Behind the heavy walls of faith

IIn 1912, Nathansen's bourgeois moral comedy was performed for the first time at the Royal Danish Theatre. For almost 100 years, the old Jewish patriarch Levin has shouted these words across the cosy living room that is the stage. Shouted them in frustration at his daughter Esther and her wish to marry a non-Jew.

The Jewish minority
There were 300 years of discrimination of the 8,000 Danish Jews between old Levin and the daughter's wish. Many Jews were not allowed to enter Denmark. Until 1788, Jewish craftsmen were barred from the guilds, and until the early 19th century Jews had to follow special laws stipulating where they could live and what they could do for a living. In 1814, the Jewish minority achieved Danish civil rights and in 1849 was granted freedom of religion. Many Jews became integrated in Danish society during the 19th century and obtained a good social position. Esther's brothers, for example, are a wholesaler and a doctor. Despite the softening, Jewish-Christian marriages were not welcome. If need be, between Danish women and Jewish men. But not the other way round!

Extremely relevant
Some of the reviewers of the opening performance found the conflict outdated: Anti-Semitism is over, they said. But the problems of the play were extremely relevant. And with international persecutions of the Jews and the holocaust, the issue has remained topical throughout the 20th century. And still is... Try, for instance, to exchange the word Jewish for Muslim, then we have the trouble!

Henri Nathansen, who was Jewish himself, created a cast of realistic characters, idiomatic lines, and conflicts we can recognise from our own life. We have sympathy with the old Levin; sense his fear of being overtaken by developments. We follow his daughter Esther in her struggle between the desire to marry the man she loves, and the respect for her solid Jewish background.

Just human beings
The play and its characters reach out into the world and into us. Towards the end of the play we cannot help, along with Heming, in wishing for a future, that no longer divides people into Jews and Christians. A future when we are just ... human beings.

Lone Nyhuus is a former dancer and choreographer. As a freelance journalist she works for the DR P2 radio programme Teatermagasinet (The Theatre Magazine).