Yesterday, we saw “Hester Street” at Theater J. The reviews have been good. The run has been extended.

Here is my review: I really liked the violin.

I appreciate the hard work of the cast and crew, but I really didn’t like much else.

Some background:

“Hester Street” is a world premiere, a stage version (with music) of the 1975 film “Hester Street, which itself is a screen adaptation of a book by Abraham Cahan, written in the 1890s, called “Yekl”. My friends at Wikipedia tell me that Abraham Cahan originally wanted to call the book “Yankele the Yankee” – a much better title – but was convinced to change it to “Yekl” by his good friend William Dean Howells, who thought the book an important addition to American literature and who convinced the publisher Appleton to release the book. The book apparently was not a commercial success, but was read extensively when published, in Yiddish, the The Forward (Forwertz), Cahan’s Yiddish language newspaper.

The story was then a contemporary story of Jews immigrating to New York City’s Lower East Side, some wanting to keep Old World customs, and others wanting to become “Yankees”. Yankele, who changed his name to “Jake” and moved to America three years earlier brings his wife, “Gitel” and son “Yossele” from Russia to join him. He changes Yossele’s name to “Joey”, but can’t convince Gitel to change her Old World ways. And he meets “Mamie”, also an immigrant, but one, who just like Jake, wants to forget what happened on the other side of the ocean and become an American. This dilemma is the basis of the show.

I have not read the short novel by Cahan, although it appears to be available in full on line, as well as in many print editions. So I can’t judge it. I did see the acclaimed film twice, once shortly after it was released and the second time several years ago, streaming on TV. Just like the stage play, most people really liked the film, and it won some awards. I didn’t like the film the first time I saw it, and when I saw it again, I think I went in with an open mind. But I didn’t like it any better the second time.

It’s not that I objected to the story line. It’s a good story line. What I didn’t like in the film was that it was very stylized, that none of the characters had any depths, that each seemed to be a caricature. I had the same reaction to the stage play. Plus, the playwright (not connected to the 1975 film) wanted to be able to explain the noise and chaos of the Lower East Side, and decided to do it through music (live musicians, who also have a role in the story – a pianist, a violinist and a trombone). But the music was not very profound, IMO, sort of a cross between music hall and klezmer, and the lyrics were down right silly – “the land of milk and honey” and “when will they kick us out?”. Except, as I said, I liked the violinist, who was able to use her instrument to actually create some of what was intended.

I think that the show is set in the 1870s. One hundred and fifty years later, American Jews don’t have to worry about this dilemma – Jews who want to remain attached to Orthodox religious customs may be do so, and those who want to be “cultural Jews” may do that. And perhaps that’s remarkable. Even with an upsurge in antisemitism (i.e., anti-Israel sentiment), no one is thinking that we are about to be kicked out of the country, or about to be the victims of wide discrimination.

So at the first Passover seder tonight, we can worry about the situation Israel finds itself in and the repercussions existing on so many university campuses, but we don’t have to worry about ourselves and our own security. We can still say “Next year in Jerusalem”, knowing that it is much more likely that we will celebrate next year in the same place we are celebrating this evening.

And that is quite an accomplishment.