is dying. God will ask him, Is Jakie singing in the synagogue tonight? How can he say, No, he is singing in a theatre!... Oh, my son, my heart is breaking in pieces.... You got two hours before the sun goes out of the sky and it gets dark. Come with me home, Jakie. ”

“ It isn’t the money, Yudelson. Mr. Lee believed in me, and I left him flat. [He sits wearily.]
Yudelson
Never mind. Never mind. Don’t worry from bosses. A papa is hard to find, but bosses there’s planty....
Jack
I’m finished.
Yudelson
Jakie, don’t worry. You can always have a job in my store.
Jack
[Nervously drumming with his fingers] . Why doesn’t Levy show up with that praying shawl? Why does everybody take so long?
Yudelson
[Moves to the door] . I’ll get him, Jakie.
Jack
Is the choir ready for a quick rehearsal?
Yudelson
Everything is ready.
Jack
I want to go over at least Kol Nidre once. ”

“ Jack
You’re hard.
Lee
You bet I’m hard. I’m in a hard business. It’s [136] like being in an army. The soft man gets licked. You’re soft—and you’re getting licked.
Jack
[Raises his head] . Soft, because I’m giving up the biggest night of my life to keep my mother’s heart from breaking? Soft, because I’m going to pray in a synagogue so that my father can be proud of his family name—so that my father may live?... You think it’s going to be easy for me to stand there singing stuff that doesn’t mean anything to me anymore and give up playing to a big Broadway opening night?... ”

“ It ain’t hard for us to tell you the kind of lives we are living. What kind of life are you living?
Jack
[Exasperated] . I told you. I’m an actor. I sing. Just like you sing. Only I sing in a theatre.
Cantor
[Fearfully] . What kind singing?
Jack
Didn’t you hear me? I sing jazz songs. Ragtime.
Cantor
[Stunned] . Mama, did you heard what he said?
Sara
Jakie, you are fooling!
Jack
You’re right, Ma. I fool, too. I’m a comedian. I get all dressed up in funny clothes. I sing funny songs and make people laugh. They pay money to come and hear me. They’re going to pay big money soon. ”

“ Lee
[A tall, stout man, meticulously dressed. He has a black mustache—probably dyed—and scant, grayish hair on an impressive bald head. Adversity sent him to the theatre, where he made money. Money sent him to Europe, where he achieved good clothes and an air of distinction. He never allows his air of distinction to interfere with efficiency, however; and, on the other hand, no matter how intense the excitement and confusion of the rehearsal, he never takes his coat off. He rises] . Now, remember—this is the finale of the first act and I want lots of pep. ”

“ Sara
See, Yosele, he didn’t forget he’s a son from a Cantor.
Cantor
What kind English acting are you doing uptown?
Jack
Papa, it’ll take some time to explain. It’s hard to tell you in a few words. Can’t we wait until after a while—
Cantor
It ain’t hard I should tell you the work I’m doing. I sing to God. I pray. It ain’t hard to tell the kind work your mama is doing. She is a Cantor’s wife. She worships the Almighty. She knows the sorrows what has come to the descendants from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, to the children of Israel. She is living to be a good wife of a Cantor.... ”

“ And now you take this singing that is holy to me and make it common!
Jack
What’s wrong with being an actor? I meet nice people—I make good money.
Cantor
[Furiously] . Money, money, money! Pickpockets make money, too!
Jack
Aw, don’t say that—don’t talk like that.
Sara
Yosele, please!
[55]
Cantor
If there must be actors, let there be, but not a son of mine. Not a Rabinowitz! Their work has been laid out for them by God.
Sara
[Almost hysterically] . Where are you going to act, Jakie? Downtown here?
Jack
No, Mama. I’m going to act uptown. In English. ”

“ Jack
Mr. Yudelson is an old friend of the family. He’s known me since I was so high. [Measures with hand.] He and my father are great friends.
Yudelson
Cantor Rabinowitz and me, we are like this. [Puts two fingers together.]
Jack
[There is a pause. Yudelson has revealed significant detail. Mary’s involuntary expression of surprise [94] shows this. Jack, for an instant, is confused. Then, with pride in his voice] . Yeh, my Father is the finest Cantor on the East Side.
Yudelson
Did you never heard of Cantor Rabinowitz of the Orchard Street Synagogue? I’m surprised! ”

“ Stage hands are working, shifting scenery back and forth; electricians are placing lamps and experimenting with lighting effects. As the curtain rises we hear the banging of a piano. We see a chorus in practice clothes. We see Carter dancing.
In the back, at the footlights, Lee, the producer, sits in a tilted chair, a manuscript in his hand. Grouped between Lee and the chorus, on either side of Carter, are Gene, Miss Glynn, Mary Dale, Jimmy and another actor. Seated in the shadowy foreground, playing cards with a stage-hand, is Jack Robin. ”

