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The plot of the operetta
concerns the escapade of a feminine Rabbi in Cracow,
Austria, inhabited by a community of God-fearing Jews who
are ruled by their Rabbi, whose traditional leadersh8ip,
like that of a Kingdom, is handed down from generation to
generation. In the event that there is no male heir to
assume his leadership at his death, his daughter or his
widow becomes the "Rebbetzin" (feminine for Rabbi) from
which we get the title of the present play.
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PROLOGUE
Amour,
the God of Love, is seen wandering in search for her true
love. He sings "Hearts and Souls," when he is suddenly
interrupted by the God of Destruction, with whom he has a
verbal conflict. Amour maintains that love is stronger
than gold, while Destruction claims that gold is above
everything. And to prove their theory, a tiny Galician town
of strictly orthodox jews is chosen as the example.
ACT I
And so the
story opens in Cracow, Austria, at the Hotel De Budapest run
by Reb Farishel, its owner, a devout believer in the
Galician Rebbetzin. His daughter, Feigele (Jennie
Goldstein), the town's most popular girl, is in love with
Zeligel, an artist who resides at her father's hotel, not
knowing that he is the only son of the Belzer (a nearby
town) Rebbetzin, and that he ran away from home, rather than
take over the reign of his late father in that town. During
the feast of Harvest, Feigele is crowned Queen. But the
celebration is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of
Zeligel's mother, the Belzer Rebbetzin, accompanied by Reb
Borech, the Dean of Belz, who is anxious to have his older
daughter, Gitele, marry the rightful heir to the court of
the late Belzer Rabbi and through that union further his own
power in that town. Feigele then learn Zeligel's real
identity, and comes to the conclusion that while Zeligel is
the son of a Rabbi, only one of that blood will be allowed
to marry him. Reb Borech tears the lovers apart, takes
Zeligel back to Belz to become Rabbi and marry his own
daughter.
ACT II
We are now in
the home of Zeligel in Belz at the close of the Sabbath
during the traditional Hebrew ceremony of the blessing of
the Moon. The Dean is rushing preparations for Zeligel's
wedding with Gitele. In the meantime, Feigele, realizing
that the only way she can save her Zeligel from a loveless
marriage and win him for herself, was to be a Rebbetzin. She
then disguised herself as the famous Galician Rebbetzin and
sends a courier in the person of Simchele, and old scholar,
who had given her the idea, to dispatch the news that the
Galician Rebbetzin will honor the wedding of Zeligel and
Gitele with her presence. At the arrival to the court of the
late Belzer Rabbi, Feigele is accepted as the genuine
Galician Rebbetzin and honored with great respect. Feigele,
howeer, had taken with her Gitele's love, who poses as one
of her many followers. Knowing that the religious power of
the Galician Rebbetzin was law over all Galicia, Feigele
rules that according to "God's will" she, the Galician
Rebbetzin, was chosen as the wife of Zeligel, while her
follower must marry Gitele. After the double ceremony,
Feigele reveals her real identity.
MUSICAL NUMBERS
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