Natalia is the daughter of a Russian aristocrat in the early years of the twentieth century. Aaron is the son of a Jewish tailor. In the Russian Empire, Jews lived in the Pale of Settlement and experienced every abuse and degradation one can imagine. The animosity towards Jews was stoked by the imperial authorities, which led to horrific pogroms in 1905. People like Natalia and Aaron belonged not only to different but to actively warring tribes.
But in Vynnychenko’s play The Song of Israel, they meet and fall in love. Their families oppose their union but the young couple stands strong in defense of its feelings. “All we want is to be persons. Human beings,” they say. “We don’t want to be Jews or Russians. We don’t want anything to do with religion, tradition, culture, or tribe. We are simply individuals.”
Finally, Aaron and Natalia manage to buckle their families’ will and get married. Of course, Aaron has to convert to Christianity first because it was still the Russian Empire, and only religious marriages counted. But they do get married, and have a cute little baby, and Aaron becomes a famous musician, and they are rich. Yay, right?
No, not yay. Blank-slatism was as stupid in 1922 when Vynnychenko wrote the play as it is today. Natalia’s and Aaron’s version of “imagine there’s no countries… and no religions, too” lasts them less than 2 years. They discover that they are not empty vessels for rootless, self-generating personhood. Religion, tradition, culture and tribe are inside them and always will be. Their plan to be “just people and not part of anything” becomes a source of tragedy not only for them and others.
Vynnychenko spent his life trying to bring about the “no countries and no religions” dream of socialism. But as an artist, he knew it was all bunkum. We are the continuation of the story of our family, tribe, and culture. And that’s a good thing.
Yes, there is an English translation of the play, and I’m holding in my hands what I believe is the only copy of it in existence. I want to figure out a way to scan, edit, and make it public. It needs major editing.
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