“ Sometimes I myself don’t remember. I ain’t a young woman no more, Mr. Yudelson. I got so much to do, I don’t realize that one day is Monday and all of a sudden it’s Friday and I have to prepare for the Sabbath. I’m surprised that I myself should remember the Cantor’s birthday. [She folds the praying shawl and puts it away.]
[27]
Yudelson
You think only downtown knows about it? Uptown knows about it too. Mr. Hymie Goldstein—if he’s worth a nickel, he’s worth a hundred thousand dollars, all in first mortgages too!—he came in my store today and he bought a gold watch. A new one. For cash. ”

“ Lee
Her interests are the same today as they were a month ago. The fact that she has discovered Jack and made me engage him does not alter anything.
Dillings
[Quietly, without malice] . Well, I’ve learned differently. The thing I was afraid of has happened. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose—an attachment of this sort.... Now, I’m no stage-door Johnny. I have my limit, and I’ve reached it. Today I wash my hands of all responsibility for Mary’s career. Be a good fellow and don’t let’s argue the matter any more. Simply mail me a check today. ”

“ They are praying.... I want you to listen.... [Lee comes over by Mary. They stand silhouetted against the evening sky, a profile of radiance shed on them from the glowing window of the synagogue.] You are going to hear a blackface comedian singing to his God.... [Now the choir can be heard in the noble strains of Kol Nidre. Lee and Mary stand motionless. Jack’s voice rises, pouring forth in a flood of prayer; it subsides; rises again. Here is something of the same quality that he put, earlier that afternoon, into his cheap Mammy song.] Don’t you see, Harry, it’s in his blood.... ”

“ A son could be kicked out twenty times, and yet a son is a son. If your papa knew you was singing tonight, it would make him happy.
Jack
But, Yudelson, I can’t do it!
Yudelson
Nonsense. I was telling the committee—you know how it is a committee—they wanted Levy, the Shamus, should sing. But I’m the chairman, and they all owe me money, so when they voted it was the way your mama wanted. I told them, “Jakie, when he was a little boy and he sang in the choir, his papa learned [96] him all the words of all the prayers. And what a little boy learns he never forgets....” ”

“ Mary
No.
Lee
Mrs. Rabinowitz, he ran away from all this, [Indicates the room] didn’t he?
Sara
[Slowly] . Why are you asking me like this questions?
Lee
[Crescendo] . Because I want that boy to be true to himself. Do you suppose the Cantor would want Jack to sing unless he sings with the heart of a Jew? I know that boy. He’s saying to himself, “My career is gone. The girl I love is losing faith in me. I don’t want to sing this stuff that I don’t understand—to a God whose meaning I don’t get.” He’s saying to himself, “My mother will be heartbroken if I don’t do it. My father will die. ”

“ He sobs.] He told me God would punish me! I thought I could get away from Cantors! Well, God showed me.... [His voice rises to a wail and then subsides.] The Day of Atonement!—I’ll say it’s the Day of Atonement. [Sara enters with lighted candles. Jack suddenly turns to her.] Mama! I’m going with you! I’m going to the synagogue!
Sara
[Unbelieving joy in her voice] . Jakie!
Jack
I’m your son. I’m the son of my father. Mama, I’m a Cantor, see?... I’m Cantor Rabinowitz! God’s going to hear me sing Kol Nidre tonight! [He is strong in the power of his decision.] ”

“ Sara
Yes, Jakie.
Jack
[Turns to phonograph] . This is nice, Mama. Does it play, too?
Sara
Sure it plays. It played last week.
Jack
Well, well, let’s see what kind of records you have. Um—Il Trovatore, Pagliacci. You’re coming up in the world. Red Seal. That’s a buck and a half. You haven’t got “Red Hot Mama,” have you?
Sara
Red Hot Mama, what’s that?
Jack
No home is complete without a red hot mama. If you had a piano in the house, I’d show you.
Sara
Sure, we’ve got a piano—since last year. Your papa uses it to teach the choir. It’s in the front room.
Jack
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay! A piano! ”

“ If you are a good friend from him, then with Jakie you shouldn’t speak tonight.
Mary
I’m afraid you don’t understand. I’m a good friend of Mr. Lee’s, but I’m also a very good friend of Jack’s.
Sara
A good friend from Jakie’s would leave him alone tonight. I am Jakie’s mama. Did I made him he should eat? No.... He wants he should practise with the choir. So I let him go hungry. Sometimes love lets people go hungry.
Mary
I love Jack, too, Mrs. Rabinowitz—and that’s why I want him to go to the theatre tonight.... It’s his one great opportunity. ”

“ From Papa—who else? He taught me to sing. You forget that I’m an American boy, and Papa is from the Old World. If he were born here, like I was, he would probably be singing jazz, too.
Cantor
[Rising toweringly above Jack] . You shouldn’t speak like this from a Cantor—do you hear? God will punish you! He will take vengeance!
Sara
Look, Yosele, supper is ready, and our son is home. Come, we should eat and be happy now. Talking can be later. It’s your birthday. Jakie, it’s today your Papa is sixty years old. ”