The one-night staged mini-reading of Rise The Rock – the Musical, performed at the Holocaust Museum near the Grove packed people into the small arena where creator-songwriter and playwright – Joshua Hershfield -played to the singing voices of the actors.
Written and composed by American/Canadian/Israeli creator Joshua Daniel Hershfield, the first draft of RISE was written in 2019 at Haifa University under a grant from the Azrieli Foundation as part of the M.A. in Holocaust Studies program. It was workshopped and showcased by the Alliance for Jewish Theatre in 2021, won the Bela Zarhi Prize from the Ghetto Fighters’ House, and was a Eugene O’Neill NMTC finalist. The first public production of RISE was July 9-17, 2022, at the Hart Theatre, CenterStage in Rochester, NY.
Joshua Hershfield, Paige Berkovitz, Mark Jacobson and Keira Weiss – photo by Henry Tarlow
Joshua’s goal, bringing to light the little-known efforts of the Jewish women who served as couriers (the Kashariyot) risking their lives as they took messages, food, weapons, and medicine between the ghettos, has successfully been transformed into a twenty-player, two-hour show. We experienced only an amazing 45 minutes of narration and song.
Photo by Lou Schneider
The Kashariyot, or women couriers, were young Jewish women who were a part of the underground Jewish resistance movement during the Holocaust. Through a combination of looks, accents, and attitudes they disguised themselves as non-Jews while they traveled through Nazi territory under fake identities, risking their lives to carry out missions, and help those in need.
When people in the ghettos were starving, the couriers brought potatoes and bread. When there was no way for the imprisoned and isolated Jewish communities to communicate, the couriers carried letters and messages from place to place. They smuggled in medicine, clothing, and books while spreading the word about the mass graves, the cattle cars, and the death camps.
When it was time for armed resistance, the couriers were the ones who smuggled weapons into the ghettos and armed the Jewish fighters.
False ID from one of the women
Emanuel Ringleblum, the historian and archivist in the Warsaw Ghetto, said about the couriers: “These heroic girls… “ boldly traveled back and forth through the cities and towns risking mortal danger every day. Without hesitation, they accepted and carried out dangerous missions. The girls volunteered as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Nothing deterred them even as they faced death.
Players tonight included Paige Berkowitz, Keira Weiss, and Mark Jacobson. Some of the songs that brought tears to audience eyes were YOU CAN DO THIS, NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE, BLAME THE JEWS, WE ARE WARRIORS are found on the site above.
Majoring in Holocaust studies at the University of Haifa, Joshua stumbled on the stories of these women and found more at the “The Ghetto Fighters House” in Israel where many diaries and documents told the tales of their struggles. He likens the fight then to our fight now against Hamas, Hezbollah and all those who deny Jews the right to live, to have our own homeland.
After the Oct 7th attack, Joshua became even more focused on getting the story out. In Hamas’s own words “Jews are the vilest and most despicable nation… We must attack every Jew on planet earth… We will wipe out Israel… Bring annihilation upon the Jews… We must slaughter and kill them.”
When someone tells you who they are, you should believe them. Anyone who read Mein Kampf and listened to the chants at German rallies in the 1930s could have recognized the genocidal intentions of the Nazi party. Anyone who reads Hamas’s charter and listens to the chants echoing in cities all over the world right now can see the same.
The Holocaust Museum, created by survivors, is the oldest in the city. Established in 1961 it serves to recall the events of the war and deserves your visits and your support.
Further performances include Syracuse, NY, Tel Aviv, London, and Jerusalem, Israel. Please check the website for any updates and support this wonderful play.
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