All in all,
David Pinski wrote more than sixty plays in his lifetime.
Perhaps he is best remembered for his story "The Zwie Family
(Di Familye Tsvi)," which he wrote in 1904. He wrote of the
conflict between the traditional Jewish way of life and the
newer ideologies, i.e. the religious zealot, the Bundists
(socialists), the Zionists, and those who just wished to
assimilate with the general population. Because of its
controversial nature, this play was not allowed to be
published in Russia nor performed openly, though it was
performed by some amateur troupes in a relatively secretive
manner. It has also been written that Pinski was to receive
his doctorate from Columbia University in German Literature in 1904, on the day "Di Familye Tsvi" was to premier. He chose to attend the premier
rather than his doctorate exam, and thus never received his
degree. The "rest is history."
Pinski is also well-known for his work "Der Oytser (The
Treasure)" written in 1906, a social satire that deals with
the obsession with money. It is about the frenzy that occurs
when a treasure is said to have been buried in a sacred
graveyard, and the townspeople, no matter their financial
status or degree of religiosity, participate in digging up
the graveyard in search of it. It was first performed in
Berlin in German in 1910, staged by the famous director, Max
Reinhardt. In 1920, an English-language production of "The
Treasure" was staged by the Theatre Guild in New York City,
and starred Celia Adler. "The Treasure" was also performed
in March 1943 in the Vilna Ghetto. On June 10, 1943, another
Pinski play "The Eternal Jew" was performed in the Ghetto. "The Eternal Jew" is about the struggle of the Jewish people
against the Roman Empire. The play was reconstructed in
Hebrew, because the Germans could not understand the Hebrew. Nahma Sandrow has published a new translation of "The
Treasure (Der Oytser)" in her book "God, Man, and Devil",
Syracuse University Press,1998.
Pinski also wrote "Yenkel the Blacksmith" in 1906. Many
remember the film "Yankl der Shmid" made in 1938 and
starring the wonderful Cantor Moyshe Oysher. "Yenkel" was
the basis for this Yiddish-language film which, by the way,
marked the film debut of Herschel Bernardi, who played
Yankel when he was a boy. The movie is also known in English
as "The Singing Blacksmith." |