Jewish Man
My child an orphan,
No father’s voice to praise,
To raise in stern rebuke.
My son will know restraint,
first law for Jewish men:
bear indignity, accept grief,
lower your head and raise
your mind to God above.
Scene 1 continues.
Scene 1 - Excerpt 1 (1:04)
Boy:
Alma redemptoris Mater
Quem de coelis misit Pater
Propter salutem gentium…
(Loving mother of our Redeemer
whom the Father sent from heaven
To save mankind…)
Scene 1 - Excerpt 2 (1:22)
Suddenly, he hears the Boy singing the “Alma redemptoris mater”. Enraged, he voices his wish to “stop his mouth with a handful of clay.”
Our version begins with the Jewish Man lamenting the persecution of his people. The Christians have imposed a rule of silence on the Jewish quarter; it is now a crime for any Jew to speak outside of his own home. The Jewish Man’s anger grows as he realizes that his own son will never give voice to the prayers and songs of his ancestors.
Jewish Man:
Wait! What noise is this?
They send a child to mock us!
I would stop his mouth
with a handful of clay.
He would sing no more!
Eastern Nazarene College Presents
