Theatre Zion, under Aryeh Weisberg’s direction, continues its tradition of staging hard-hitting contemporary plays on Jewish and Israeli themes. This time, in the current production of The Accomplices at the Khan Theater, we are presented with the story of Hillel Kook (1915 –2001), who operated under the name Peter Bergson. I confess I had only a vague awareness that something important had occurred involving him, so I welcomed the opportunity to fill the lacuna in my historical education while also enjoying a night at the theater.
The name Kook may prompt a game of Jewish geography: “Any relation to Abraham Isaac Kook, first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel?” Indeed, Hillel was his nephew. Not a philosopher and mystic like his celebrated uncle, Hillel was nonetheless no less fiery in his dedication to the Jewish people. Born in Lithuania in 1915, he immigrated to Eretz Yisrael as a child. Eschewing the family rabbinical path – his father was chief rabbi of Afula – he joined the Irgun (Etzel), the militant underground resistance movement.
In 1937 he was sent to Poland to organize illegal aliyah. At the outbreak of World War II, he headed with Ze’ev Jabotinsky to the US to create Jewish military units within the Allied forces and rally support for the future Jewish state. Following Jabotinsky’s death, he led Irgun operations in America. In these clandestine activities, he adopted the pseudonym Peter Bergson to protect his family and ensure freedom of movement.
The story of The Accomplices
In The Accomplices, the central drama unfolds as Bergson discovers the shocking extent of the Nazi mass exterminations, and he tries to pressure the Roosevelt administration and the local Jewish leadership to step in and save lives. In the play, veteran New York Times correspondent Bernard Weinraub wades neck-deep into the mud to expose US politicians and the Jewish community in an unflattering light.
With a fast-moving plot, multiple characters, and frequent scene changes, staging this play is a challenge, particularly in the Khan Theater’s smaller space. But director Weisberg pulled it all together such that we could follow the convoluted plot encompassing Bergson and co., president Roosevelt and his political cronies, and Rabbi Stephen Wise – a Reform rabbi so powerful he was dubbed “the pope of the Jews,” ultimately a modern iteration of the court Jew.
While the delivery was a little uneven, the cast (David Golinkin, Lior Berlin, Dovid Spinrad, Esther Eisenberg, Yedidya Fraiman, Refael Hileman, Hank Shrier, Shirel Stern, and Eddie Geller) invested their roles with much passion. The play itself should have eliminated the unconvincing romantic subplot in favor of deeper insight into the inner world and emotions of Bergson, Wise, FDR, and others. But ultimately, the proof of the pudding was that the play held us spellbound for close to two hours, and not one audience member fell asleep as far as I could tell (I checked).
We were utterly enthralled and horrified to discover the extent of apathy, tunnel vision, and antisemitism that led to the harrowing loss of so many lives. When Wise chillingly tells Bergson, “At times I think you’re a greater enemy to the Jewish people than Hitler,” the audience tutted aloud, it felt so real.
The post-play discussion with David Golinkin (a Conservative rabbi who played the Reform Rabbi Wise), whose father was involved in activities paralleling Bergson’s, added much interesting information. He stated: “The facts are worse than in the play” and shared that the tough lessons learned served to fuel the successful rallying for Soviet Jewry. So at least there was that.
The play also featured some excellent neckties. Bottom line: Go see it.
Note: The Accomplices sold out before opening. Theatre Zion may remount it later this year. Join the mailing list to be the first to know (theatrezion.co.il).