Sholem Asch, a Yiddish writer, wrote his controversial play, God of Vengeance, in 1906. The play revolves around Yankel (known as “Uncle"), a Jewish man who owns a brothel. Due to the wealth he has amassed from his business, Uncle is able to afford a Torah Scroll for his daughter, Rivkele, whom he believes to be very pure. He is willing to sacrifice himself and his wife, Sore, a former prostitute, as long as Rivkele remains pure and marries a nice Jewish man. He believes that the Torah Scroll will save Rivkele from the sins he and Sore have committed. He does not want Rivkele to turn to prostitution. It is interesting to note that in Leviticus, it says: “Do not degrade your daughter and make her a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and the land be filled with depravity” (Leviticus 19:29). Despite making his living off of women, Uncle furiously works to separate his daughter from his work.
God of Vengeance also focuses on the characters of Hindl, Manke, Reyzl, and Basha, the Jewish prostitutes that work for Uncle. Hindl’s fiancé, Shloyme, is a pimp who wants to open up his own brothel. Of these characters, Manke plays a key role in the controversy that surrounded the play when it premiered. The characters of Manke and Rivkele are in love, sharing a passionate kiss on stage, which was quite risky in the 1900s.
Obscenity Trial
After traveling around Europe and parts of the United States, God of Vengeance premiered on the Broadway stage in 1923. The play caused controversy over its discussion of prostitution, as well as the kiss between two women. (The kiss between Manke and Rivkele was the first kiss between two women shown on the Broadway stage). After its premiere on Broadway, the cast and producer, Harry Weinberger, were arrested on obscenity charges. Weinberger, who was also a civil libertarian and prominent attorney, represented himself and the cast in their obscenity trial. Weinberger and the cast pleaded not guilty to the crime of “unlawfully advertising, giving, presenting, and participating in an obscene, indecent, immoral, and impure drama or play.”
Weinberger and the cast were convicted, and Weinberger and Rudolph Schildkraut (the director and star of God of Vengeance), were fined $200, while the cast received suspended sentences. However, Weinberger appealed the conviction, writing to “dozens of prominent academics and clerical figures asking them to write testimonials defending the play’s morality.” Many artists defended Sholem Asch, including Eugene O’Neill (famed playwright). The ACLU, however, declined to help Weinberger finance his appeal. Roger Baldwin, the ACLU’s founder and executive director said: “We do not believe that the right of the public to censor plays on the grounds of morality can be questioned. It has been accepted for several centuries.” After two years, Weinberger won his case and the verdict was overturned.
(Paula Vogel’s 2015 play, Indecent, is about the controversy that surrounded the 1923 Broadway production).
Historical Context – Brothels, Prostitution, and Sex Trafficking
After reading God of Vengeance, I was curious to know how the play’s theme of prostitution was related to history, and after doing some research, I learned about the Zwi Migdal, a Jewish criminal organization that ran a profitable Argentina-based brothel business between the 1860s and 1930.
Due to poverty and religious persecution, Jewish women emigrated to Argentina from Poland, Russia, and Germany. Upon arriving, many women were forced into prostitution, which was legal in Argentina. Members of the Zwi Migdal “…deceived young and impoverished Jewish women in Eastern Europe and, under the false pretense of a marriage, would whisk them away to South America, where they would be exploited as sex workers.” (This is similar to God of Vengeance, where Hindl’s fiancé, Shloyme, is a pimp. He is described as Hindl’s bought husband). By 1929, the Zwi Migdal was believed to be comprised of about 500 pimps. It also controlled around 2,000 brothels and employed 30,000 women.
In 1930, 108 members of the Zwi Migdal were convicted and sentenced, “forever disrupting the activities of the Zwi Migdal.” (It is important to note that only 108 men of the 434 members of the Zwi Migdal were convicted). These convictions would not have happened if it was not for the bravery of Raquel Liberman, a woman who had suffered at the hands of the Zwi Migdal. In 1929, Liberman went to Julio Algasary, a deputy commissioner of the police of Buenos Aires, to tell her story. Due to her testimony, the “moment for a trial had finally come.” Liberman therefore helped bring down the Zwi Migdal.
American theaters – As you read earlier, the original Broadway cast of God of Vengeance was convicted of obscenity due to the play’s “immoral” nature. However, American theaters, including New York theaters, are connected to prostitution in the 1800s. The third-tier balconies of theaters, known as the “guilty third tier,” were reserved for prostitutes and their clients. Even “respectable” theaters had this “guilty third tier.” There were also “sub-theaters” that “….did not restrict prostitution or public sexuality to the third tier.” One commentator in 1849 wrote that these places were “little better than a brothel turned inside out.” Also, the streets that surrounded theaters were known to house brothels.
Thoughts on God of Vengeance
The play’s controversy revolved around its theme of prostitution and the relationship between Manke and Rivkele. A man profiting from selling women for sex is obviously very wrong, and it would not be surprising if Uncle abused any of the women working for him. It is also important to comment on Uncle abusing his wife and daughter. Uncle is shown to be physically abusive towards Sore and Rivkele, with Rivkele fearing he will hit her and Uncle eventually dragging her by the hair. Despite this, Uncle concludes that his only sin was owning a brothel, and he fails to recognize that his abusive nature also makes him a bad person. His lack of recognition of his abusive behavior emphasizes how in the 1900s abuse was normalized and not taken seriously (and of course, abuse to this day is still often not taken seriously).
In my opinion, the villains in this play are Uncle and Shloyme. They are the ones profiting off of women and Uncle’s abuse is unforgivable. Though some may think the prostitutes in the play are "immoral," they are instead victims of their circumstances, as many women during that time chose prostitution due to the few options they had as women, and/or were coerced/forced to become prostitutes. However, it is important to recognize that some of these women may have purposely chosen to become prostitutes (nowadays, the term sex worker should be used), and that is the woman’s decision and right.
I very much liked God of Vengeance, but my one critique is that I feel like it could have explored the characters and situation more. It is such an interesting story and the characters are so fascinating that I think it would have benefited from being fleshed out more, specifically the female characters. However, I definitely suggest reading this play. It is very much ahead of its time and the scene between Manke and Rivkele where they first kiss is so beautiful and tender that it is hard to believe it was written in 1906.
November 12, 2018
Works Cited
Cummings, Mike. “Defending an ‘Indecent’ play: ‘The God of Vengeance’ in the Yale University Library archives.” Yale News, 15 Oct. 2015, https://news.yale.edu/2015/10/15/defending-indecent-play-god-vengeance-yale-university-library-archives-0.
Graetz, Naomi. “Judaism on Prostitution.” My Jewish Learning, https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/judaism-on-prostitution/.
Guy, Donna. "Argentina: Jewish White Slavery." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/argentina-jewish-white-slavery.
Masarik, Elizabeth Garner. “Selling Sex: 19th Century New York City Prostitution and Brothels.” DIG, 3 Sep. 2017, https://digpodcast.org/2017/09/03/19th-century-new-york-city-brothels/.
Mazower, David. “10 Things You Need to Know about God of Vengeance.” Digital Yiddish Theatre Project, 28 Feb. 2017, https://yiddishstage.org/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-god-of-vengeance.
Morpurgo, Giulia. “Jewish Mafia and prostitute traffic: Zwi Migdal’s forgotten story.” JoiMag, 2 July 2018, https://www.joimag.it/jewish-mafia-and-prostitute-traffic-zwi-migdals-forgotten-story/.
Zumwalt, Nate von. “Indecent: The Story of a 1920s Yiddish Play and its Obscenity Charges Comes to Broadway.” Sundance Institute, 30 March 2017, https://www.sundance.org/blogs/now-playing/indecent-story-of-god-of-vengeance-obscenity-charge-comes-broadway.
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