
DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709230122

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 05   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

DRAMATIZATION OF PERETZ FABLES TO SET TONE FOR JEWISH HOLIDAYS

The Rabbi of Nemirov always disappeared on Selichot eve, his whereabouts a quandary for others in the Jewish community.

Finally, curiosity prompted a ``Litvak,'' or Lithuanian Jew, to trail the rabbi. The tracker found the holy man delivering firewood to a poor widow.

The fable, ``If Not Higher,'' is one by well-known Yiddish storyteller Isaac Loeb Peretz. It dramatizes a central tenet of the Jewish faith: that truly pious Jews always take care of the needy as part of their commitment.

The work of Peretz, who wrote during the late 1800s, is the focus of a series of vignettes to be performed at Temple Israel on Saturday, which is Selichot eve, by Norfolk's 2nd Story Theater.

Congregants from Temple Emanuel and Kempsville Conservative Synagogue in Virginia Beach have been invited to the presentation and the Selichot service that follows. Others in the South Hampton Roads community are welcome.

There is no charge for the performance.

Pearl Taylor, executive director of Temple Israel, said the coming together of temples and synagogues for Selichot celebrations is unusual. And the performance to precede services is likewise a first.

Vignettes are taken from ``The Theatre of Peretz,'' the acclaimed Broadway play adapted by Isaiah Sheffer from Peretz's work.

Selichot is the time when Jews around the world prepare for their holiest of days. It heralds in the high holidays Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year which begins at sundown on Oct. 1, and Yom Kippur, which occurs on Oct. 10.

Rosh Hashanah celebrates the creation of the world and is a time for reflection and self-evaluation. On this day, Jews ask God for forgiveness of sins.

Yom Kippur is a day of fasting and atonement. It is the most critical day in the Jewish calendar when God is asked to write each person in the Book of Life.

Peretz, known as ``the father of modern Yiddish literature'' and ``the bard of Jewish rebirth,'' died in 1915, and 100,000 mourners attended the funeral.

Saturday's performance of his vignettes also includes adaptations of his stories ``All For a Pinch of Snuff,'' ``What the Moon Tells'' and ``Ivan, the Sabbath Handyman,'' among others.

Performers for 2nd Story Theater's presentation are Pam Good, Steve Koherr - who also directs - Richard Marten and Ethan Marten.

Curtain is at 8:30. The vignettes will be followed by a discussion led by Rabbi Michael Panitz of Temple Israel and the cast.

Refreshments will then be served, after which a Selichot service will take place.

Temple Israel is at 7255 Granby Street in Norfolk.

For more information, call 489-4550. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JIM WALKER

Performers in the 2nd Story Theater's Saturday presentation of Isaac

Loeb Peretz's fables are, from left, Ethan Marten, Steve Koherr -

who also directs - Pam Good and Richard Marten.

Graphic

HOW TO SEE IT

What: 2nd Story Theater performs vignettes by Yiddish storyteller

Isaac Loeb Peretz