The play could have been much better, if the author was cognizant (she is weak on the Jewish law and history) of a great role the institution of slavery played in the formation of the Jewish people not only in Egypt ("the house of slaves") where the Jewish nation was born, but long before and long after that.
Before. when posterity of Abraham is defined in Torah as "those born in your house and purchased for money" and after. with the institution of so-called Canaanite slave, where the Jewish law mandates only either slave's death or a manumission into the Jewish people, i.e. no relapse into the people a slave comes from. The effect of this institution is most profound on formation of both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewries. In the case of African-Americans in this country, Lincoln's act of Emancipation denied the slaves in more than 20,000 Jewish households, which owned slaves, the opportunity to be manumitted according to the Jewish law and thus become full-fledged Jews. After the Emancipation Proclamation, many of them retained the idea of being Jews - because under the Jewish law a Canaanite slave is a partial Jew with obligation to fulfill all mitzvoth which are a must for a Jewish woman - without being able now to actually become such. the pain of the situation is indirectly touched upon in The Whipping Man. Alex From: hasafran-boun...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:hasafran-boun...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Amalia Warshenbrot Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 2:37 PM To: Andrea Rapp; Hasafran Subject: Re: [ha-Safran] Play about Jews and slavery Andrea, The Whipping man is still playing many communities. It is a wonderful play. Amalia Warshenbrot From: Andrea Rapp <mailto:anrapp2...@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 2:42 PM To: Hasafran <mailto:hasaf...@lists.osu.edu> Subject: [ha-Safran] Play about Jews and slavery A patron is looking for a play that was performed "several years ago" about a Jewish slave-owning family in the Old South. Does anyone know what that play would be? Andrea Rapp _____ __ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist .html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.htm l AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.service.ohio-state.edu https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran